Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39227432›Full record

ArticleMolecular psychiatry2025

Valproic acid-induced teratogenicity is driven by senescence and prevented by Rapamycin in human spinal cord and animal models.

Giovanni Pietrogrande, Mohammed R Shaker, Sarah J Stednitz, Farhad Soheilmoghaddam, Julio Aguado, Sean D Morrison, Samuel Zambrano, Tahmina Tabassum, Ibrahim Javed, Justin Cooper-White and 4 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Molecular psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Beyond epilepsy: The expanding role of valproic acid in Alzheimer disease therapy - a review.The Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics · 2025
    Review
  5. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Giovanni PietrograndeAustralian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia. g.pietrogrande@uq.edu.au.ORCID 0000-0001-5107-2002
Mohammed R ShakerAustralian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia.
Sarah J StednitzDepartment of Anatomy & Physiology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
Farhad SoheilmoghaddamSchool of Chemical Engineering, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia.
Julio AguadoAustralian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-1841-4741
Sean D MorrisonAustralian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia.
Samuel ZambranoSchool of Medicine, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, 20132, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-9384-2017
Tahmina TabassumAustralian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia.
Ibrahim JavedAustralian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-1101-5614
Justin Cooper-WhiteSchool of Chemical Engineering, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia.
Thomas P DavisAustralian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia.
Terence J O'BrienDepartment of Neuroscience, The Central Clinical School, Alfred Health, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Ethan K ScottDepartment of Anatomy & Physiology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
Ernst J WolvetangAustralian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-2146-6614

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Valproic acid (VPA) is an effective and widely used anti-seizure medication but is teratogenic when used during pregnancy, affecting brain and spinal cord development for reasons that remain largely unclear. Here we designed a genetic recombinase-based SOX10 reporter system in human pluripotent stem cells that enables tracking and lineage tracing of Neural Crest cells (NCCs) in a human organoid model of the developing neural tube. We found that VPA induces extensive cellular senescence and promotes mesenchymal differentiation of human NCCs. We next show that the clinically approved drug Rapamycin inhibits senescence and restores aberrant NCC differentiation trajectory after VPA exposure in human organoids and in developing zebrafish, highlighting the therapeutic promise of this approach. Finally, we identify the pioneer factor AP1 as a key element of this process. Collectively our data reveal cellular senescence as a central driver of VPA-associated neurodevelopmental teratogenicity and identifies a new pharmacological strategy for prevention. These results exemplify the power of genetically modified human stem cell-derived organoid models for drug discovery.

Indexed as

SirolimusSpinal CordValproic AcidAnimalsCell DifferentiationCellular SenescenceHumansNeural CrestOrganoidsPluripotent Stem CellsTeratogenesisTeratogensZebrafishSirolimusTeratogensValproic Acid

Identifiers

PMID39227432
PMCPMC11835743

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.