Sex-specific differences in prevalence are well documented for many common, complex diseases, especially for immune-mediated diseases, yet the precise mechanisms through which factors associated with biological sex exert their effects throughout life are not well understood. We interrogated sex-specific transcriptional responses of peripheral blood leukocytes (PBLs) to innate immune stimulation by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in 46 male and 66 female members of the Hutterite community, who practice a communal lifestyle. We identified 1217 autosomal and 54 X-linked genes with sex-specific responses to LPS, as well as 71 autosomal and one X-linked sex-specific expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs). Despite a similar proportion of the 15 HLA genes responding to LPS compared to all expressed autosomal genes, there was a significant over-representation of genes with sex by treatment interactions among HLA genes. We also observed an enrichment of sex-specific differentially expressed genes in response to LPS for X-linked genes compared to autosomal genes, suggesting that HLA and X-linked genes may disproportionately contribute to sex disparities in risk for immune-mediated diseases.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-80145-z | DOI Listing |
Biol Sex Differ
January 2025
Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA.
Background: X chromosome inactivation (XCI) is a female-specific process in which one X chromosome is silenced to balance X-linked gene expression between the sexes. XCI is initiated in early development by upregulation of the lncRNA Xist on the future inactive X (Xi). A subset of X-linked genes escape silencing and thus have higher expression in females, suggesting female-specific functions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlzheimers Dement
December 2024
University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Background: Late Onset Alzheimer's Disease (LOAD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder. Carriers of an ɛ4 allele of the apolipoprotein E gene (APOE) have significantly increased risk of developing LOAD. LOAD is also strongly sex biased.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClin Chem
January 2025
Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States.
Background: Disease-causing copy-number variants (CNVs) often encompass contiguous genes and can be detected using chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA). Conversely, CNVs affecting single disease-causing genes have historically been challenging to detect due to their small sizes.
Methods: A custom comprehensive CMA (Baylor College of Medicine - BCM v11.
Nat Commun
January 2025
Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Synthetic Genomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Synthetic Genomics, Key Laboratory of Quantitative Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China.
Long noncoding RNAs known as roX (RNA on the X) are crucial for male development in Drosophila, as their loss leads to male lethality from the late larval stages. While roX RNAs are recognized for their role in sex-chromosome dosage compensation, ensuring balanced expression of X-linked genes in both sexes, their potential influence on autosomal gene regulation remains unexplored. Here, using an integrative multi-omics approach, we show that roX RNAs not only govern the X chromosome but also target genes on autosomes that lack male-specific lethal (MSL) complex occupancy, together with Polycomb repressive complexes (PRCs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Biosci (Landmark Ed)
November 2024
Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, 230022 Hefei, Anhui, China.
Background: Aneuploidy is crucial yet under-explored in cancer pathogenesis. Specifically, the involvement of brain expressed X-linked gene 4 () in microtubule formation has been identified as a potential aneuploidy mechanism. Nevertheless, 's comprehensive impact on aneuploidy incidence across different cancer types remains unexplored.
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