The type 2 anti-Müllerian hormone receptor has splice variants that are dominant-negative inhibitors

• Amhr2 has two splice variants, Amhr2Δ2 and Amhr2Δ9/10.
• Both splice variants are dominant negative inhibitors of Amhr2 signaling.
• Amhr2Δ2 and Amhr2Δ9/10 are expressed at low levels in the brain and testes.

Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) has both paracrine and hormonal actions that occur at different AMH concentrations, and in cells with different densities of its specific receptor (Amhr2). This diversity is not explained by canonical AMH signaling. We report that Amhr2 has two splice variants: Amhr2Δ2 (AMH binding site) and Amhr2Δ9/10 (kinase domain). Both spliced variants inhibit AMH signaling in a reporter assay. The mRNA for the spliced variants was relatively less abundant than Amhr2 mRNA in all tissues. This suggests that the physiological function(s) of the receptor variants may be restricted to specific cellular/subcellular sites and/or to the transport of AMH.