A proposed growth regulatory function for the serologically detectable sex-specific antigen H-Ys

It is widely believed that the serologically detectable sex-specific antigen H-Ys plays a major role in the primary determination of sex. The cellular distribution of the antigen, however, seems to be at odds with its postulated function. Consideration of this apparent paradox has prompted the suggestion that the H-Ys antigen functions as a growth regulator, and that its role in the primary determination of sex can be accounted for on this basis. Circumstantial evidence is adduced that H-Ys is a growth regulator in the embryo, and this is supported by evidence from several sources not immediately related to embryonic growth or development. Genes coding for growth regulators can function as oncogenes in situations involving disordered regulation, and it is suggested that this accounts for the high incidence of ovarian neoplasms in H-Ys positive, but not in H-Ys negative, female patients with 46,XY gonadal dysgenesis (Swyer's syndrome). A postulated growth regulatory function of H-Ys lends weight to the contention of others, not only that the direction of differentiation of the indifferent gonad in the embryo is determined by its growth rate, but also that a common mechanism underlies genotypic sex determination and environmental sex determination.