Sex Differentiation in the Genomic Era: Embryogenesis and Gametogenesis

Dear Colleagues,

Dramatic recent advances in genomics have illuminated the truly expansive and multifaceted nature of sexual dimorphism and intersex variance. The powerful morphogenic properties of sex hormones and the tight spatial-temporal control of their receptors has been documented for decades, but the fine details of their modulation and the modulation of their downstream signaling partners at the intercellular, transcript, epigenetic, and post-translational levels have dramatically expanded in recent years due to high-throughput screening, high-resolution imaging, and deep sequencing. Intricate mapping of these signaling pathways regularly leads to clarification of the etiologies of congenital differences of sexual development, as well as the etiologies of infertility and sex organ dysfunction. This Special Issue is soliciting papers that explore any facet of sexually dimorphic gametogenesis and organogenesis, including genitalia, brain, secondary sex features, or any tissue whose development is controlled in part by sex hormones. This Special Issue is particularly interested in including deep-data approaches such as RNA-sequencing, epigenetic modification mapping, proteomics, ChIP-sequencing, metabolomics, and high-throughput functional screens that illuminate sexual development in embryogenesis and gametogenesis. Primary research papers and method development papers generating tools to advance the field are both welcome.

Dr. Liang Ma
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cells is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.