title: Visualization of sex-dimorphic changes in the intestinal transcriptome of Fabp2 gene-ablated mice.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Sex differences in gene expression program have not been effectively explored at the transcriptome level. We aimed to develop a method for the analysis of transcriptome data to identify sex differences and sex-dimorphic responses to experimental conditions in mice.
  
  
  METHODS
  Profiling of the small intestine transcriptome of chow-fed C57BL/6J (wild-type, WT) and Fabp2⁻/⁻ mice was carried out by microarray analysis. Sex-specific and androgynous effects of Fabp2 gene ablation were examined using FlexArray V1.6 by comparing WT to Fabp2⁻/⁻ mice. The data generated were exported into a single spreadsheet, collated and transformed to identify the differentially expressed genes for pathway analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The method revealed enrichment of 17 sex-dimorphic pathways in the small intestine of WT mice compared to only 4 in Fabp2⁻/⁻ mice. Comparison of the effects of Fabp2 loss in individual sexes revealed a male-specific upregulation of 5 pathways involved in the production of unsaturated fatty acids, and a female-specific downregulation of pathways involved in xenobiotic metabolism.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our approach detected the common as well as sex-differential pathways that are modified due to the loss of Fabp2. These findings suggest that the pathways involved in nutrient and xenobiotic metabolism in the intestine are regulated by sex-specific mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition, McGill University, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Que., Canada.
authors.forename: Michael G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Sugiyama
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hobson
authors.forename: Al B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Agellon
authors.forename: Luis B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Agellon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015536:Down-Regulation; D050556:Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D059467:Transcriptome; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: C493405:Fabp2 protein, mouse; D050556:Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins