Project description:Unperturbed cholesterol homeostasis is important for normal development and sexual maturation in mice. Cyp51 is the rate limiting step in the post-lanosteorl part of cholesterol biosynthesis. Unlike the full body knockout, hepatocyte specific Cyp51 knockout mice survive throughout adulthood, however their livers are severly affected. Several of the hepatocyte specific Cyp51 knockout mice develop severe liver injury or die prior to reaching adulthood (from 4-10 weeks of age; designated as runts). We aim to uncover the timing and the mechanistic background governing the liver damage and sex differences. Hepatocyte-specific Cyp51 knockout and wild type mice on a mixed background (129/Pas (10%) × C57BL/6J (90%)) of both sexes (F and M) were investigated at the pre pubertal (3 weeks), late pubertal (6 weeks) and adult (19 weeks) stage of development. This age span allows us to also observe the impact of sexual maturation on the disease development, as the liver is one of the most sexually dimorphic non-reproductive organs. Runt mice were evaluated to differentiate them from the other KO mice with milder conditions.
Project description:We collected whole genome testis expression data from hybrid zone mice. We integrated GWAS mapping of testis expression traits and low testis weight to gain insight into the genetic basis of hybrid male sterility.
Project description:Hepatic gene expression shows sexual dimorphism. Here, we investigated the role of BCL6 in establishing sexual dimorphism in hepatic gene expression and created Bcl6Flox/Flox,Alb-Cre mice and performed RNAseq from livers of 4- and 8-week-old male and female Ctrl and BCL6 liver knock-out mice.
