Kidney_Sex

I’m happy to share that my latest manuscript titled “Direct androgen receptor control of sexually dimorphic gene expression in the mammalian kidney” has been accepted by Developmental Cell and is scheduled for online publication on Sept 5, 2023. This work was mentored by Drs. Andy McMahon, Adam MacLean, Junhyong Kim and Lior Pachter.

Abstract: Mammalian organs exhibit distinct physiology, disease susceptibility and injury responses between the sexes. In the mouse kidney, sexually dimorphic gene activity maps predominantly to proximal tubule (PT) segments. Bulk RNA-seq data demonstrated sex differences were established from 4 and 8 weeks after birth under gonadal control. Hormone injection studies and genetic removal of androgen and estrogen receptors demonstrated androgen receptor (AR) mediated regulation of gene activity in PT cells as the regulatory mechanism. Interestingly, caloric restriction feminizes the male kidney. Single-nuclear multiomic analysis identified putative cis-regulatory regions and cooperating factors mediating PT responses to AR activity in the mouse kidney. In the human kidney, a limited set of genes showed conserved sex-linked regulation while analysis of the mouse liver underscored organ-specific differences in the regulation of sexually dimorphic gene expression. These findings raise interesting questions on the evolution, physiological significance, and disease and metabolic linkage, of sexually dimorphic gene activity.

Update:
Read the full article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2023.08.010
Highlighted and referred to in a news article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.kint.2023.11.017
A companion review is also available: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41581-023-00757-2