Investigation of the doublesex and mab-3 related transcription factor (Dmrt) gene family in mammalian male sexual development

The focus of this thesis was investigating potential roles for the doublesex and mab-3 related transcription factors (DMRTs) during mammalian male sexual development. Examination of Dmrt3 and Dmrt5 showed that both genes and their protein products are dispensable for male testis development and function. However, loss-of-function mice did show that both DMRT3 and DMRT5 are required for development of the brain. The main emphasis of this work featured DMRT1 function in postnatal male germ cells. DMRT1 is required in neonatal germ cells to maintain sexual identity and cell fate. In addition, it was found that DMRT1 prevents premature meiotic entry by preventing retinoic acid (RA) signaling in spermatogonia.