Welcome to the family: the anti-müllerian hormone receptor

Anti-müllerian hormone (AMH) is a member of the superfamily of peptide growth/differentiation factors which includes the activins and TGF-beta s. The putative AMH type II receptor, which was cloned recently (Baarends et al., 1994), is a member of the superfamily of transmembrane serine/threonine kinase receptors. In hypothetical evolutionary relationship dendrograms, both AMH and its putative receptor take isolated positions relative to their respective family members. The prenatal expression pattern of this putative AMH receptor is in accordance with the expected endocrine action of AMH on the mesenchymal cells located adjacent to the müllerian duct, and with known effects of AMH on gonadal differentiation. Postnatal expression of mRNA encoding this receptor in granulosa and Sertoli cells provides a new stimulus to study possible functions of AMH in the gonads.