{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,10]],"date-time":"2026-10-10T06:58:27Z","timestamp":1791615507484,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":135,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,8]],"date-time":"2021-03-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1615161600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000268","name":"Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["BB\/M011224\/1"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["BB\/M011224\/1"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000268","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Cell Dev. Biol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>The conduits of life; the animal oviducts and human fallopian tubes are of paramount importance for reproduction in amniotes. They connect the ovary with the uterus and are essential for fertility. They provide the appropriate environment for gamete maintenance, fertilization and preimplantation embryonic development. However, serious pathologies, such as ectopic pregnancy, malignancy and severe infections, occur in the oviducts. They can have drastic effects on fertility, and some are life-threatening. Despite the crucial importance of the oviducts in life, relatively little is known about the molecular drivers underpinning the embryonic development of their precursor structures, the M\u00fcllerian ducts, and their successive differentiation and maturation. The M\u00fcllerian ducts are simple rudimentary tubes comprised of an epithelial lumen surrounded by a mesenchymal layer. They differentiate into most of the adult female reproductive tract (FRT). The earliest sign of M\u00fcllerian duct formation is the thickening of the anterior mesonephric coelomic epithelium to form a placode of two distinct progenitor cells. It is proposed that one subset of progenitor cells undergoes partial epithelial-mesenchymal transition (pEMT), differentiating into immature M\u00fcllerian luminal cells, and another subset undergoes complete EMT to become M\u00fcllerian mesenchymal cells. These cells invaginate and proliferate forming the M\u00fcllerian ducts. Subsequently, pEMT would be reversed to generate differentiated epithelial cells lining the fully formed M\u00fcllerian lumen. The anterior M\u00fcllerian epithelial cells further specialize into the oviduct epithelial subtypes. This review highlights the key established molecular and genetic determinants of the processes involved in M\u00fcllerian duct development and the differentiation of its upper segment into oviducts. Furthermore, an extensive genome-wide survey of mouse knockout lines displaying M\u00fcllerian or oviduct phenotypes was undertaken. In addition to widely established genetic determinants of M\u00fcllerian duct development, our search has identified surprising associations between loss-of-function of several genes and high-penetrance abnormalities in the M\u00fcllerian duct and\/or oviducts. Remarkably, these associations have not been investigated in any detail. Finally, we discuss future directions for research on M\u00fcllerian duct development and oviducts.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fcell.2021.605301","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,8]],"date-time":"2021-03-08T05:43:02Z","timestamp":1615182182000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":49,"title":["Mechanistic Drivers of M\u00fcllerian Duct Development and Differentiation Into the Oviduct"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"Laura","family":"Santana Gonzalez","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ioanna A.","family":"Rota","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mara","family":"Artibani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Matteo","family":"Morotti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhiyuan","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nina","family":"Wietek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Abdulkhaliq","family":"Alsaadi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ashwag","family":"Albukhari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tatjana","family":"Sauka-Spengler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ahmed A.","family":"Ahmed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1154","DOI":"10.1002\/mrd.20858","article-title":"A mesenchymal perspective of M\u00fcllerian duct differentiation and regression in Amhr2-lacZ mice.","volume":"75","author":"Arango","year":"2008","journal-title":"Mol. 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