Elimination of the male reproductive tract in the female embryo is promoted by COUP-TFII in mice
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The makings of the reproductive tract Every embryo, regardless of its sex, contains both male and female primitive reproductive tracts before sexual differentiation. To establish a sex-specific reproductive system, female embryos need to remove the components of male tracts. The general consensus contends that removal of the male tracts occurs by default, a passive outcome owing to a lack of testis-derived androgens. Working in mice, Zhao et al. discovered that this process instead was actively promoted by the transcription factor COUP-TFII (see the Perspective by Swain). Without the action of this factor, embryos retained male reproductive tracts, independently of androgen action. These findings unveil unexpected mechanisms underlying the sexually dimorphic establishment of reproductive tracts. Science , this issue p. 717 ; see also p. 648
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Wolffian duct development is normal in males but absent in females, who continue to produce COUP-TFII, which induces Wolffian duct involution.
“Wolffian duct development is normal in males but absent in females, who continue to produce COUP-TFII (Chicken Ovalbumin Upstream Promoter-Transcription Factor-2), which induces Wolffian duct involution (31).”
From Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia—Current Insights in Pathophysiology, Diagnostics, and Management (2022) · cites this paper as [31]
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Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia—Current Insights in Pathophysiology, Diagnostics, and Management
Claahsen - van der Grinten, H. L., Speiser, P. W., Ahmed, S. F., Arlt, W., Auchus, R. J., Falhammar, H., Flück, C. E., Guasti, L., Huebner, A., Kortmann, B. B. M., et al. (2022) · Endocrine Reviews · doi:10.1210/endrev/bnab016 · Cited by 556 · see citing works
Bhargava, A., Arnold, A. P., Bangasser, D. A., Denton, K. M., Gupta, A., Hilliard Krause, L. M., Mayer, E. A., McCarthy, M., Miller, W. L., Raznahan, A., et al. (2021) · Endocrine Reviews · doi:10.1210/endrev/bnaa034 · Cited by 130 · see citing works
- Authors
- Zhao, F., Franco, H. L., Rodriguez, K. F., Brown, P. R., Tsai, M.-J., Tsai, S. Y., & Yao, H. H.-C.
- Affiliations
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (US)
- Baylor College of Medicine (US)
- Corresponding author
- Yao, Humphrey H.-C.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2017-08-18
- Volume
- 357
- Issue
- 6352
- Pages
- 717-720
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- PMC
- PMC5713893
- OpenAlex
- W2746343109
- Cited by
- 86
- References
- 23
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 5
- FWCI
- 5.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (award334835, HL114539)
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (award315721, DK59820 and DK45641, award334836)
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (award315720, Z01-ES-102965)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic and Clinical Aspects of Sex Determination and Chromosomal Abnormalities
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Sexual Differentiation and Disorders
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Reproductive Biology and Fertility
- Keywords
- COUP-TFII, female embryos, sexual differentiation, reproductive tract development, transcription factors, sexual dimorphism
- MeSH terms
- Androgens, Animals, Embryo, Mammalian, Female, Genitalia, Male, Male, Receptors, Androgen, Sex Differentiation, Wolffian Ducts, Signal Transduction, Mice, Knockout, Mice, COUP Transcription Factor II
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