Project description:Aortic stenosis (AS) is a degenerative valve disease characterized by active remodelling of valve leaflets. The main hallmarks of stenotic aortic valves (AVs) include fibrosis, inflammation, osteogenesis and angiogenesis. Men and women develop these mechanisms differently. Galectin-3 (Gal-3) is a pro-inflammatory and pro-osteogenic lectin with a prominent role in the progression of AS. In this work, we aim to analyze potential sex-differences in the impact of Gal-3 in AS. 226 patients (61.50% men) with severe AS undergoing surgical valve replacement were recruited. In AVs, Gal-3 expression and its relationship with inflammatory, osteogenic and angiogenic markers was assessed. Valve interstitial cells (VIC) derived from AV tissue were primary cultured to perform in vitro experiments. Proteomic analysis revealed that Gal-3 is over-expressed in VICs of male AS patients. Gal-3 secretion also showed to be higher in men’s VICs as compared to women. In human AV tissue, Gal-3 protein levels were significantly higher in men, with stronger immunostaining in VICs with myofibroblastic phenotype and valve endothelial cells. Gal-3 levels in AVs were positively correlated with inflammatory markers in both sexes. Gal-3 expression was also positively correlated with osteogenic markers mainly in men’s AV, and with angiogenic molecules only in this sex.
Project description:Our study demonstrates differential expression of numerous autosomal miRNAs between the male and female developing human lung. Additionally, the expression of some miRNAs are modified by age across the pseudoglandular stage in a sex-specific way. Some of these differences in miRNA expression may impact susceptibility to pulmonary disease later in life. Our results suggest that sex-specific miRNA expression during human lung development may be a potential mechanism to explain sex-specific differences in lung development and may impact subsequent disease susceptibility
Project description:In the field, adult male rodents are more frequently infected with hantaviruses than females. Early data suggests that sex steroid hormones modulate sex differences in host immune response. This project focuses on elucidating sex differences in gene expression in the lungs of infected males 15 and 40 days post infection with Seoul virus (naturally occurring hantavirus in Norway rats) relative to infected females 15 and 40 days post infection on 12 RG_U34 GeneChips. Keywords: other