| First Author | Burgoyne PS | Year | 1986 |
| Journal | Nature | Volume | 320 |
| Issue | 6058 | Pages | 170-2 |
| PubMed ID | 3951555 | Mgi Jnum | J:23697 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:71568 | Doi | 10.1038/320170a0 |
| Citation | Burgoyne PS, et al. (1986) Spermatogenic failure in male mice lacking H-Y antigen. Nature 320(6058):170-2 |
| abstractText | The mammalian Y chromosome carries a factor that initiates male sexual development by directing the fetal gonads to form testes. Wachtel and his colleagues proposed that this testis-determining function of the Y is mediated by the male-specific cell-surface antigen H-Y, originally defined by skin grafting. This attractive hypothesis, which has been widely accepted, was based on the assumption that serological tests using antisera raised against male cells were recognizing H-Y antigen. Although disputed this assumption is supported by some recent studies. However, mice have been described which develop testes but lack the cell-surface H-Y antigen as defined by T-cell-mediated transplantation tests. Thus, although it remains possible that a serologically detected male-specific antigen is responsible for testis determination, it seems that H-Y, as originally defined, is not. We show here that H-Y negative male mice, in losing the genetic information that encodes H-Y, have also lost genetic information required for spermatogenesis. This result identifies a gene on the mouse Y, distinct from the testis-determining gene, which is necessary for spermatogenesis, and raises the intriguing possibility that the product of this 'spermatogenesis gene' is H-Y antigen. |
