| First Author | Wu Q | Year | 2013 |
| Journal | Development | Volume | 140 |
| Issue | 2 | Pages | 291-300 |
| PubMed ID | 23221368 | Mgi Jnum | J:191052 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5460902 | Doi | 10.1242/dev.087882 |
| Citation | Wu Q, et al. (2013) Nodal/activin signaling promotes male germ cell fate and suppresses female programming in somatic cells. Development 140(2):291-300 |
| abstractText | Testicular development in the mouse is triggered in somatic cells by the function of Sry followed by the activation of fibroblast growth factor 9 (FGF9), which regulates testicular differentiation in both somatic and germ cells. However, the mechanism is unknown. We show here that the nodal/activin signaling pathway is activated in both male germ cells and somatic cells. Disruption of nodal/activin signaling drives male germ cells into meiosis and causes ectopic initiation of female-specific genes in somatic cells. Furthermore, we prove that nodal/activin-A works directly on male germ cells to induce the male-specific gene Nanos2 independently of FGF9. We conclude that nodal/activin signaling is required for testicular development and propose a model in which nodal/activin-A acts downstream of fibroblast growth factor signaling to promote male germ cell fate and protect somatic cells from initiating female differentiation. |
