Effect of estrogen in mouse testis determination
The aim of this research is to study the mechanism of sex determination between XY and XX gonads of mice embryos. The sex determination is different in mammals and non-mammals. In non-mammals the temperature or hormone concentration determines the sex. In mammals, the hormones do not have a role in sex determination, only in sex differentiation and behavior. The effect of estrogen in the male gonads of mammals produces sex reversal on the reproductive tract. The existence of the SRY genes determines the sex of the embryo. In this research, mice embryos will be treated with estrogen. We expect to determine if the estrogen can inhibit the SRY genes and to answer the following questions: Is there a conserved role of estrogen in antagonizing testis development in mammals? and Does estrogen have an "anti-testis" function in mammalian sex determination? The embryos exposed to estrogen and DMSO died, so further experiments with other techniques and using other concentrations of estrogen must be performed in order to answer the above questions. New experiments where the embryos' gonads will be cultured with 70% EtOH needs to be conducted. We suggest using diethylstilbestrol for future experiments to determine sex differentiation.
School:
University of Puerto Rico at Bayamón
Department:
General Biology
Research Advisor:
Humphrey Yao
Department of Research Advisor:
Veterinary Biosciences
Year of Publication:
2003