The inactive X chromosome drives sex differences in microglial inflammatory activity in human glioblastoma.

ABSTRACT: Whether an individual is a biological female or male affects cancer risk, but the responsible mechanisms and cell types remain obscure. Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a male-biased cancer that is highly aggressive, and resistant to treatment, with poor patient survival. Dismal prognoses in GBM are due in part to the specialized immune system of the brain, consisting largely of microglia, which regulate GBM development and progression. We hypothesized that microglia function differently in females and males and thereby contribute to the observed male bias in GBM. We sorted TAM-MGs (tumor-associated macrophages - microglia) from human GBMs and low-grade gliomas and performed bulk transcriptomic and epigenomic assays to identify sex-biased gene expression. We used published single-cell tran

SUBMITTER: Tharp ME 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11185629 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature