Onset of sex differentiation: dialog between genes and cells.
During the late 1940s, Alfred Jost demonstrated that mammalian sex differentiation begins in fetal testis, producing two factors necessary for the establishment of phenotypic males. Castrated embryos prior to testis differentiation led to phenotypic female differentiation. Jost proposed the existence of a testis-determining factor (TDF), elucidated in 1990 and named SRY for humans and Sry for mice. Thereafter, an increasing list of genes expressed in the genital ridges of mouse embryos at the onset of gonad differentiation has appeared. To date, it is clear that complete understanding of the mechanisms underlying gonadal sex differentiation in mammals requires identification of key cell lineages in which gonadal-specific genes are expressed. Here, a correlation between known gene expression and gonadal morphologic changes is attempted.
Merchant-Larios
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H
Departamento de Biología Celular y Fisiología, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico. merchant@servidor.unam.mx
Moreno-Mendoza
N
N
D000818:Animals; D002369:Castration; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D019070:Cell Lineage; D002465:Cell Movement; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005326:Fetal Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D024282:Genes, sry; D005854:Germ Cells / Q000166:cytology; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D051741:Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors; D007985:Leydig Cells / Q000166:cytology; D008297:Male; D008322:Mammals / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008954:Models, Biological; D009095:Mullerian Ducts / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D010053:Ovary / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology; D010641:Phenotype; D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit / Q000502:physiology; D012670:Seminiferous Epithelium / Q000166:cytology; D012708:Sertoli Cells / Q000166:cytology; D019849:Sex Determination Processes; D012733:Sex Differentiation / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D051876:Sex-Determining Region Y Protein; D019089:Stem Cell Factor / Q000502:physiology; D017154:Stromal Cells / Q000502:physiology; D013737:Testis / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology / Q000502:physiology; D014157:Transcription Factors; D014928:Wolffian Ducts / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology; D014998:Y Chromosome / Q000235:genetics
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D005326:Fetal Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D051741:Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; C497745:SRY protein, human; D051876:Sex-Determining Region Y Protein; C497746:Sry protein, mouse; D019089:Stem Cell Factor; D014157:Transcription Factors; C054430:ZFY protein, human; D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit