Role of Gonadal Hormones in Development of the Sexual Phenotypes

Male and female embryos develop in an identical fashion during the initial portion of gestation. If the indifferent gonad differentiates into an ovary (or if no gonad is present), a female phenotype is formed. Male phenotypic differentiation, however, requires the presence of an endocrinologically active testis. Two secretions of the fetal testis, Müllerian inhibiting substance and testosterone, are responsible for male development. Studies of single gene mutations that interfere with androgen action indicate that testosterone itself is responsible for virilization of the Wolffian duct system into the epididymis, vas deferens, and seminal vesicle, whereas the testosterone metabolite dihydrotestosterone induces development of the prostate and male external genitalia. Thus, impairment of dihydrotestosterone formation results in a characteristics phenotype consisting of predominantly female external genitalia but normally virilized Wolffian ducts. The molecular mechanisms by which testosterone and dihydrotestosterone act during fetal development appear to involve the same high affinity receptor, a protein that transports both testosterone and dihydrotestosterone to the nucleus of target cells. When this receptor is either absent, deficient, or structurally abnormal, the actions of both testosterone and dihydrotestosterone are impaired, and the resulting developmental anomalies involve both internal and external genital structures.