Testis formation in the fetal mouse: dynamic and complex de novo tubulogenesis

Abstract

Soon after Sry initiates male sex determination, cells in XY gonads undergo an unusual process of de novo cord formation that results in the organization of Sertoli cells into epithelial tubules enclosing germ cells and partitioning mesenchymal cells and vasculature to the interstitial space of the testis. Recent experiments investigating this dynamic process in four dimensions have begun to shed new light on the collective interactions of multiple cell types during morphogenesis of testis cords.