Estrogen regulates development of the somatic cell phenotype in the eutherian ovary

Abstract

Steroids play a critical role in gonadal differentiation in birds, reptiles, and amphibia whereas gonadal differentiation in mammals is thought to be determined by genetic mechanisms. The gonads of female mice incapable of synthesizing estrogens due to disruption of the aromatase gene (ArKO) provide a unique model to test the role of estrogen in regulating the gonadal phenotype. We have shown that in the absence of estrogen, genetically female mice develop testicular tissue within their ovaries. The ovaries develop cells that possess structural and functional characteristics of testicular interstitial cells and of seminiferous tubule-like structures lined with Sertoli cells. Moreover, the ov..