College of Science, Institute of Biology, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines.
Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2022 Jul 27;13:940229. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2022.940229. eCollection 2022.
Sexual dimorphisms can be seen in many organisms with some exhibiting subtle differences while some can be very evident. The difference between male and female can be seen on the morphological level such as discrepancies in body mass, presence of body hair in distinct places, or through the presence of specific reproductive structures. It is known that the development of the reproductive structures is governed by hormone signaling, most commonly explained through the actions of androgen signaling. The developmental program of the male and female external genitalia involves a common anlage, the genital tubercle or GT, that later on develop into a penis and clitoris, respectively. Androgen signaling involvement can be seen in the different tissues in the GT that express Androgen receptor and the different genes that are regulated by androgen in the mesenchyme and endoderm component of the GT. Muscles are also known to be responsive to androgen signaling with male and female muscles exhibiting different capabilities. However, the occurrence of sexual dimorphism in muscle development is unclear. In this minireview, a summary on the role of androgen in the sexually dimorphic development of the genital tubercle was provided. This was used as a framework on analyzing the different mechanism employed by androgen signaling to regulate the sexual dimorphism in muscle development.
性二态性可见于许多生物体中，有些表现出细微的差异，而有些则非常明显。男性和女性之间的差异可以在形态学水平上看到，例如体重差异、特定部位的体毛存在，或通过特定的生殖结构存在。已知生殖结构的发育受激素信号的控制，最常见的解释是通过雄激素信号的作用。男性和女性外生殖器的发育程序涉及一个共同的原基，即生殖器结节或 GT，它后来分别发育成阴茎和阴蒂。雄激素信号的参与可以在 GT 中的不同组织中看到，这些组织表达雄激素受体，以及在 GT 的中胚层和内胚层成分中受雄激素调节的不同基因。肌肉也被认为对雄激素信号有反应，男性和女性的肌肉表现出不同的能力。然而，肌肉发育中出现性二态性的情况尚不清楚。在这篇迷你综述中，提供了雄激素在生殖器结节的性二态性发育中的作用的概述。这被用作分析雄激素信号调节肌肉发育中性二态性的不同机制的框架。
