Scholars@Duke
Blanche Capel

Blanche Capel

James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Cell Biology
Cell Biology
blanche.capel@duke.edu
Duke Box 3709 Med Ctr, Durham, NC 27710
307 Research Drive, Nanaline Bldg Room 452, Durham, NC 27710

Selected Publications

Rediscovering the rete ovarii, a secreting auxiliary structure to the ovary

Journal Article eLife · March 19, 2025 The rete ovarii (RO) is an appendage of the ovary that has been given little attention. Although the RO appears in drawings of the ovary in early versions of Gray’s Anatomy, it disappeared from recent textbooks, and is of ... Full text Cite

The basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor TCF4 recruits the Mediator Complex to activate gonadal genes and drive ovarian development.

Journal Article bioRxiv · March 4, 2025 The bipotential gonad is the precursor organ to both the ovary and testis and develops as part of the embryonic urogenital system. In mice, gonadogenesis initiates around embryonic day 9.5 (E9.5), when coelomic epithelial (CE) cells overlaying the mesoneph ... Full text Link to item Cite

Gonadal sex and temperature independently influence germ cell differentiation and meiotic progression in Trachemys scripta.

Journal Article Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A · January 7, 2025 In species with genetic sex determination (GSD), the sex identity of the soma determines germ cell fate. For example, in mice, XY germ cells that enter an ovary differentiate as oogonia, whereas XX germ cells that enter a testis initiate differentiation as ... Full text Link to item Cite

OoCount: A Machine-Learning Based Approach to Mouse Ovarian Follicle Counting and Classification.

Journal Article bioRxiv · May 14, 2024 UNLABELLED: The number and distribution of ovarian follicles in each growth stage provides a reliable readout of ovarian health and function. Leveraging techniques for three-dimensional (3D) imaging of ovaries in toto has the potential to uncover total, ac ... Full text Link to item Cite

Bulk and single-cell transcriptome datasets of the mouse fetal and adult rete ovarii and surrounding tissues.

Journal Article Sci Data · April 13, 2024 The rete ovarii (RO) is an epithelial structure that arises during development in close proximity to the ovary and persists throughout adulthood. However, the functional significance of the RO remains elusive, and it is absent from recent discussions of fe ... Full text Link to item Cite

Transcriptome analysis of the mouse fetal and adult rete ovarii and surrounding tissues.

Journal Article bioRxiv · November 6, 2023 The rete ovarii (RO) is an epithelial structure that arises during fetal development in close proximity to the ovary and persists throughout adulthood in mice. However, the functional significance of the RO remains elusive, and it has been absent from rece ... Full text Link to item Cite

Higher temperatures directly increase germ cell number, promoting feminization of red-eared slider turtles.

Journal Article Current biology : CB · July 2023 In many reptile species, gonadal sex is affected by environmental temperature during a critical period of embryonic development-a process known as temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD).1 The oviparous red-eared slider turtle, Trachemys s ... Full text Cite

Biased precursor ingression underlies the center-to-pole pattern of male sex determination in mouse.

Journal Article Development · March 1, 2023 During mammalian development, gonadal sex determination results from the commitment of bipotential supporting cells to Sertoli or granulosa cell fates. Typically, this decision is coordinated across the gonad to ensure commitment to a single organ fate. Wh ... Full text Link to item Cite

The RNA binding protein DND1 is elevated in a subpopulation of pro-spermatogonia and targets chromatin modifiers and translational machinery during late gestation.

Journal Article PLoS Genet · March 2023 DND1 is essential to maintain germ cell identity. Loss of Dnd1 function results in germ cell differentiation to teratomas in some inbred strains of mice or to somatic fates in zebrafish. Using our knock-in mouse line in which a functional fusion protein be ... Full text Link to item Cite

Oxygen availability influences the incidence of testicular teratoma in Dnd1Ter/+ mice.

Journal Article Front Genet · 2023 Testicular teratomas and teratocarcinomas are the most common testicular germ cell tumors in early childhood and young men, and they are frequently found unilaterally in the left testis. In 129/SvJ mice carrying a heterozygous copy of the potent modifier o ... Full text Link to item Cite

Integration of mouse ovary morphogenesis with developmental dynamics of the oviduct, ovarian ligaments, and rete ovarii.

Journal Article Elife · September 27, 2022 Morphogenetic events during the development of the fetal ovary are crucial to the establishment of female fertility. However, the effects of structural rearrangements of the ovary and surrounding reproductive tissues on ovary morphogenesis remain largely u ... Full text Link to item Cite

Origin, specification and differentiation of a rare supporting-like lineage in the developing mouse gonad.

Journal Article Science advances · May 2022 Gonadal sex determination represents a unique model for studying cell fate decisions. However, a complete understanding of the different cell lineages forming the developing testis and ovary remains elusive. Here, we investigated the origin, specification, ... Full text Cite

Beatrice Mintz (1921-2022): an innovator in embryo research and cancer biology

Journal Article Development (Cambridge, England) · March 1, 2022 Full text Cite

Loss of Mafb and Maf distorts myeloid cell ratios and disrupts fetal mouse testis vascularization and organogenesis†.

Journal Article Biol Reprod · October 11, 2021 Testis differentiation is initiated when Sry in pre-Sertoli cells directs the gonad toward a male-specific fate. Sertoli cells are essential for testis development, but cell types within the interstitial compartment, such as immune and endothelial cells, a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Concerted morphogenesis of genital ridges and nephric ducts in the mouse captured through whole-embryo imaging.

Journal Article Development · September 15, 2021 During development of the mouse urogenital complex, the gonads undergo changes in three-dimensional structure, body position and spatial relationship with the mesonephric ducts, kidneys and adrenals. The complexity of genital ridge development obscures pot ... Full text Link to item Cite

Concerted morphogenesis of genital ridges and nephric ducts in the mouse captured through whole-embryo imaging.

Journal Article Development · September 15, 2021 During development of the mouse urogenital complex, the gonads undergo changes in three-dimensional structure, body position and spatial relationship with the mesonephric ducts, kidneys and adrenals. The complexity of genital ridge development obscures pot ... Full text Link to item Cite

A brief review of vertebrate sex evolution with a pledge for integrative research: towards 'sexomics'.

Journal Article Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci · August 30, 2021 Triggers and biological processes controlling male or female gonadal differentiation vary in vertebrates, with sex determination (SD) governed by environmental factors or simple to complex genetic mechanisms that evolved repeatedly and independently in var ... Full text Link to item Cite

Sex determination without sex chromosomes.

Journal Article Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci · August 30, 2021 With or without sex chromosomes, sex determination is a synthesis of many molecular events that drives a community of cells towards a coordinated tissue fate. In this review, we will consider how a sex determination pathway can be engaged and stabilized wi ... Full text Link to item Cite

Differentiation of fetal sertoli cells in the adult testis.

