BIOL 1107 Lecture Notes - Lecture 50: Corpus Luteum, Follicular Phase, Luteal Phase
Document Summary
The role of sex hormones in mammalian reproduction. The male sex hormone is testosterone and the main female sex hormone is estradiol, which belongs to a class of hormones called estrogens. Testosterone is synthesized in specialized cells inside the testes. Estrogens are produced in the ovaries by cells that surround the developing egg, which form a structure called a follicle. Human sex hormones play a key role in: development of the reproductive tract in embryos, maturation of the reproductive tract during the transition from childhood to adulthood, regulation of spermatogenesis and oogenesis in adults. A number of changes take place in boys and girls during puberty, the process that leads to sexual maturation in humans. In amphibians, the juvenile-to-adult transition is triggered by the hormone t 3 (triiodothyronine). In insects the transition to adulthood occurs in response to ecdysone. These changes are triggered by increased levels of testosterone in boys and estradiol in girls.
