Influence of sex on gene expression in human corneal epithelial cells

[摘要] Purpose: Sex-associated differences have been identified in theanatomy, physiology and pathophysiology of the human cornea. Wehypothesize that many of these differences are due to fundamentalvariations in gene expression. Our objective in this study was todetermine whether such differences exist in human corneal epithelialcells both in vivo and in vitro. Methods: Human corneal epithelial cells were isolated from thecorneoscleral rims of male and female donors. Cells were processedeither directly for RNA extraction, or first cultured in phenolred-free keratinocyte serum-free media. The RNA samples were examinedfor differentially expressed mRNAs by using of CodeLink Bioarrays andAffymetrix GeneChips. Data were analyzed with GeneSifter.Net software. Results: Our results demonstrate that sex significantly influencesthe expression of over 600 genes in human corneal epithelial cells invivo. These genes are involved in a broad spectrum of biologicalprocesses, molecular functions and cellular components, such asmetabolic processes, DNA replication, cell migration, RNA binding,oxidoreductase activity and nucleoli. We also identified significant,sex-related effects on gene expression in human corneal epithelialcells in vitro. However, with few exceptions (e.g. X- and Y-linkedgenes), these sex-related differences in gene expression in vitro weretypically different than those in vivo. Conclusions: Our findings support our hypothesis that sex-relateddifferences exist in the gene expression of human corneal epithelialcells. Variations in gene expression may contribute to sex-relateddifferences in the prevalence of certain corneal diseases.

[学科分类] 生物化学/生物物理