This paper reviews and provides new observations on the ontogeny of estrogen receptor alpha (ESR1) and estrogen receptor beta (ESR2) in developing human male and female internal and external genitalia. Included in this study are observations on the human fetal uterine tube, the uterotubal junction, uterus, cervix, vagina, penis and clitoris. We also summarize and report on the ontogeny of estrogen receptors in the human fetal prostate, prostatic urethra and epididymis. The ontogeny of ESR1 and ESR2, which spans from 8 to 21 weeks correlates well with the known “window of susceptibility” (7–15 weeks) for diethylstilbestrol (DES)-induced malformations of the human female reproductive tract as determined through examination of DES daughters exposed in utero to this potent estrogen. Our fairly complete mapping of the ontogeny of ESR1 and ESR2 in developing human male and female internal and external genitalia provides a mechanistic framework for further investigation of the role of estrogen in normal development and of abnormalities elicited by exogenous estrogens.

本文回顾并提供了关于雌激素受体α（ESR1）和雌激素受体β（ESR2）在人类男性和女性内外生殖器发育过程中的个体发育的新观察。本研究包括对人类胎儿输卵管、输卵管交界处、子宫、宫颈、阴道、阴茎和阴蒂的观察。我们还总结和报告了人类胎儿前列腺、前列腺尿道和附睾中雌激素受体的个体发育。ESR1 和 ESR2 的个体发育时间跨度为 8 至 21 周，这与已知的“易感性窗口”（7-15 周）密切相关女儿在子宫内暴露于这种强效雌激素。