Victor Ruthig, PhD

Professional Titles

• Director, Developmental Biology Microscopy Consortium
• Instructor of Microscopy

Research Interests

Oversees the Developmental Biology Microscopy Consortium including: experimental design, user training, image processing, image analysis, and equipment maintenance. Additionally, jointly supervises formal microscopy education through seminars and graduate courses. Research interests include genetics and RNA biology in sex determination, fertility, and genitourinary birth defects.

Publications

• Wortham M, Ramms B, Zeng C, Benthuysen JR, Sai S, Pollow DP, Liu F, Schlichting M, Harrington AR, Liu B, Prakash TP, Pirie EC, Zhu H, Baghdasarian S, Lee ST, Ruthig VA, Wells KL, Auwerx J, Shirihai OS, Sander M. The protein deacetylase SIRT2 exerts metabolic control over adaptive ß cell proliferation. J Clin Invest. 2025 Oct 1;135(19). PubMed PMID: 40762838
• McKey J, Ruthig VA. Germ Cell Sex Differentiation. In: Skinner MK, editor. Encyclopedia of Reproduction [Internet] 3 ed. Waltham MA: Elsevier; 2025. Chapter 74; Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B978044321477600540X.
• McKey J, Ruthig VA. Germ Cell Sex Differentiation. In: Skinner MK, editor. Encyclopedia of Reproduction [Internet] 3 ed. Waltham MA: Elsevier; 2025. Chapter 74; Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-21477-6.00540-X
• Wortham M, Ramms B, Zeng C, Benthuysen JR, Sai S, Pollow DP, Liu F, Schlichting M, Harrington AR, Liu B, Prakash TP, Pirie EC, Zhu H, Baghdasarian S, Lee ST, Ruthig VA, Wells KL, Auwerx J, Shirihai OS, Sander M. The protein deacetylase SIRT2 exerts metabolic control over adaptive ß cell proliferation. J Clin Invest. 2025 Oct 1;135(19). PubMed PMID: 40762838
• O’Neill M, Ruthig V, Haller M, Zhelyazkova B, White J, Thirumavalavan N, Lamb D. Leung P, Qiao J, editors. Chapter 1 - Developmental genetics of the male reproductive system [Internet] Academic Press; 2023/01. 3-28p. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780323913805000216.
• Holmlund H, Yamauchi Y, Ruthig VA, Cocquet J, Ward MA. Return of the forgotten hero: the role of Y chromosome-encoded Zfy in male reproduction. Mol Hum Reprod. 2023 Jul 31;29(8). PubMed PMID: 37354519
• Ruthig VA, Hatkevich T, Hardy J, Friedersdorf MB, Mayère C, Nef S, Keene JD, Capel B. The RNA binding protein DND1 is elevated in a subpopulation of pro-spermatogonia and targets chromatin modifiers and translational machinery during late gestation. PLoS Genet. 2023 Mar;19(3):e1010656. PubMed PMID: 36857387
• Ruthig VA, Lamb DJ. Modeling development of genitourinary birth defects to understand disruption due to changes in gene dosage. Am J Clin Exp Urol. 2022;10(6):412-424. PubMed PMID: 36636694
• Ruthig VA, Lamb DJ. Updates in Sertoli Cell-Mediated Signaling During Spermatogenesis and Advances in Restoring Sertoli Cell Function. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2022;13:897196. PubMed PMID: 35600584
• Ruthig VA, Yokonishi T, Friedersdorf MB, Batchvarova S, Hardy J, Garness JA, Keene JD, Capel B. A transgenic DND1GFP fusion allele reports in vivo expression and RNA-binding targets in undifferentiated mouse germ cells†. Biol Reprod. 2021 Apr 1;104(4):861-874. PubMed PMID: 33394034
• Huang Q, Cohen MA, Alsina FC, Devlin G, Garrett A, McKey J, Havlik P, Rakhilin N, Wang E, Xiang K, Mathews P, Wang L, Bock C, Ruthig V, Wang Y, Negrete M, Wong CW, Murthy PKL, Zhang S, Daniel AR, Kirsch DG, Kang Y, Capel B, Asokan A, Silver DL, Jaenisch R, Shen X. Intravital imaging of mouse embryos. Science. 2020 Apr 10;368(6487):181-186. PubMed PMID: 32273467
• Ruthig VA, Nielsen T, Riel JM, Yamauchi Y, Ortega EA, Salvador Q, Ward MA. Testicular abnormalities in mice with Y chromosome deficiencies. Biol Reprod. 2017 Mar 1;96(3):694-706. PubMed PMID: 28339606
• Ruthig VA, Labrash S, Lozanoff S, Ward MA. Macroscopic demonstration of the male urogenital system with evidence of a direct inguinal hernia utilizing room temperature plastination. Anatomy. 2016 Dec;10(3):211-220. PubMed PMID: 28824276
• Yamauchi Y, Riel JM, Ruthig VA, Ortega EA, Mitchell MJ, Ward MA. Two genes substitute for the mouse Y chromosome for spermatogenesis and reproduction. Science. 2016 Jan 29;351(6272):514-6. PubMed PMID: 26823431
• Ortega EA, Ruthig VA, Ward MA. Sry-Independent Overexpression of Sox9 Supports Spermatogenesis and Fertility in the Mouse. Biol Reprod. 2015 Dec;93(6):141. PubMed PMID: 26536904
• Riel JM, Yamauchi Y, Sugawara A, Li HY, Ruthig V, Stoytcheva Z, Ellis PJ, Cocquet J, Ward MA. Deficiency of the multi-copy mouse Y gene Sly causes sperm DNA damage and abnormal chromatin packaging. J Cell Sci. 2013 Feb 1;126(Pt 3):803-13. PubMed PMID: 23178944

Professional Memberships

• Society for the Study of Reproduction, Virtual Education Committee, Chair
• Society for Developmental Biology, Member
• Out to Innovate, Member
• American Society of Andrology, Virtual Engagement Committee
• BioImaging North America, Member