Premium
Sex‐specific effects of estrogen and androgen on gene expression in human monocyte‐derived osteoclasts
Author(s) -
Wang Jun,
Stern Paula H.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of cellular biochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.028
H-Index - 165
eISSN - 1097-4644
pISSN - 0730-2312
DOI - 10.1002/jcb.23297
Subject(s) - estrogen , monocyte , androgen , gene expression , gene , endocrinology , medicine , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , hormone
Abstract Estrogen and androgen are both critical for the maintenance of bone, but the target cells, mechanisms, and responses could be sex‐specific. To compare sex‐specific actions of estrogen and androgen on osteoclasts, human peripheral blood mononuclear precursor cells from adult Caucasian males (n = 3) and females (n = 3) were differentiated into osteoclasts and then treated for 24 h with 17β‐estradiol (10 nM) or testosterone (10 nM). Gene expression was studied with a custom designed qPCR‐based array containing 94 target genes related to bone and hormone action. In untreated osteoclasts, 4 genes showed significant gender differences. 17β‐estradiol significantly affected 12 genes in osteoclasts from females and 6 genes in osteoclasts from males. Fifteen of the 18 17β‐estradiol‐responsive genes were different in the cells from the two sexes; 2 genes affected by 17β‐estradiol in both sexes were regulated oppositely in the two sexes. Testosterone significantly affected 6 genes in osteoclasts from females and 2 genes in osteoclasts from males; all except one were different in the two sexes. 17β‐estradiol and testosterone largely affected different genes, suggesting that conversion of testosterone to 17β‐estradiol had a limited role in the responses. The findings indicate that although osteoclasts from both sexes respond to 17β‐estradiol and testosterone, the effects of both 17β‐estradiol and testosterone differ in the two sexes, highlighting the importance of considering gender in the design of therapy. J. Cell. Biochem. 112: 3714–3721, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.