Open AccessInverted Expression Profiles of Sex-Biased Genes in Response to Toxicant Perturbations and Diseases
Author(s) -
Choong Yong Ung,
Siew Hong Lam,
Xun Zhang,
Hu Li,
Louxin Zhang,
Baowen Li,
Zhiyuan Gong
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0056668
Subject(s) - biology , transcriptome , pathological , gene , sexual dimorphism , toxicant , genetics , sex characteristics , gene expression , zebrafish , gene expression profiling , phenotype , medicine , endocrinology , toxicity
The influence of sex factor is widely recognized in various diseases, but its molecular basis, particularly how sex-biased genes, those with sexually dimorphic expression, behave in response to toxico-pathological changes is poorly understood. In this study, zebrafish toxicogenomic data and transcriptomic data from human pathological studies were analysed for the responses of male- and female-biased genes. Our analyses revealed obvious inverted expression profiles of sex-biased genes, where affected males tended to up-regulate genes of female-biased expression and down-regulate genes of male-biased expression, and vice versa in affected females, in a broad range of toxico-pathological conditions. Intriguingly, the extent of these inverted profiles correlated well to the susceptibility or severity of a given toxico-pathological state, suggesting that inverted expression profiles of sex-biased genes observed in this study can be used as important indicators to assess biological disorders.