This paper reviews the many steps involved in the complex process of gonadal differentiation, starting with the already "classic" SRY (sex-determining region on the Y chromosome) and highlighting the main candidate genes to this "cascade" of sexual determination. The number of candidate genes has grown showing the complexity involved in the path from a bipotential gonad to reach its destiny as a testis or as an ovary. We discuss the interdependency of the genes located upstream of SRY, such as WT1, SF-1, DAX-1, and SOX9, and how one gene can activate the promoter of other genes in the process (SF-1 + WT1 activate the promoter of AMH). Although the list of candidate genes has increased, many questions remain unanswered and a lot of work is still needed to clarify this complex step of sexual differentiation, namely, gonadal determination.
Gonadal determination; Testis determining factor; Testis; Ovary; Intersex; Y chromosome
