Induction of H-Y Antigen in the Gonads of Male Quail Embryos by Diethylstilbestrol

doi:10.1111/j.1432-0436.1980.tb01068.x

Differentiation

Volume 16, Issues 1–3, June 1980, Pages 129-133

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In quails, H-Y antigen is induced by oestrogens in the gonads of the originally H-Y negative homogametic sex but not in non-gonadal tissues. This is consistent with the view that oestrogens act via H-Y antigen in the organization of the avian gonad.

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Cited by (28)

Serological H-Y antigen in the female chicken occurs during gonadal differentiation
1988, Differentiation
In the chicken, serological H-Y antigen is specific for the female sex. Male gonad differentiation can be experimentally influenced by estrogens, resulting in the transient formation of an ovotestis. The sex-inverted gonad becomes positive for H-Y antigen. Therefore, the question arises whether, in normal gonadogenesis also, the female gonad at the indifferent stage, before estrogens are produced, is negative for H-Y antigen. Here we show that this is indeed the case. The female gonad becomes positive for H-Y antigen when the ovary starts its organotypic differentiation at about day 6¹/₂ of embryonal development. It is assumed that estrogens are responsible for the occurrence of H-Y antigen. This finding supports the view that H-Y antigen plays a role in primary ovogenesis in the chicken.
An in vitro model of gonad differentiation in the chicken. Estradiol-induced sex-inversion results in the occurrence of serological H-Y antigen
1988, Differentiation
Dissociated cells from the gonads and mesonephros of 8-day-old chicken embryos were reorganized in rotation culture. The aggregates obtained from gonadal cells exhibited specific morphologic and histologic sex differences. In the presence of estradiol, aggregates from testicular cells showed characteristics similar to control ovarian aggregates, while in ovarian aggregates under estradiol treatment the female organization became more pronounced. Determination of serological H-Y antigen revealed that male aggregates of gonads and mesonephros were negative for H-Y and those of female embryos were positive for H-Y. Administration of estradiol did not change the H-Y findings in female aggregates. In contrast, in the male, gonadal cultures became H-Y positive while mesonephros cultures remained negative. It is assumed that estradiol induces the occurrence of H-Y antigen in the gonads.
Testis determination and the H-Y hypothesis
1987, Current Topics in Developmental Biology
This chapter focuses on testis formation and the H-Y hypothesis. In mammals, formation of the testis is a crucial step in sex determination. From the fetal stage onward, the development of male secondary sexual characteristics, including the masculinization of the hypothalamus and “brain sex,” is under the control of androgens secreted from the testes. The responsible hormone, testosterone, is produced by the Leydig cells of the fetal testis and is required to maintain and stimulate the growth of the primordial male sex ducts. One day before testosterone production starts, the pre-Sertoli cells of the mouse and rat testis begin to secrete Müllerian inhibiting substance, causing the primordial female sex ducts to degenerate. In normal embryogenesis, the cytodifferentiation of pre-Sertoli cells from the precursor supporting-cell lineage precedes by some hours their aggregation into testis cords. Differentiation of pre-Sertoli cells, the first step in testis formation, appears to be genetically programmed and cell autonomous. Presence of a Y chromosome in the cell is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for such differentiation.
The occurrence of serological H-Y antigen (Sxs antigen) in the diandric protogynous wrasse, Coris julis (L.) (Labridae, Teleostei)
1987, Differentiation
The serological sex-specific (Sxs) antigen (previously called ‘H-Y antigen’) has been shown, in various vertebrate species ranging from fish to mammals, to be characteristic of the heterogametic sex. We studied a protogynous hermaphrodite, Coris julis, in order to examine whether the change of a female to a secondary male also involves a change in the Sxs-antigen phenotype. The (homogametic) females of this species were found to be Sxs negative, while both primary and secondary males were Sxs positive. This was true not only for gonads but also for nongo-nadal tissues. The administration of androgen to females is known to cause sex inversion in this species; we were able to demonstrate this again at the histological level, and found that androgen results in a Sxs positive phenotype in all tissues studied (gonads, spleen, muscle). We propose that androgen is responsible, directly or indirectly, for the occurrence of the Sxs antigen.
Effect of tamoxifen on H-Y antigen expression and gonadal development in chicken embryos
1985, Differentiation
Avian species follow the ZW/ZZ system of sex determination, which the female is heterogametic and expresses H-Y (or, more appropriately,‘H-W’) antigen. We present the results of an investigation into the effects of the antiestrogen, tamoxifen, on gonadal differentiation and H-Y antigen expression in chickens. When given at doses of 0.25–2 mg per egg immediately before incubation, tamoxifen blocked regression of the right gonad in a significant number of 14-day-old female embryos. The nonregressed right gonad had a testis-like external appearance and, in some cases, contained what appeared to be spermatogenic tubules. Tamoxifen had no histologically detectable effect on the differentiation of the left ovary or the testes. In spite of tamoxifen's histological effects on right female gonads, it did not masculinize the steroidogenic capabilities of these gonads. Whether obtained from drug- or vehicletreated embryos, the left and right female gonads always contained appreciable amounts of estrogen. In contrast, testes obtained from either drug- or vehicle-treated embryos did not contain detectable amounts of estrogen. Tamoxifen reduced the H-Y antigen levels in female liver and gonads. In both left and right female gonads, the reduction was to male levels. In female livers, tamoxifen reduced H-Y antigen to levels intermediate between those of normal males and females. Thus, the expression of H-Y antigen in both gonadal and nongonadal tissue is estrogen dependent, but the dependency appears to be more stringent for gonadal tissue. Since the morphology of left gonads obtained from tamoxifen-treated females remained ovarian even though they contained levels of H-Y antigen which were indistinguishable from those contained by testes, these data indicate that ovarian differentiation can occur in the presence of male levels of H-Y antigen.
Gonad-specific uptake of H-Y antigen in the chicken
1984, Journal of Reproductive Immunology

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Induction of H-Y Antigen in the Gonads of Male Quail Embryos by Diethylstilbestrol

Adv Immunol

Cell

Differentiation

Gen Comp Endocrinol

Cell

Communication

Transplant Bull

Serological crossreactivity between H-Y (male) antigens of mouse and man

Proc Natl Acad Sci USA

Possible role for H-Y antigen in the primary determination of sex

Nature

Testicular cells lysostripped of H-Y antigen organize ovarian follicle-like aggregates

Cytogenet Cell Genet

Studies on the function of H-Y antigen: dissociation and reorganization experiments on rat gonadal tissue

Cytogenet Cell Genet

Appearance of hCG-receptor after conversion of newborn ovarian cells into testicular structures by H-Y antigen in vitro

Hum Genet

Evolutionary conservation of H-Y (‘male’) antigen

Nature

Sur l'utilisation de sérum anti-H-Y de Souris pour la détermination du sexe génétique chez Emys orbicularis L.

CR Acad Sci [D] (Paris)

Genetics of sex differentiation

Natural and experimental modification of ovarian development