%0 Journal Article %T Partial Mullerian Duct Retention in Smad4 Conditional Mutant Male Mice %+ Institut de recherche en santé, environnement et travail (Irset) %A Petit, Fabrice %A Deng, Chuxia %A Jamin, Soazik %Z We are grateful to Richard R. Behringer (MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA) for the initiation of this study in his laboratory and for supplying us with the Amhr2-Cre mice. We are grateful to Michael Primig for allowing the termination of this work. We thank Nassim Arouche for his technical assistance with PCR. These studies were supported by l'Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale and the grant from l'Agence Nationale de la Recherche awarded to S.P.J. [grant number ANR-08- JCJC-0059] %< avec comité de lecture %Z WOS:000374665000004 %@ 1449-2288 %J International Journal of Biological Sciences %I Ivyspring International Publisher %V 12 %N 6 %P 667--676 %8 2016 %D 2016 %R 10.7150/ijbs.12300 %M 27194944 %K beta-catenin %K conditional knockout %K dpc4 gene %K hormone %K mouse embryo %K Mullerian duct %K palate development %K receptor %K regression %K sexual development %K Smad4 %K tgf-beta family %K transduction pathway %K tumor-suppressor gene %Z Life Sciences [q-bio]Journal articles %X Mullerian duct regression is a complex process which involves the AMH signalling pathway. We have previously demonstrated that besides AMH and its specific type II receptor (AMHRII), BMPR-IA and Smad5 are two essential factors implicated in this mechanism. Mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 4 (Smad4) is a transcription factor and the common Smad (co-Smad) involved in transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) signalling pathway superfamily. Since Smad4 null mutants die early during gastrulation, we have inactivated Smad4 in the Mullerian duct mesenchyme. Specific inactivation of Smad4 in the urogenital ridge leads to the partial persistence of the Mullerian duct in adult male mice. Careful examination of the urogenital tract reveals that the Mullerian duct retention is randomly distributed either on one side or both sides. Histological analysis shows a uterus-like structure, which is confirmed by the expression of estrogen receptor alpha. As previously described in a beta-catenin conditional mutant mouse model, beta-catenin contributes to Mullerian duct regression. In our mutant male embryos, it appears that beta-catenin expression is locally reduced along the urogenital ridge as compared to control mice. Moreover, the expression pattern is similar to those observed in control female mice. This study shows that reduced Smad4 expression disrupts the Wnt/beta-catenin signalling leading to the partial persistence of Mullerian duct %G English %L hal-01319890 %U https://univ-rennes.hal.science/hal-01319890 %~ UNIV-RENNES1 %~ UNIV-ANGERS %~ IFR140 %~ IRSET %~ STATS-UR1 %~ IRSET-SMS %~ IRSET-CCII %~ IRSET-TREC %~ IRSET-HIAEC %~ IRSET-SMLF %~ IRSET-ERD %~ IRSET-VCER %~ IRSET-NEED %~ IRSET-TNGC %~ UR1-UFR-SVE %~ UR1-HAL %~ UR1-SDV %~ IRSET-7 %~ TEST-UNIV-RENNES %~ TEST-UR-CSS %~ UNIV-RENNES %~ ANR %~ UR1-BIO-SA