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In vitro studies of gonadal organogenesis in the presence and absence of H-Y antigen

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Summary

In a very strict sense, the primary (gonadal) sex of mammals is determined not so much by the presence or absence of the Y but the expression or nonexpression of the evolutionary extremely conserved plasma membrane H-Y antigen. The central somatic blastema of embryonic indifferent gonads contains one cell lineage characterized by the possession of S−F differentiation antigen that differentiates into testicular Sertoli cells in the presence of H-Y and into ovarian follicular (granulosa) cells in its absence. This cell lineage appears to play the most critical role in gonadal differentiation. Whether or not testicular Leydig cells and ovarian theca cells are similarly derived from the common cell lineage has not been determined. Nevertheless, if given H-Y antigen, presumptive theca-cell precursors of the fetal ovary acquire hCG (LH?)-receptors—the characteristic of fetal Leydig cells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, City of Hope National Medical Center, 1500 East Duarte Road, 91010, Duarte, California

    Susumu Ohno, Yukifumi Nagai, Salvatrice Ciccarese & Richard Smith

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  1. Susumu Ohno
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  2. Yukifumi Nagai
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  3. Salvatrice Ciccarese
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  4. Richard Smith
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Additional information

This work was supported by Contract NO1-CB-33907, and Grants No. 1 RO1 AG00042 and No. 5 RO1 CA16952 from the National Institutes of Health.

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Ohno, S., Nagai, Y., Ciccarese, S. et al. In vitro studies of gonadal organogenesis in the presence and absence of H-Y antigen. In Vitro 15, 11–18 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02627074

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