Project description:Gender bias and the role of sex hormones in autoimmune diseases are well established. In specific-pathogen free (SPF) non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice females have 1.3-4.4 times higher incidence of Type 1 diabetes (T1D). Germ-free (GF) mice lose the gender bias (female/male ratio 1.1-1.2). Gut microbiota differed in males and females, a trend reversed by male castration, confirming that androgens influence gut microbiota. Colonization of GF NOD mice with defined microbiota revealed that some but not all lineages overrepresented in male mice supported a gender bias in T1D, and protection did not correlate with androgen levels. However, hormone-supported selective microbial lineage variation may work as a positive feedback mechanism contributing to the sexual dimorphism of autoimmune diseases. Gene expression analysis suggested pathways involved in protection of males from T1D by microbiota.
Project description:Gender bias and the role of sex hormones in autoimmune diseases are well established. In specific-pathogen free (SPF) non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice females have 1.3-4.4 times higher incidence of Type 1 diabetes (T1D). Germ-free (GF) mice lose the gender bias (female/male ratio 1.1-1.2). Gut microbiota differed in males and females, a trend reversed by male castration, confirming that androgens influence gut microbiota. Colonization of GF NOD mice with defined microbiota revealed that some but not all lineages overrepresented in male mice supported a gender bias in T1D, and protection did not correlate with androgen levels. However, hormone-supported selective microbial lineage variation may work as a positive feedback mechanism contributing to the sexual dimorphism of autoimmune diseases. Gene expression analysis suggested pathways involved in protection of males from T1D by microbiota. We compared gene expression patterns in the pancreatic lymph nodes (PLNs) between four groups of mice (two genders in SPF and GF conditions, respectively). PLNs were isolated from 9-10 week old GF and SPF male and female NOD mice with 3 mice in each group, for a total of 12 samples.
Project description:We replaced the endogenous histones of Drosophila melanogaster with either histones containing an H3K9R mutation or histones containing an H4K16R mutation to interrogate established genome-wide correlations between chromatin state, transcription, and DNA replication timing. We performed total RNA-seq in H4K16R males and females to investigate the role of H4K16 in dosage compensation of the male X chromosome. We found that H4K16 directly promotes hyper-expression of the male X chromosome in Drosophila. To generate replication timing profiles, we performed Repli-seq in HWT males and females, H4K16R males and females, and H3K9R females. We found that H3K9 promotes late replication of the pericentromeric heterochromatin and H4K16 promotes early replication of the male X chromosome.
Project description:We performed genome-wide expression assays comparing gene expression in the Drosophila melanogaster third larval instar genital imaginal disc between males and females. We used microarrays to compare the relative expression levels of five independent male versus female comparisons for each of two different D. melanogaster wild-type strains, Canton-S and Berlin.
Project description:To investigate the effect of cigarette smoke exposure on gene expression in airway epithelial cells of Canton S Drosophila melanogaster larvae, we isolated the airways of cigarette smoke exposed larvae and air controls. We then performed gene expression profiling analysis using data obtained from RNA-seq of smoke-exposed males, smoke-exposed females, air-control males and air-control females. For each group 4 biological replicates were prepared, representing 40-50 larval airways.
Project description:Investigation of sex-biased expression across species have relied on measurements from whole flies which sample the extensive expression differences found in the germline and gonads of females and males. We wanted to examine genes with sex-biased expression in a somatic tissue to analyze patterns of genes with sex-biased expression in the context of a tissue more phenotypically similar between females and males. We used a Nimblegen microarray designed for Drosophila melanogaster and two custom micoarrays designed for D. pseudoobscura and D. mojavensis to survey gene expression differences in heads of females and males.
Project description:RNA was extracted from adult male and adult female Drosophila melanogaster with reversed sex-chromosome parent-of-origin (e.g. maternal-X/paternal-Y vs. paternal-X/maternal-Y) Parent-of-origin effects were assayed in X/Y males, XY/Y males, and XY/X females. Direct comparisons were made between individuals with the same karyotype (e.g. X/Y males or XY/Y males) incorporating dye-swaps.
Project description:The gut microbiota-intestine-liver relationship is emerging as an important factor in multiple hepatic pathologies, but the hepatic sensors and effectors of microbial signals are not well defined. By comparing publicly available liver transcriptomics data from conventional vs. germ-free mice, we identified pregnane X receptor (PXR, NR1I2) transcriptional activity as strongly affected by the absence of gut microbes. Microbiota depletion in Pxr+/+ vs Pxr-/- C57Bl6/J mice revealed that most microbiota-sensitive genes were PXR-dependent in the liver in males, but not in females. Pathway enrichment analysis revealed that microbiota-PXR interaction controlled fatty-acid and xenobiotic metabolism. Antibiotic treatment reduced liver triglyceride content and hampered xenobiotic metabolism in livers from Pxr+/+ but not Pxr-/- male mice. These findings identify PXR as a hepatic effector of sexually dimorphic responses to microbiota-derived signals and reveal a potential new mechanism for unexpected drug-drug or food-drug interactions.
Project description:Assessment of the seminal fluid proteins of Drosophila mojavensis and Drosophila arizonae. Experiment was performed using SILAC, whereas D. arizonae males were labeled with L-lysine-2HCL, 4,4,5,5-D4 (Lys 4) and D. mojavensis males labeled with L-Lysine-13C6,15N2 (Lys 8) and mated to their respective conspecific females (unlabeled). Following copulation females were immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at -80 C until reproductive tracts were removed and placed in 50 mM ammonium bicarbonate.