title: Sexual dimorphism in mammalian autosomal gene regulation is determined not only by Sry but by sex chromosome complement as well.
abstract: Differences between males and females are normally attributed to developmental and hormonal differences between the sexes. Here, we demonstrate differences between males and females in gene silencing using a heterochromatin-sensitive reporter gene. Using "sex-reversal" mouse models with varying sex chromosome complements, we found that this differential gene silencing was determined by X chromosome complement, rather than sex. Genome-wide transcription profiling showed that the expression of hundreds of autosomal genes was also sensitive to sex chromosome complement. These genome-wide analyses also uncovered a role for Sry in modulating autosomal gene expression in a sex chromosome complement-specific manner. The identification of this additional layer in the establishment of sexual dimorphisms has implications for understanding sexual dimorphisms in physiology and disease.
authors.affiliation: Gene Control Mechanisms and Disease Group, MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College School of Medicine, Hammersmith Campus, Du Cane Road, London W12 0NN, UK.
authors.forename: Patrick J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Wijchers
authors.forename: Cihangir
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yandim
authors.forename: Eleni
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Panousopoulou
authors.forename: Mushfika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.forename: Nicky
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Harker
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saveliev
authors.forename: Paul S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Burgoyne
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Festenstein
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D015153:Blotting, Western; D003165:Complement System Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D012734:Disorders of Sex Development; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008808:Mice, Inbred CBA; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012730:Sex Chromosomes / Q000235:genetics*; D051876:Sex-Determining Region Y Protein / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D051876:Sex-Determining Region Y Protein; D003165:Complement System Proteins