Major Molecular Differences between Mammalian Sexes Are Involved in Drug Metabolism and Renal Function

Many anatomical differences exist between males and females; these are manifested on a molecular level by different hormonal environments. Although several molecular differences in adult tissues have been identified, a comprehensive investigation of the gene expression differences between males and...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Developmental cell 2004-06, Vol.6 (6), p.791-800
Main Authors: Rinn, John L, Rozowsky, Joel S, Laurenzi, Ian J, Petersen, Petur H, Zou, Kaiyong, Zhong, Weimin, Gerstein, Mark, Snyder, Michael
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
DNA - analysis
DNA - genetics
Female
Gene Expression Profiling
Gene Expression Regulation - genetics
Genitalia - cytology
Genitalia - metabolism
Humans
Hypothalamus - cytology
Hypothalamus - metabolism
Kidney - cytology
Kidney - metabolism
Liver - cytology
Liver - metabolism
Male
Metabolic Clearance Rate - genetics
Mice
Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis
Organ Specificity
Ovary - cytology
Ovary - metabolism
Pharmaceutical Preparations - metabolism
Receptors, Cell Surface - genetics
Serpins
Sex Characteristics
Testis - cytology
Testis - metabolism
Transcortin
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Many anatomical differences exist between males and females; these are manifested on a molecular level by different hormonal environments. Although several molecular differences in adult tissues have been identified, a comprehensive investigation of the gene expression differences between males and females has not been performed. We surveyed the expression patterns of 13,977 mouse genes in male and female hypothalamus, kidney, liver, and reproductive tissues. Extensive differential gene expression was observed not only in the reproductive tissues, but also in the kidney and liver. The differentially expressed genes are involved in drug and steroid metabolism, osmotic regulation, or as yet unresolved cellular roles. In contrast, very few molecular differences were observed between the male and female hypothalamus in both mice and humans. We conclude that there are persistent differences in gene expression between adult males and females. These molecular differences have important implications for the physiological differences between males and females.
ISSN:1534-5807
1878-1551
DOI:10.1016/j.devcel.2004.05.005