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Failure of MD regression results in persistent M\u00fcllerian duct syndrome (PMDS) in humans. Although several factors essential for MD regression have been identified, the underlying regulatory network remains incompletely understood. In this study, we found that the Wilms tumour gene (\n                    <jats:italic>Wt1<\/jats:italic>\n                    ) was highly expressed in the MD mesenchyme of male mice. Mesenchyme\u2010specific inactivation of\n                    <jats:italic>Wt1<\/jats:italic>\n                    resulted in MD retention and male infertility. The expression of\n                    <jats:italic>Amh<\/jats:italic>\n                    in the testes and its receptor\n                    <jats:italic>Amhr2<\/jats:italic>\n                    in the MD mesenchyme remained unchanged in\n                    <jats:italic>Wt1<\/jats:italic>\n                    <jats:sup>\n                      <jats:italic>\u2212\/flox<\/jats:italic>\n                    <\/jats:sup>\n                    <jats:italic>; Amhr2\u2010cre<\/jats:italic>\n                    male mice. Instead, the expression of Wnt inhibitory factor 1 (\n                    <jats:italic>Wif1<\/jats:italic>\n                    ) and\n                    <jats:italic>Osterix<\/jats:italic>\n                    (\n                    <jats:italic>Osx<\/jats:italic>\n                    ) was significantly reduced, accompanied by nuclear accumulation of \u03b2\u2010catenin in the MD mesenchyme of\n                    <jats:italic>Wt1<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u2010deficient mice. Further studies revealed that\n                    <jats:italic>Wif1<\/jats:italic>\n                    and\n                    <jats:italic>Osx<\/jats:italic>\n                    were direct transcriptional targets of WT1. These findings identify\n                    <jats:italic>Wt1<\/jats:italic>\n                    as a previously unrecognized mesenchymal regulator of MD regression by inducing\n                    <jats:italic>Wif1<\/jats:italic>\n                    and\n                    <jats:italic>Osx<\/jats:italic>\n                    expression and provide new insights into the regulatory mechanisms underlying MD regression as well as the aetiology of reproductive tract disorders associated with\n                    <jats:italic>WT1<\/jats:italic>\n                    mutations.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1111\/cpr.70264","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,14]],"date-time":"2026-07-14T07:27:58Z","timestamp":1784014078000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["<i>Wt1<\/i>\n                    Is Required for the Regression of M\u00fcllerian Ducts in Male Mice by Inducing\n                    <i>Wif1<\/i>\n                    and\n                    <i>Osx<\/i>\n                    Expression"],"prefix":"10.1111","author":[{"given":"Min","family":"Chen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Organ Regeneration and Reconstruction, Institute of Zoology Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing China"},{"name":"Institute for Stem Cell and Regeneration Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing China"},{"name":"Beijing Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine  Beijing China"},{"name":"University of Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xin","family":"Qi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Veterinary Medicine, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University Key Laboratory of Clinical Diagnosis and Treatment Technology in Animal Disease, Ministry of Agriculture  Hohhot 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Academy of Sciences  Beijing China"},{"name":"University of Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Miao","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Organ Regeneration and Reconstruction, Institute of Zoology Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing China"},{"name":"University of Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yang","family":"Gao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Organ Regeneration and Reconstruction, Institute of Zoology Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing China"},{"name":"University of Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mengyue","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Organ Regeneration and Reconstruction, Institute of Zoology Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing China"},{"name":"University of Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jiayi","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Organ Regeneration and Reconstruction, Institute of Zoology Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing China"},{"name":"University of Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiuhong","family":"Cui","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Organ Regeneration and Reconstruction, Institute of Zoology Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing China"},{"name":"Institute for Stem Cell and Regeneration Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing China"},{"name":"Beijing Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine  Beijing China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9335-2264","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yanbo","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Sciences and Food Engineering Inner Mongolia Minzu University  Tongliao Inner Mongolia China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5753-5426","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lan","family":"Zhu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, National Clinical Research Center for Obstetric and Gynecologic Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, State Key Laboratory for Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences  Beijing China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4029-6411","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fei","family":"Gao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Organ Regeneration and Reconstruction, Institute of Zoology Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing China"},{"name":"Institute for Stem Cell and Regeneration Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing China"},{"name":"Beijing Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine  Beijing China"},{"name":"University of Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_9_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1093\/eep\/dvz017","article-title":"A Gene Regulatory Network for Mullerian Duct Regression","volume":"5","author":"Moses M. 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