Elucidating the role of gonadal hormones in sexually dimorphic gene coexpression networks.

ABSTRACT: We previously used high-density expression arrays to interrogate a genetic cross between strains C3H/HeJ and C57BL/6J and observed thousands of differences in gene expression between sexes. We now report analyses of the molecular basis of these sex differences and of the effects of sex on gene expression networks. We analyzed liver gene expression of hormone-treated gonadectomized mice as well as XX male and XY female mice. Differences in gene expression resulted in large part from acute effects of gonadal hormones acting in adulthood, and the effects of sex chromosomes, apart from hormones, were modest. We also determined whether there are sex differences in the organization of gene expression networks in adipose, liver, skeletal muscle, and brain tissue. Although coexpression networks of

SUBMITTER: van Nas A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2654741 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature