Wolf U
Bull Schweiz Akad Med Wiss. 1978 Nov;34(4-6):357-68.
The steroid-hormone dependent sexual development presupposes the already sex-specific differentiated gonads. The H-Y antigen is held responsible for the primary differentiation of the indifferent gonadal anlage towards testicular organization. Studies on the function of H-Y antigen, using gonadal cells in vitro, have shown that in the presence of H-Y antigen the gonad differentiates into testicular, in its absence into ovarian structures, independent of whether the sex chromosomes are XX or XY. The gonads of both sexes are endowed with a specific H-Y receptor, other tissues are not. The bipotency of the gonadal anlage arises from this character. Some disorders of sexual development presumably go back to mutations affecting the genetic control of the H-Y gene and the function of H-Y antigen, respectively. It is discussed that the Y chromosome may have a mere regulatory function and not include the H-Y gene. Thus, the primary differentiation of the gonad should be dependent exclusively on whether or not the H-Y gene is active.
类固醇激素依赖性性发育以已经具有性别特异性分化的性腺为前提。H-Y抗原被认为对未分化的性腺原基向睾丸组织的初级分化负责。使用体外培养的性腺细胞对H-Y抗原功能的研究表明，在存在H-Y抗原的情况下，性腺分化为睾丸，在其不存在的情况下分化为卵巢结构，而与性染色体是XX还是XY无关。两性的性腺都具有特异性的H-Y受体，其他组织则没有。性腺原基的双能性源于这一特性。一些性发育障碍可能分别归因于影响H-Y基因的遗传控制和H-Y抗原功能的突变。有人认为Y染色体可能仅具有调节功能，并不包含H-Y基因。因此，性腺的初级分化应该仅取决于H-Y基因是否活跃。
