ESPE Abstracts

Background: The androgen receptor (AR) is essential for the development of primary and secondary male characteristics and is activated by its ligand dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Reduced AR activity can cause undervirilization and infertility. We recently developed an assay to test AR function as a ligand-dependent transcriptional activator in human genital skin fibroblasts (GF). So far it is unclear, if AR expression levels correlate with AR function in the male external genital...

Background: DMRT transcription factors are highly conserved regulators of metazoan sexual development. The role of DMRT1 in human primary sex-determination is unclear. Chromosome 9p deletions that remove one copy of DMRT1 are associated with 46,XY feminization and gonadal dysgenesis. While they suggest that DMRT1 is haploinsufficient for testicular development, these deletions usually remove other genes, including DMRT2 and DMRT3. Also, most 9p deletions cause incomplete gonad...

Background: Recent work revealed two pathways in androgen biosynthesis, namely the classic and an alternative, the backdoor pathway. In this alternative pathway dihydrotestosterone is produced from 17-hydroxyprogesterone without the intermediacy of testosterone using mostly enzymes that are specific to the backdoor path. In the human ovary, regulation of androgen production plays a crucial role in normal physiology and in pathologies such as the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS...

Background: The process of sexual differentiation is central for reproduction of almost all metazoan. Recently, we identified CBX2.1 a chromatin architecture regulator, as an essential transactivator for human male gonadal development. CBX2 has a second isoform CBX2.2. Since nothing is known about the role of CBX2.2 in human sex development, we took advantage of the p.C132R mutation in CBX2.2 in a 46,XY disorder of sex development (DSD) patient with complete female phenotype a...

Background: Androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS) is a genetic disease X-linked, caused by functional abnormalities of the androgen receptor (AR). Mutations in the AR are associated with broad phenotypic spectrum from partial insensibility (PAIS) to complete insensitivity (CAIS).Objective and hypotheses: To characterize the mutations (MUT) identified in the AR in 38 Brazilian families with AIS. The MUT were analyzed considering their type, location in th...

Background: Complete androgen insensitivity syndrome (CAIS) is an X-linked recessive disorder of sex development (DSD) where affected individuals are phenotypically female but have a XY karyotype and testes. With increasing age there is an increased risk of malignant gonadal change, with incidence rates variously reported from 3.6 to 14%. Consequently, gonadectomy is recommended either during childhood or after puberty is complete, although there is no consensus on the optimal...