Journal Article Reproduction · July 8, 2021 Sertoli cells proliferate and construct seminiferous tubules during fetal life, then undergo differentiation and maturation in the prepubertal testes. In the adult testes, mature Sertoli cells maintain spermatogonia and support spermatogenesis during the e ... Full text Link to item Cite

Mapping the peripheral nervous system in the whole mouse via compressed sensing tractography.

Journal Article Journal of neural engineering · June 2021 Objective.The peripheral nervous system (PNS) connects the central nervous system with the rest of the body to regulate many physiological functions and is therapeutically targeted to treat diseases such as epilepsy, depression, intestinal dysmotili ... Full text Cite

A transgenic DND1GFP fusion allele reports in vivo expression and RNA-binding targets in undifferentiated mouse germ cells†.

Journal Article Biol Reprod · April 1, 2021 In vertebrates, the RNA-binding protein (RBP) dead end 1 (DND1) is essential for primordial germ cell (PGC) survival and maintenance of cell identity. In multiple species, Dnd1 loss or mutation leads to severe PGC loss soon after specification or, in some ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Chromatin State during Gonadal Sex Determination.

Journal Article Sex Dev · 2021 At embryonic day (E) 10.5, prior to gonadal sex determination, XX and XY gonads are bipotential and able to differentiate into either a testis or an ovary. At this point, they are transcriptionally and morphologically indistinguishable. Sex determination b ... Full text Link to item Cite

Intravital imaging of mouse embryos.

Journal Article Science · April 10, 2020 Embryonic development is a complex process that is unamenable to direct observation. In this study, we implanted a window to the mouse uterus to visualize the developing embryo from embryonic day 9.5 to birth. This removable intravital window allowed manip ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Combined iDISCO and CUBIC tissue clearing and lightsheet microscopy for in toto analysis of the adult mouse ovary†.

Journal Article Biology of reproduction · April 2020 At any given time, the ovary contains a number of follicles in distinct growth stages, each with a set of identifying characteristics. Although follicle counting and staging using histological stains on paraffin-embedded ovary sections has been the gold st ... Full text Cite

Temperature-dependent sex determination is mediated by pSTAT3 repression of Kdm6b.

Journal Article Science (New York, N.Y.) · April 2020 In many reptiles, including the red-eared slider turtle Trachemys scripta elegans (T. scripta), sex is determined by ambient temperature during embryogenesis. We previously showed that the epigenetic regulator Kdm6b is elevated at the ... Full text Cite

Sertoli cell ablation and replacement of the spermatogonial niche in mouse.

Journal Article Nat Commun · January 2, 2020 Spermatogonia, which produce sperm throughout the male lifetime, are regulated inside a niche composed of Sertoli cells, and other testis cell types. Defects in Sertoli cells often lead to infertility, but replacement of defective cells has been limited by ... Full text Link to item Cite

WOMEN IN REPRODUCTIVE SCIENCE: To be or not to be a testis.

Journal Article Reproduction · December 2019 Work that established the testis as the driver of male development, and the Y chromosome as the bearer of the male-determining gene, established a working model, and set the stage for the molecular age of mammalian sex determination. The discovery and char ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

RUNX1 maintains the identity of the fetal ovary through an interplay with FOXL2.

Journal Article Nature communications · November 2019 Sex determination of the gonads begins with fate specification of gonadal supporting cells into either ovarian pre-granulosa cells or testicular Sertoli cells. This fate specification hinges on a balance of transcriptional control. Here we report that expr ... Full text Cite

The RNA-binding protein DND1 acts sequentially as a negative regulator of pluripotency and a positive regulator of epigenetic modifiers required for germ cell reprogramming.

Journal Article Development · July 25, 2019 The adult spermatogonial stem cell population arises from pluripotent primordial germ cells (PGCs) that enter the fetal testis around embryonic day (E)10.5. PGCs undergo rapid mitotic proliferation, then enter prolonged cell cycle arrest (G1/G0), during wh ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

CBX2 is required to stabilize the testis pathway by repressing Wnt signaling.

Journal Article PLoS Genet · May 2019 XX and XY fetal gonads are initially bipotential, poised between the ovary and testis fate. Multiple lines of evidence suggest that commitment to testis fate requires the repression of genes associated with ovary fate. It was previously shown that loss of ... Full text Link to item Cite

An interview with Dr Blanche Capel.

Journal Article Biol Reprod · April 1, 2019 Full text Link to item Cite

Neural crest-derived neurons invade the ovary but not the testis during mouse gonad development.

Journal Article Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A · March 19, 2019 Testes and ovaries undergo sex-specific morphogenetic changes and adopt strikingly different morphologies, despite the fact that both arise from a common precursor, the bipotential gonad. Previous studies showed that recruitment of vasculature is critical ... Full text Link to item Cite

Sex reversal.

Journal Article Curr Biol · November 5, 2018 Weber and Capel discuss various aspects of sex reversal, including how it happens, why it happens in some species but not others, and whether it is adaptive. ... Full text Link to item Cite

Epigenetic regulation of male fate commitment from an initially bipotential system.

Journal Article Mol Cell Endocrinol · June 15, 2018 A fundamental goal in biology is to understand how distinct cell types containing the same genetic information arise from a single stem cell throughout development. Sex determination is a key developmental process that requires a unidirectional commitment ... Full text Link to item Cite

The histone demethylase KDM6B regulates temperature-dependent sex determination in a turtle species.

Journal Article Science · May 11, 2018 Temperature-dependent sex determination is a notable model of phenotypic plasticity. In many reptiles, including the red-eared slider turtle Trachemys scripta elegans (T. scripta), the individual's sex is determined by the ambient temperature during egg in ... Full text Link to item Cite

Vertebrate sex determination: evolutionary plasticity of a fundamental switch.

Journal Article Nat Rev Genet · November 2017 The discovery of the Sry gene in 1990 triggered a revolution in our understanding of sex determination. More recently, advances in non-model organisms have been fuelled by the rapid evolution of affordable genome and transcriptome technologies. This Review ... Full text Link to item Cite

Chemotherapy-Induced Depletion of OCT4-Positive Cancer Stem Cells in a Mouse Model of Malignant Testicular Cancer.

Journal Article Cell reports · November 2017 Testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs) are among the most responsive solid cancers to conventional chemotherapy. To elucidate the underlying mechanisms, we developed a mouse TGCT model featuring germ cell-specific Kras activation and Pten inactivation. The re ... Full text Cite

Dmrt1 induces the male pathway in a turtle species with temperature-dependent sex determination.

Journal Article Development · June 15, 2017 The molecular mechanism underlying temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) has been a long-standing mystery; in particular, the thermosensitive genetic triggers for gonadal sex differentiation are largely unknown. Here, we have characterized a conser ... Full text Link to item Cite

Numb regulates somatic cell lineage commitment during early gonadogenesis in mice.

Conference Development (Cambridge, England) · May 2017 During early gonadogenesis, proliferating cells in the coelomic epithelium (CE) give rise to most of the somatic cells in both XX and XY gonads. Previous dye-labeling experiments showed that a single CE cell could give rise to additional CE cells and to bo ... Full text Cite

Genome-wide identification of regulatory elements in Sertoli cells.

Journal Article Development · February 15, 2017 A current goal of molecular biology is to identify transcriptional networks that regulate cell differentiation. However, identifying functional gene regulatory elements has been challenging in the context of developing tissues where material is limited and ... Full text Link to item Cite

A timecourse analysis of systemic and gonadal effects of temperature on sexual development of the red-eared slider turtle Trachemys scripta elegans.

Journal Article Dev Biol · December 1, 2016 Temperature dependent sex determination (TSD) is the process by which the environmental temperature experienced during embryogenesis influences the sex of an organism, as in the red-eared slider turtle Trachemys scripta elegans. In accord with current para ... Full text Link to item Cite

A grafted ovarian fragment rescues host fertility after chemotherapy.

Journal Article Mol Hum Reprod · December 2016 STUDY QUESTION: Can host fertility be rescued by grafting of a fragment of a healthy ovary soon after chemotherapy? SUMMARY ANSWER: We found that grafting a green fluorescent protein (GFP)-positive fragment from a healthy isogenic ovary to the left ovary o ... Full text Link to item Cite

Germ cell dynamics during gonad development in the turtle T. scripta

Conference INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY · March 1, 2016 Link to item Cite

Cycling in the Cell Fate Landscape.

Journal Article Curr Top Dev Biol · 2016 The causal relationship between the cell cycle and cell fate has recently been reconsidered in several developmental systems, now including sex determination. Direct links between cell cycle machinery and developmental factors demonstrate how modulating th ... Full text Link to item Cite

Left-Biased Spermatogenic Failure in 129/SvJ Dnd1Ter/+ Mice Correlates with Differences in Vascular Architecture, Oxygen Availability, and Metabolites.

Journal Article Biol Reprod · September 2015 Homozygosity for the Ter mutation in the RNA-binding protein Dead end 1 (Dnd1(Ter/Ter)) sensitizes germ cells to degeneration in all mouse strains. In 129/SvJ mice, approximately 10% of Dnd1(Ter/+) heterozygotes develop spermatogenic failure, and 95% of un ... Full text Link to item Cite

Macrophages Contribute to the Spermatogonial Niche in the Adult Testis.

Journal Article Cell Rep · August 18, 2015 The testis produces sperm throughout the male reproductive lifespan by balancing self-renewal and differentiation of spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs). Part of the SSC niche is thought to lie outside the seminiferous tubules of the testis; however, specific ... Full text Link to item Cite

Cell fate commitment during mammalian sex determination.

Journal Article Curr Opin Genet Dev · June 2015 The gonads form bilaterally as bipotential organs that can develop as testes or ovaries. All secondary sex characteristics that we associate with 'maleness' or 'femaleness' depend on whether testes or ovaries form. The fate of the gonads depends on a cell ... Full text Link to item Cite

Ovarian epithelium regeneration by Lgr5(+) cells.

Journal Article Nat Cell Biol · August 2014 Lgr5, a marker of stem cells in many organs, is found expressed in cells scattered through the ovarian epithelium that expand to repair and regenerate the damaged ovarian surface after each ovulation. Lgr5-positive stem cells in the ovary and the fimbria o ... Full text Link to item Cite

Yolk-sac-derived macrophages regulate fetal testis vascularization and morphogenesis.

Journal Article Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A · June 10, 2014 Organogenesis of the testis is initiated when expression of Sry in pre-Sertoli cells directs the gonad toward a male-specific fate. The cells in the early bipotential gonad undergo de novo organization to form testis cords that enclose germ cells inside tu ... Full text Link to item Cite

Predetermination of sexual fate in a turtle with temperature-dependent sex determination.

Journal Article Dev Biol · February 1, 2014 Egg incubation temperature determines offspring sex in many reptilian species, including red-eared slider turtles, where embryos incubated at low temperatures during the initial stages of gonad formation develop as males, while those kept at higher tempera ... Full text Link to item Cite

Development. The minimalist Y.

Journal Article Science · January 3, 2014 Full text Link to item Cite

Disruption of mitotic arrest precedes precocious differentiation and transdifferentiation of pregranulosa cells in the perinatal Wnt4 mutant ovary.

Journal Article Dev Biol · November 15, 2013 Mammalian sex determination is controlled by antagonistic pathways that are initially co-expressed in the bipotential gonad and subsequently become male- or female-specific. In XY gonads, testis development is initiated by upregulation of Sox9 by SRY in pr ... Full text Link to item Cite

Constitutive activation of NOTCH1 signaling in Sertoli cells causes gonocyte exit from quiescence.

Journal Article Dev Biol · May 1, 2013 Notch signaling components have long been detected in Sertoli and germ cells in the developing and mature testis. However, the role of this pathway in testis development and spermatogenesis remains unknown. Using reporter mice expressing green fluorescent ... Full text Link to item Cite

Testosterone levels influence mouse fetal Leydig cell progenitors through notch signaling.

Journal Article Biol Reprod · April 2013 Leydig cells are the steroidogenic lineage of the mammalian testis that produces testosterone, a key hormone required throughout male fetal and adult life for virilization and spermatogenesis. Both fetal and adult Leydig cells arise from a progenitor popul ... Full text Link to item Cite

The western painted turtle genome, a model for the evolution of extreme physiological adaptations in a slowly evolving lineage.

Journal Article Genome Biol · March 28, 2013 BACKGROUND: We describe the genome of the western painted turtle, Chrysemys picta bellii, one of the most widespread, abundant, and well-studied turtles. We place the genome into a comparative evolutionary context, and focus on genomic features associated ... Full text Link to item Cite

Conserved action of β-catenin during female fate determination in the red-eared slider turtle.

Journal Article Evol Dev · 2013 In reptiles such as the red-eared slider turtle Trachemys scripta, development of an ovary from the bipotential gonad requires a coordinated expansion of the cortical domain and regression of the medulla. While estrogen, which is necessary and sufficient f ... Full text Link to item Cite

Testicular teratomas: an intersection of pluripotency, differentiation and cancer biology.

Journal Article Int J Dev Biol · 2013 Teratomas represent a critical interface between stem cells, differentiation and tumorigenesis. These tumors are composed of cell types representing all three germ layers reflecting the pluripotent nature of their cell of origin. The study of these curious ... Full text Link to item Cite

Fine time course expression analysis identifies cascades of activation and repression and maps a putative regulator of mammalian sex determination.

Journal Article PLoS Genet · 2013 In vertebrates, primary sex determination refers to the decision within a bipotential organ precursor to differentiate as a testis or ovary. Bifurcation of organ fate begins between embryonic day (E) 11.0-E12.0 in mice and likely involves a dynamic transcr ... Full text Link to item Cite

The western painted turtle genome, a model for the evolution of extreme physiological adaptations in a slowly evolving lineage

Journal Article Genome Biology · 2013 Background: We describe the genome of the western painted turtle, Chrysemys picta bellii, one of the most widespread, abundant, and well-studied turtles. We place the genome into a comparative evolutionary context, and focus on genomic features associated ... Full text Cite

Testis development requires the repression of Wnt4 by Fgf signaling.

Journal Article Dev Biol · October 1, 2012 The bipotential gonad expresses genes associated with both the male and female pathways. Adoption of the male testicular fate is associated with the repression of many female genes including Wnt4. However, the importance of repression of Wnt4 to the establ ... Full text Link to item Cite

Temporal differences in granulosa cell specification in the ovary reflect distinct follicle fates in mice.

Journal Article Biol Reprod · February 2012 The embryonic origins of ovarian granulosa cells have been a subject of debate for decades. By tamoxifen-induced lineage tracing of Foxl2-expressing cells, we show that descendants of the bipotential supporting cell precursors in the early gonad contribute ... Full text Link to item Cite

Germ cells are not required to establish the female pathway in mouse fetal gonads.

Journal Article PLoS One · 2012 The fetal gonad is composed of a mixture of somatic cell lineages and germ cells. The fate of the gonad, male or female, is determined by a population of somatic cells that differentiate into Sertoli or granulosa cells and direct testis or ovary developmen ... Full text Link to item Cite

Sex and the circuitry: progress toward a systems-level understanding of vertebrate sex determination.

Journal Article Wiley Interdiscip Rev Syst Biol Med · 2012 In vertebrates, the gonad arises as a bipotential primordium that can differentiate as a testis or ovary. Cells are initially primed to adopt either fate by balanced antagonistic signaling pathways and transcription networks. Sexual fate is determined by a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Temporal transcriptional profiling of somatic and germ cells reveals biased lineage priming of sexual fate in the fetal mouse gonad.

Journal Article PLoS Genet · 2012 The divergence of distinct cell populations from multipotent progenitors is poorly understood, particularly in vivo. The gonad is an ideal place to study this process, because it originates as a bipotential primordium where multiple distinct lineages acqui ... Full text Link to item Cite

Mouse germ cell clusters form by aggregation as well as clonal divisions.

Journal Article Mech Dev · 2012 After their arrival in the fetal gonad, mammalian germ cells express E-cadherin and are found in large clusters, similar to germ cell cysts in Drosophila. In Drosophila, germ cells in cysts are connected by ring canals. Several molecular components of inte ... Full text Link to item Cite

Testis formation in the fetal mouse: dynamic and complex de novo tubulogenesis.

Journal Article Wiley Interdiscip Rev Dev Biol · 2012 Soon after Sry initiates male sex determination, cells in XY gonads undergo an unusual process of de novo cord formation that results in the organization of Sertoli cells into epithelial tubules enclosing germ cells and partitioning mesenchymal cells and v ... Full text Link to item Cite

Two distinct origins for Leydig cell progenitors in the fetal testis.

Journal Article Dev Biol · April 1, 2011 During the differentiation of the mammalian embryonic testis, two compartments are defined: the testis cords and the interstitium. The testis cords give rise to the adult seminiferous tubules, whereas steroidogenic Leydig cells and other less well characte ... Full text Link to item Cite

Vascular-mesenchymal cross-talk through Vegf and Pdgf drives organ patterning.

Journal Article Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A · January 4, 2011 The initiation of de novo testis cord organization in the fetal gonad is poorly understood. Endothelial cell migration into XY gonads initiates testis morphogenesis. However, neither the signals that regulate vascularization of the gonad nor the mechanisms ... Full text Link to item Cite

Regulation of male germ cell cycle arrest and differentiation by DND1 is modulated by genetic background.

Journal Article Development · January 2011 Human germ cell tumors show a strong sensitivity to genetic background similar to Dnd1(Ter/Ter) mutant mice, where testicular teratomas arise only on the 129/SvJ genetic background. The introduction of the Bax mutation onto mixed background Dnd1(Ter/Ter) m ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Oestrogen shuts the door on SOX9.

Journal Article BMC Biol · August 31, 2010 Oestrogen exerts a robust yet imperfectly understood effect on sexual development in vertebrate embryos. New work by Pask and colleagues in BMC Biology indicates that it may interfere with male development by preventing nuclear localization of SOX9, a mast ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Estrogen represses SOX9 during sex determination in the red-eared slider turtle Trachemys scripta.

Journal Article Dev Biol · May 1, 2010 Production of male offspring in viviparous eutherian mammals requires a sex-determining mechanism resistant to maternal hormones. This constraint is relaxed in egg-laying species, which are sensitive to hormones during sex determination and often use an in ... Full text Link to item Cite

Unmasking a role for sex chromosomes in gene silencing.

Journal Article Genome Biol · 2010 Several sexually dimorphic phenotypes correlate with sex-chromosome dosage rather than with phenotypic sex. New research suggests that sex chromosome dimorphism helps to regulate gene silencing. ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

The DM domain protein DMRT1 is a dose-sensitive regulator of fetal germ cell proliferation and pluripotency.

Journal Article Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A · December 29, 2009 Dmrt1 (doublesex and mab-3 related transcription factor 1) is a conserved transcriptional regulator of male differentiation required for testicular development in vertebrates. Here, we show that in mice of the 129Sv strain, loss of Dmrt1 causes a high inci ... Full text Link to item Cite

Elucidation of the transcription network governing mammalian sex determination by exploiting strain-specific susceptibility to sex reversal.

Journal Article Genes Dev · November 1, 2009 Despite the identification of some key genes that regulate sex determination, most cases of disorders of sexual development remain unexplained. Evidence suggests that the sexual fate decision in the developing gonad depends on a complex network of interact ... Full text Link to item Cite

Choosing Sex

Journal Article Scientist · October 1, 2009 Cite

The PGD2 pathway, independently of FGF9, amplifies SOX9 activity in Sertoli cells during male sexual differentiation.

Journal Article Development · June 2009 Activation by the Y-encoded testis determining factor SRY and maintenance of expression of the Sox9 gene encoding the central transcription factor of Sertoli cell differentiation are key events in the mammalian sexual differentiation program. In the mouse ... Full text Link to item Cite

BAX-mediated cell death affects early germ cell loss and incidence of testicular teratomas in Dnd1(Ter/Ter) mice.

Journal Article Dev Biol · April 15, 2009 A homozygous nonsense mutation (Ter) in murine Dnd1 (Dnd1(Ter/Ter)) results in a significant early loss of primordial germ cells (PGCs) prior to colonization of the gonad in both sexes and all genetic backgrounds tested. The same mutation also leads to tes ... Full text Link to item Cite

Gonad Morphogenesis in Vertebrates: Somatic-Germ Cell Interactions.

Journal Article Annu Rev Cell Dev Biol · January 12, 2009 Full text Link to item Cite

Gonad morphogenesis in vertebrates: divergent means to a convergent end.

Journal Article Annu Rev Cell Dev Biol · 2009 A critical element of successful sexual reproduction is the generation of sexually dimorphic adult reproductive organs, the testis and ovary, which produce functional gametes. Examination of different vertebrate species shows that the adult gonad is remark ... Full text Link to item Cite

Mixed signals: development of the testis.

Journal Article Semin Reprod Med · January 2009 Induction and patterning of the testis occurs over a brief window of time. Before male-specific morphogenesis, the gonad primordium is bipotential and capable of developing into either an ovary or testis. However, expression of the transcription factor SRY ... Full text Link to item Cite

Patterning the Gonad in Four Dimensions.

Conference BIOLOGY OF REPRODUCTION · January 1, 2009 Link to item Cite

Blurring the edges in vertebrate sex determination.

Journal Article Curr Opin Genet Dev · December 2008 Sex in vertebrates is determined by genetically or environmentally based signals. These signals initiate molecular cascades and cell-cell interactions within the gonad that lead to the adoption of the male or female fate. Previously, genetically and enviro ... Full text Link to item Cite

Sex chromatin staining in amnion cells.

Journal Article CSH Protoc · November 1, 2008 INTRODUCTIONThe procedure described here provides a quick and reliable method for determining the sex of mouse embryos that are <12.5 days post-coitum (dpc). Cells from amniotic membranes are stained with toluidine blue. The presence of a heavily stained c ... Full text Link to item Cite

Preparing recombinant gonad organ cultures.

Journal Article CSH Protoc · November 1, 2008 INTRODUCTIONIt can be useful to assay migration between any two adjacent tissues during development. This protocol assays cell migration between the gonad and mesonephros using tissue recombination between genetically marked and unmarked tissue, combined w ... Full text Link to item Cite

Notch signaling maintains Leydig progenitor cells in the mouse testis.

Journal Article Development · November 2008 During testis development, fetal Leydig cells increase their population from a pool of progenitor cells rather than from proliferation of a differentiated cell population. However, the mechanism that regulates Leydig stem cell self-renewal and differentiat ... Full text Link to item Cite

Stabilization of beta-catenin in XY gonads causes male-to-female sex-reversal.

Journal Article Hum Mol Genet · October 1, 2008 During mammalian sex determination, expression of the Y-linked gene Sry shifts the bipotential gonad toward a testicular fate by upregulating a feed-forward loop between FGF9 and SOX9 to establish SOX9 expression in somatic cells. We previously proposed th ... Full text Link to item Cite

A microarray analysis of the XX Wnt4 mutant gonad targeted at the identification of genes involved in testis vascular differentiation.

Journal Article Gene Expr Patterns · September 2008 One of the earliest morphological changes during testicular differentiation is the establishment of an XY specific vasculature. The testis vascular system is derived from mesonephric endothelial cells that migrate into the gonad. In the XX gonad, mesonephr ... Full text Link to item Cite

Expression and functional analysis of Gm114, a putative mammalian ortholog of Drosophila bam.

Journal Article Dev Biol · June 1, 2008 In the testis, the continuous production of sperm is maintained by a small population of stem cells called germ line stem cells (GSCs) in Drosophila, or spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) in mammals. This stem cell population can self-renew or produce daught ... Full text Link to item Cite

Four-dimensional analysis of vascularization during primary development of an organ, the gonad.

Journal Article Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A · May 20, 2008 Time-lapse microscopy has advanced our understanding of yolk sac and early embryonic vascularization. However, it has been difficult to assess endothelial interactions during epithelial morphogenesis of internal organs. To address this issue we have develo ... Full text Link to item Cite

Investigating the Role of Beta-Catenin in Sex Determination.

Conference Biology of Reproduction · May 1, 2008 Full text Cite

SRY and the standoff in sex determination.

Journal Article Mol Endocrinol · January 2008 SRY was identified as the mammalian sex-determining gene more than 15 yr ago and has been extensively studied since. Although many of the pathways regulating sexual differentiation have been elucidated, direct downstream targets of SRY are still unclear, m ... Full text Link to item Cite

Peritubular myoid cells are not the migrating population required for testis cord formation in the XY gonad.

Journal Article Sex Dev · 2008 Cell migration is one of the earliest events required for development of the testis. Migration occurs only in XY gonads downstream of Sry expression and is required for the subsequent epithelialization of testis cords. Using organ culture experiments and t ... Full text Link to item Cite

Sexual development of the soma in the mouse.

Journal Article Curr Top Dev Biol · 2008 Sex determination in mammals results in two discrete sexes, male and female. The sexes are genetically distinct at fertilization (XY = male and XX = female). However, there is little evidence for differences in their development until mid-gestation when th ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Battle of Sexes: Patterning the Gonad

Conference SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT · January 1, 2008 Link to item Cite

Development of germ cells in the mouse.

Journal Article Curr Top Dev Biol · 2008 In mammals, germ cells are induced from a population of cells at the base of the allantois. This regulative mechanism of germ line induction depends on Bmp signals and a combination of epigenetic changes that silence somatic differentiation genes and activ ... Full text Link to item Cite

Fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 regulates proliferation and Sertoli differentiation during male sex determination.

Journal Article Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A · October 16, 2007 Targeted mutagenesis of Fgf9 in mice causes male-to-female sex reversal. Among the four FGF receptors, FGFR2 showed two highly specific patterns based on antibody staining, suggesting that it might be the receptor-mediating FGF9 signaling in the gonad. FGF ... Full text Link to item Cite

A high-resolution anatomical ontology of the developing murine genitourinary tract.

Journal Article Gene Expr Patterns · June 2007 Cataloguing gene expression during development of the genitourinary tract will increase our understanding not only of this process but also of congenital defects and disease affecting this organ system. We have developed a high-resolution ontology with whi ... Full text Link to item Cite

Germ cell depletion does not alter the morphogenesis of the fetal testis or ovary in the red-eared slider turtle (Trachemys scripta).

Journal Article J Exp Zool B Mol Dev Evol · May 15, 2007 In the red-eared slider turtle, Trachemys scripta, both prospective male and female gonads contain primitive cord structures at the time when the gonad first forms. Primordial germ cells arrive in the gonad and accumulate on the coelomic surface. If testis ... Full text Link to item Cite

A microarray analysis of the XX Wnt4 mutant gonad targeted at the identification of genes involved in testis vascular differentiation.

