Journal article
Oestrogen blocks the nuclear entry of SOX9 in the developing gonad of a marsupial mammal
AJ Pask, NE Calatayud, G Shaw, WM Wood, MB Renfree
BMC Biology | BMC | Published : 2010
Abstract
Background: Hormones are critical for early gonadal development in nonmammalian vertebrates, and oestrogen is required for normal ovarian development. In contrast, mammals determine sex by the presence or absence of the SRY gene, and hormones are not thought to play a role in early gonadal development. Despite an XY sex-determining system in marsupial mammals, exposure to oestrogen can override SRY and induce ovarian development of XY gonads if administered early enough. Here we assess the effect of exogenous oestrogen on the molecular pathways of mammalian gonadal development.Results: We examined the expression of key testicular (SRY, SOX9, AMH and FGF9) and ovarian (WNT4, RSPO1, FOXL2 and ..
View full abstractRelated Projects (1)
Grants
Funding Acknowledgements
We thank Ms. K. Martin and Mr. S. Brownlees for assistance with animal handling, Ms. S Osborn for assistance with culture and Ms. A. Santos de Medeiros for assistance with sample preparation. We are grateful to Profs. R. Lovell-Badge and J.D. Wilson for helpful comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by a project grant #454367 to AJP, MBR and GS, an RD Wright fellowship from the National Health and Medical Research council to AJP and an Australian Research Council Federation Fellowship to MBR.