Minipuberty and Sexual Dimorphism in the Infant Human Thymus.

ABSTRACT: AIRE expression in thymus is downregulated by estrogen after puberty, what probably renders women more susceptible to autoimmune disorders. Here we investigated the effects of minipuberty on male and female infant human thymic tissue in order to verify if this initial transient increase in sex hormones - along the first six months of life - could affect thymic transcriptional network regulation and AIRE expression. Gene co-expression network analysis for differentially expressed genes and miRNA-target analysis revealed sex differences in thymic tissue during minipuberty, but such differences were not detected in the thymic tissue of infants aged 7-18 months, i.e. the non-puberty group. AIRE expression was essentially the same in both sexes in minipuberty and in non-puberty groups, as asses

SUBMITTER: Moreira-Filho CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6120939 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature