Does Testosterone Diffuse Down the Wolffian Duct During Sexual Differentiation?

Abstract

Abstract Purpose Sexual differentiation in gonadal dysgenesis is commonly asymmetrical. In patients with true hermaphroditism there may be an ovary and mullerian duct on 1 side, and a testis and wolffian duct on the other side. Such asymmetry suggests that testicular hormones only act locally at this early stage of sexual differentiation. We tested the hypothesis that testosterone reaches the wolffian duct by transport down the duct rather than by simple diffusion. Materials and Methods Mouse 14-day urogenital ridges were placed in organ culture and microinjected with testosterone-albumin-fluorescein isothiocyanate. Results At 17 hours fluorescence was found throughout the wolffian duct and ..