Journal Article Gene Expr Patterns · January 2007 One of the earliest morphological changes during testicular differentiation is the establishment of an XY specific vasculature. The testis vascular system is derived from mesonephric endothelial cells that migrate into the gonad. In the XX gonad, mesonephr ... Full text Link to item Cite

Bmp7 regulates germ cell proliferation in mouse fetal gonads.

Journal Article Sex Dev · 2007 Relatively little is known regarding the signals that regulate the proliferation and sex-specific development of germ cells during mammalian fetal gonad differentiation. Members of the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) family have been identified as key reg ... Full text Link to item Cite

The battle of the sexes: Patterning the gonad

Conference ZOOLOGICAL SCIENCE · December 1, 2006 Link to item Cite

Balancing the bipotential gonad between alternative organ fates: a new perspective on an old problem.

Journal Article Dev Dyn · September 2006 The embryonic gonads give rise to one of two morphologically and functionally different organs, a testis or an ovary. Sex determination is the embryonic process that determines the developmental fate of the gonad. In mammals, sex determination is regulated ... Full text Link to item Cite

Fgf9 and Wnt4 act as antagonistic signals to regulate mammalian sex determination

Journal Article PLoS Biology · June 26, 2006 The genes encoding members of the wingless-related MMTV integration site (WNT) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF) families coordinate growth, morphogenesis, and differentiation in many fields of cells during development. In the mouse, Fgf9 and Wnt4 are exp ... Full text Cite

Fgf9 and Wnt4 act as antagonistic signals to regulate mammalian sex determination.

Journal Article PLoS Biol · June 2006 The genes encoding members of the wingless-related MMTV integration site (WNT) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF) families coordinate growth, morphogenesis, and differentiation in many fields of cells during development. In the mouse, Fgf9 and Wnt4 are exp ... Full text Link to item Cite

FGF9 promotes survival of germ cells in the fetal testis.

Journal Article Development · April 2006 In addition to its role in somatic cell development in the testis, our data have revealed a role for Fgf9 in XY germ cell survival. In Fgf9-null mice, germ cells in the XY gonad decline in numbers after 11.5 days post coitum (dpc), while germ cell numbers ... Full text Link to item Cite

Retinoic acid regulates sex-specific timing of meiotic initiation in mice.

Journal Article Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A · February 21, 2006 In mammals, meiosis is initiated at different time points in males and females, but the mechanism underlying this difference is unknown. Female germ cells begin meiosis during embryogenesis. In males, embryonic germ cells undergo G0/G1 mitotic cell cycle a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Evidence of retinoid regulation of meiotic prophase initiation and germ cell sex differentiation in mice

Conference JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART A-COMPARATIVE EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY · February 1, 2006 Link to item Cite

Paracrine regulation of fetal gonad differentiation.

Conference BIOLOGY OF REPRODUCTION · January 1, 2006 Link to item Cite

FGF9 is required for male germ cell survival.

Conference DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY · July 15, 2005 Link to item Cite

Temperature, genes, and sex: a comparative view of sex determination in Trachemys scripta and Mus musculus.

Journal Article J Biochem · July 2005 Sex determination, the step at which differentiation of males and females is initiated in the embryo, is of central importance to the propagation of species. There is a remarkable diversity of mechanisms by which sex determination is accomplished. In gener ... Full text Link to item Cite

New clues to the genetic basis of testicular cancer suggest dead end mutations

Journal Article Cancer Biology and Therapy · June 1, 2005 Cite

The Ter mutation in the dead end gene causes germ cell loss and testicular germ cell tumours.

Journal Article Nature · May 19, 2005 In mice, the Ter mutation causes primordial germ cell (PGC) loss in all genetic backgrounds. Ter is also a potent modifier of spontaneous testicular germ cell tumour (TGCT) susceptibility in the 129 family of inbred strains, and markedly increases TGCT inc ... Full text Link to item Cite

Signaling at the crossroads of gonad development.

Journal Article Trends Endocrinol Metab · 2005 In mammals, the gonads arise as bipotential primordia that are capable of developing as either testes or ovaries. Expression of the Y-linked gene Sry in the XY gonad initiates testis differentiation; in the absence of Sry, ovarian pathways prevail. Althoug ... Full text Link to item Cite

Cellular mechanisms of sex determination in the red-eared slider turtle, Trachemys scripta.

Journal Article Mech Dev · November 2004 In all vertebrates sex determination is the step at which development of a testis or ovary is initiated in the bipotential gonad. Although Mus musculus and the red-eared slider turtle, Trachemys scripta, use different mechanisms to initiate organogenesis o ... Full text Link to item Cite

Sox8 is expressed at similar levels in gonads of both sexes during the sex determining period in turtles.

Journal Article Dev Dyn · October 2004 A critical gene involved in mammalian sex determination and differentiation is the Sry-related gene Sox9. In reptiles, Sox9 resembles that of mammals in both structure and expression pattern in the developing gonad, but a causal role in male sex determinat ... Full text Link to item Cite

Fgf9 induces proliferation and nuclear localization of FGFR2 in Sertoli precursors during male sex determination.

Journal Article Development · August 2004 Recently, we demonstrated that loss of Fgf9 results in a block of testis development and a male to female sex-reversed phenotype; however, the function of Fgf9 in sex determination was unknown. We now show that Fgf9 is necessary for two steps of testis dev ... Full text Link to item Cite

Disrupted gonadogenesis and male-to-female sex reversal in Pod1 knockout mice.

Journal Article Development · August 2004 Congenital defects in genital and/or gonadal development occur in 1 in 1000 humans, but the molecular basis for these defects in most cases remains undefined. We show that the basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor Pod1 (capsulin/epicardin/Tcf21) is e ... Full text Link to item Cite

Follistatin operates downstream of Wnt4 in mammalian ovary organogenesis.

Journal Article Dev Dyn · June 2004 Wnt4(-/-) XX gonads display features normally associated with testis differentiation, suggesting that WNT4 actively represses elements of the male pathway during ovarian development. Here, we show that follistatin (Fst), which encodes a TGFbeta superfamily ... Full text Link to item Cite

Time-lapse analysis of XY gonadal vascular development.

Conference BIOLOGY OF REPRODUCTION · January 1, 2004 Link to item Cite

AMH induces mesonephric cell migration in XX gonads.

Journal Article Mol Cell Endocrinol · December 15, 2003 Migration of mesonephric cells into XY gonads is a critical early event in testis cord formation. Based on the fact that anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) can induce testis cord formation in XX gonads, we investigated whether AMH plays a role in the induction o ... Full text Link to item Cite

Meiotic germ cells antagonize mesonephric cell migration and testis cord formation in mouse gonads.

