Sexual dimorphism in immune response genes as a function of puberty.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Autoimmune diseases are more prevalent in females than in males, whereas males have higher mortality associated with infectious diseases. To increase our understanding of this sexual dimorphism in the immune system, we sought to identify and characterize inherent differences in immune response programs in the spleens of male and female mice before, during and after puberty.

Results

After the onset of puberty, female mice showed a higher expression of adaptive immune response genes, while males had a higher expression of innate immune genes. This result suggested a requirement for sex hormones. Using in vivo and in vitro assays in normal and mutant mouse strains, we found that reverse signaling through FasL was directly influenced by estrogen, with downstream conse

SUBMITTER: Lamason R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1402325 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature