The study of male and female reproductive tract development requires expertise in two separate disciplines, developmental biology and endocrinology. For ease of experimentation and economy, the mouse has been used extensively as a model for human development and pathogenesis, and for the most part similarities in developmental processes and hormone action provide ample justification for the relevance of mouse models for human reproductive tract development. Indeed, there are many examples describing the phenotype of human genetic disorders that have a reasonably comparable phenotype in mice, attesting to the congruence between mouse and human development. However, anatomic, developmental and endocrinologic differences exist between mice and humans that (1) must be appreciated and (2) considered with caution when extrapolating information between all animal models and humans. It is critical that the investigator be aware of both the similarities and differences in organogenesis and hormone action within male and female reproductive tracts so as to focus on those features of mouse models with clear relevance to human development/pathology. This review, written by a team with extensive expertise in the anatomy, developmental biology and endocrinology of both mouse and human urogenital tracts, focusses upon the significant human/mouse differences, and when appropriate voices a cautionary note regarding extrapolation of mouse models for understanding development of human male and female reproductive tracts.

男性和女性生殖道发育的​​研究需要发育生物学和内分泌学这两个独立学科的专业知识。为了便于实验和节省经济，小鼠已被广泛用作人类发育和发病机制的模型，并且在大多数情况下，发育过程和激素作用的相似性为小鼠模型与人类生殖道发育的​​相关性提供了充分的依据。确实，有许多例子描述了人类遗传性疾病的表型，这些表型在小鼠中具有相当可比的表型，证明了小鼠与人类发育之间的一致性。但是，解剖学上 在小鼠和人类之间存在发育和内分泌方面的差异，在外推所有动物模型与人类之间的信息时，必须赞赏（1），并且必须谨慎考虑（2）。研究人员必须意识到男性和女性生殖道内器官发生和激素作用的异同，以便将注意力集中在与人类发育/病理学密切相关的小鼠模型的特征上。该评论由在小鼠和人类泌尿生殖道的解剖学，发育生物学和内分泌学方面具有丰富专业知识的团队撰写，着重于人与小鼠之间的显着差异，并在适当的时候提出了关于推断小鼠模型以理解发育的警告性注意事项。男性和女性生殖道。