Journal Article Development · December 2003 Featured Publication The developmental fate of primordial germ cells in the mammalian gonad depends on their environment. In the XY gonad, Sry induces a cascade of molecular and cellular events leading to the organization of testis cords. Germ cells are sequestered inside test ... Full text Link to item Cite

Endothelial and steroidogenic cell migration are regulated by WNT4 in the developing mammalian gonad.

Journal Article Development · August 2003 Featured Publication The signalling molecule WNT4 has been associated with sex reversal phenotypes in mammals. Here we show that the role of WNT4 in gonad development is to pattern the sex-specific vasculature and to regulate steroidogenic cell recruitment. Vascular formation ... Full text Link to item Cite

Pin1 regulates the timing of mammalian primordial germ cell proliferation.

Journal Article Development · August 2003 Primordial germ cells (PGCs) give rise to male and female germ cells to transmit the genome from generation to generation. Defects in PGC development often result in infertility. In the mouse embryo, PGCs undergo proliferation and expansion during and afte ... Full text Link to item Cite

Cell proliferation is necessary for the determination of male fate in the gonad.

Journal Article Dev Biol · June 15, 2003 Featured Publication Cell proliferation has been shown to have multiple functions in development and pattern formation, including roles in growth, morphogenesis, and gene expression. Previously, we determined that the earliest known morphological event downstream of the male s ... Full text Link to item Cite

Colocalization of WT1 and cell proliferation reveals conserved mechanisms in temperature-dependent sex determination.

Journal Article Genesis · April 2003 Featured Publication During vertebrate development the gonad has two possible fates, the testis or the ovary. The choice between these fates is made by a variety of sex-determining mechanisms, from the sex-determining gene on the Y chromosome (Sry) in mammals, to nongenetic te ... Full text Link to item Cite

Pdgfr-alpha mediates testis cord organization and fetal Leydig cell development in the XY gonad.

Journal Article Genes Dev · March 15, 2003 Featured Publication During testis development, the rapid morphological changes initiated by Sry require the coordinate integration of many signaling pathways. Based on the established role of the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) family of ligands and receptors in migrati ... Full text Link to item Cite

Disruption of testis cords by cyclopamine or forskolin reveals independent cellular pathways in testis organogenesis.

Journal Article Dev Biol · June 15, 2002 Featured Publication Most studies to date indicate that the formation of testis cords is critical for proper Sertoli cell differentiation, inhibition of germ cell meiosis, and regulation of Leydig cell differentiation. However, the connections between these events are poorly u ... Full text Link to item Cite

Desert Hedgehog/Patched 1 signaling specifies fetal Leydig cell fate in testis organogenesis.

Journal Article Genes Dev · June 1, 2002 Featured Publication Establishment of the steroid-producing Leydig cell lineage is an event downstream of Sry that is critical for masculinization of mammalian embryos. Neither the origin of fetal Leydig cell precursors nor the signaling pathway that specifies the Leydig cell ... Full text Link to item Cite

Divergent vascular mechanisms downstream of Sry establish the arterial system in the XY gonad.

Journal Article Dev Biol · April 15, 2002 Featured Publication Although the primitive vasculature is identical in XX and XY genital ridges until 11.5 days postcoitum (dpc), by 12.5 dpc the XY gonad develops a distinct vasculature. This male-specific vasculature, which includes the development of a large coelomic vesse ... Full text Link to item Cite

Cellular and molecular pathways regulating mammalian sex determination.

Journal Article Recent Prog Horm Res · 2002 Featured Publication In mammals, sex is determined by the presence or absence of a single gene on the Y chromosome, Sry. Sry, a member of the high mobility group family of transcription factors, is required to initiate male-specific pathways and repress female-specific pathway ... Full text Link to item Cite

The battle of the sexes: opposing pathways in sex determination.

Journal Article Novartis Found Symp · 2002 In mammals, a primordial gonad forms in XY and XX embryos that develops into a testis or an ovary depending on expression of Sry. Sry induces cell signalling pathways, including proliferation of Sertoli precursors and migration of peritubular myoid and vas ... Link to item Cite

Competing pathways in testis organogenesis.

Conference DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY · July 1, 2001 Link to item Cite

Male-to-female sex reversal in mice lacking fibroblast growth factor 9.

Journal Article Cell · March 23, 2001 Fgfs direct embryogenesis of several organs, including the lung, limb, and anterior pituitary. Here we report male-to-female sex reversal in mice lacking Fibroblast growth factor 9 (Fgf9), demonstrating a novel role for FGF signaling in testicular embryoge ... Full text Link to item Cite

Defective mesonephric cell migration is associated with abnormal testis cord development in C57BL/6J XY(Mus domesticus) mice.

Journal Article Dev Biol · September 1, 2000 Featured Publication During the critical period of mouse sex determination, mesenchymal cells migrate from the mesonephros into the adjacent developing testis. This process is thought to initiate cord development and is dependent on Sry. The presence of Sry, however, does not ... Full text Link to item Cite

Sry and the control of testis organogenesis.

Conference DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY · June 1, 2000 Link to item Cite

The battle of the sexes.

Journal Article Mech Dev · March 15, 2000 The sex determining gene, Sry, determines the sex of the organism by initiating development of a testis rather than an ovary from the cells of the bipotential gonad. In the 10 years since the discovery of Sry, new genes and cellular pathways that operate i ... Full text Link to item Cite

Sry induces cell proliferation in the mouse gonad.

Journal Article Development · January 2000 Sry is the only gene on the Y chromosome that is required for testis formation in mammals. One of the earliest morphological changes that occurs as a result of Sry expression is a size increase of the rudimentary XY gonad relative to the XX gonad. Using 5' ... Full text Link to item Cite

SRY and early mechanisms of testis organogenesis.

Conference BIOLOGY OF REPRODUCTION · January 1, 2000 Link to item Cite

Sry and the testis: Molecular pathways of organogenesis

Conference TESTIS: FROM STEM CELL TO SPERM FUNCTION · January 1, 2000 Link to item Cite

Mesonephric cell migration induces testis cord formation and Sertoli cell differentiation in the mammalian gonad.

Journal Article Development · July 1999 In mammals a single gene on the Y chromosome, Sry, controls testis formation. One of the earliest effects of Sry expression is the induction of somatic cell migration from the mesonephros into the XY gonad. Here we show that mesonephric cells are required ... Full text Link to item Cite

Migration of mesonephric cells into the mammalian gonad depends on Sry.

Journal Article Mech Dev · June 1999 Featured Publication In mammals, the primary step in male sex determination is the initiation of testis development which depends on the expression of the Y-linked testis determining gene, Sry. The mechanisms by which Sry controls this process are unknown. Studies showed that ... Full text Link to item Cite

Sertoli cells of the mouse testis originate from the coelomic epithelium.

