Decreased mRNA levels of the following genes were found in the PAE proliferating NPC cultures: the adenosine receptor 2A (Adora2a, p = .02), which encodes the A2A receptor; chemokine ligand 1 (Cxcl1, p = .04), involved in development of the spinal cord; PSD-95 (Dlg4, p = .02), important for synapse formation and maintenance; hairy enhancer of split 1 (Hes1, p = .01), a Notch pathway signaling effector; neuronal pentraxin 1 (Nptx1, p = .03), which mediates the uptake of degraded synaptic material and is involved in immunological responses; and vascular endothelial growth factor A (Vegfa, p = .01), crucial for maintaining the proliferating pool of progenitors (Fournier, Lee, Banasr, Elsayed, & Duman, 2012) and responsible for directly stimulating neurogenesis (Schänzer et al., 2004). PAE also reduced mRNA expression of DNA methyltransferase 1 (Dnmt1, p = .02) and DNA methyltransferase 3a (Dnmt3a, p = .04), both of which are critical for maintenance and de novo methylation of genes involved in fetal programming. Increased expression of the following factors was found after PAE in the proliferating NPC cultures: fibroblast growth factor 13