Journal Article Dev Biol · November 15, 1998 During mouse development, the gonad begins to form shortly before 10. 5 days postcoitum (dpc) on the ventromedial side of the mesonephros. The XY gonad consists of germ cells and somatic cells. The origin of the germ cells is clearly established; however, ... Full text Link to item Cite

Sry and the testis: molecular pathways of organogenesis.

Journal Article J Exp Zool · August 1, 1998 Featured Publication The gene Sry acts as a switch, initiating pathways leading to the differentiation of a testis rather than an ovary from the indifferent gonad (genital ridge) in mammals. The early events following Sry expression include rapid changes in the topographical o ... Full text Link to item Cite

Vascular patterning in the developing mouse gonad

Conference DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY · June 1, 1998 Link to item Cite

The role of cell migration in the developing mouse gonad

Conference DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY · June 1, 1998 Link to item Cite

Cell division in the mouse gonad

Conference DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY · June 1, 1998 Link to item Cite

Sex in the 90s: SRY and the switch to the male pathway.

Journal Article Annu Rev Physiol · 1998 Featured Publication In mammals the male sex determination switch is controlled by a single gene on the Y chromosome, SRY. SRY encodes a protein with an HMG-like DNA-binding domain, which probably acts as a local organizer of chromatin structure. It is believed to regulate dow ... Full text Link to item Cite

Male-specific cell migration into the developing gonad.

Journal Article Curr Biol · December 1, 1997 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: The gene Sry acts as a developmental switch, initiating a pathway of gene activity that leads to the differentiation of testis rather than ovary from the indifferent gonad (genital ridge) in mammalian embryos. The early events following Sry exp ... Full text Link to item Cite

Proliferation in the early gonad

Conference DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY · June 15, 1997 Link to item Cite

Fate of the coelomic epithelium during mouse gonadogenesis

Conference DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY · June 15, 1997 Link to item Cite

Establishment and characterization of conditionally immortalized cells from the mouse urogenital ridge.

Journal Article J Cell Sci · May 1996 Featured Publication Cell cultures from the urogenital ridge have been established to facilitate the study of the regulation and downstream interactions of Sry in mammalian sex determination. Cells have been explanted from transgenic mice carrying a temperature sensitive SV40 ... Full text Link to item Cite

Three-dimensional structure of the developing mouse genital ridge.

Journal Article Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci · November 29, 1995 Featured Publication We are interested in understanding how the field of cells which forms the gonad arises, and how the testis-determining gene, Sry, controls morphogenesis of a testis within this field of cells. To appreciate changes in the three-dimensional structure of the ... Full text Link to item Cite

The genetic basis of XX-XY differences present before gonadal sex differentiation in the mouse - Discussion

Journal Article PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON SERIES B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES · November 29, 1995 Link to item Cite

The molecular biology of temperature-dependent sex determination - Discussion

Journal Article PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON SERIES B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES · November 29, 1995 Link to item Cite

Expression of Sry, the mouse sex determining gene.

Journal Article Development · June 1995 Featured Publication In the mouse, Sry is expressed by germ cells in the adult testis and by somatic cells in the genital ridge. Transcripts in the former exist as circular RNA molecules of 1.23 kb, which are unlikely to be efficiently translated. We have used RNase protection ... Full text Link to item Cite

Y353/B: a candidate multiple-copy spermiogenesis gene on the mouse Y chromosome.

Journal Article Mamm Genome · April 1994 Featured Publication There is evidence from Y Chromosome (Chr) deletion mapping that there is a gene on the long arm of the mouse Y Chr that is needed for the normal development of the sperm head. Since mice with partial Y long arm deletions show incomplete penetrance of the s ... Full text Link to item Cite

Deletion of Y chromosome sequences located outside the testis determining region can cause XY female sex reversal.

Journal Article Nat Genet · November 1993 Featured Publication An approach designed to map and generate mutations in the region of the short arm of the mouse Y chromosome, known to be involved in sex determination and spermatogenesis, is described. This relies on homologous Yp-Sxra pairing and asymmetrical exchange wh ... Full text Link to item Cite

Circular transcripts of the testis-determining gene Sry in adult mouse testis.

Journal Article Cell · June 4, 1993 Featured Publication Sry is expressed at higher levels in the adult testis, where no function has been determined, than in the genital ridge, its critical site of action. cDNA and 5' RACE clones isolated from testis or from Sry-transfected cell lines have an unusual structure, ... Full text Link to item Cite

The sry gene and sex determination in mammals

Journal Article Advances in Developmental Biology (1992) · January 1, 1993 With the isolation and characterization of Sry, a gene with a critical role in development has been defined. Sry can be described as a master regulatory gene in that it has a pivotal role in the sex determination pathway. However, much work must be done to ... Full text Cite

Expression of a candidate sex-determining gene during mouse testis differentiation.

Journal Article Nature · November 29, 1990 Featured Publication The development of a eutherian mammal as a male is a consequence of testis formation in the embryo, which is thought to be initiated by a gene on the Y chromosome. In the absence of this gene, ovaries are formed and female characteristics develop. Sex dete ... Full text Link to item Cite

A gene mapping to the sex-determining region of the mouse Y chromosome is a member of a novel family of embryonically expressed genes.

Journal Article Nature · July 19, 1990 Featured Publication A gene mapping to the sex-determining region of the mouse Y chromosome is deleted in a line of XY female mice mutant for Tdy, and is expressed at a stage during male gonadal development consistent with its having a role in testis determination. This gene i ... Full text Link to item Cite

Long- and short-lived murine hematopoietic stem cell clones individually identified with retroviral integration markers.

Journal Article Blood · June 15, 1990 Featured Publication The proliferative longevity of totipotent hematopoietic stem cells (THSC) is a limiting factor in normal hematopoiesis and in therapy by cell- or gene-replacement, but has not yet been ascertained. We have followed the long-term fate of individual clones o ... Link to item Cite

Neonatal W-mutant mice are favorable hosts for tracking development of marked hematopoietic stem cells.

Journal Article Exp Hematol · September 1989 Featured Publication Neonatal unirradiated mice of W-mutant genotypes, with a hematopoietic stem cell defect and anemia, were injected i.v. with normal fetal liver hematopoietic cells. Efficient, long-term engraftment occurred as a result of the competitive advantage to the do ... Link to item Cite

Clonal contributions of small numbers of retrovirally marked hematopoietic stem cells engrafted in unirradiated neonatal W/Wv mice.

Journal Article Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A · June 1989 Featured Publication Mice were repopulated with small numbers of retrovirally marked hematopoietic cells operationally definable as totipotent hematopoietic stem cells, without engraftment of cells at later stages of hematopoiesis, in order to facilitate analysis of stem cell ... Full text Link to item Cite