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Chen Y, Agellon LB. Distinct Alteration of Gene Expression Programs in the Small Intestine of Male and Female Mice in Response to Ablation of Intestinal Fabp Genes. Genes (Basel) 2020; 11:genes11080943. [PMID: 32824144 PMCID: PMC7465894 DOI: 10.3390/genes11080943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2020] [Revised: 08/02/2020] [Accepted: 08/13/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Fatty acid-binding proteins (Fabps) make up a family of widely distributed cytoplasmic lipid-binding proteins. The small intestine contains three predominant Fabp species, Fabp1, Fabp2, and Fabp6. Our previous studies showed that Fabp2 and Fabp6 gene-disrupted mice exhibited sexually dimorphic phenotypes. In this study, we carried out a systematic comparative analysis of the small intestinal transcriptomes of 10 week-old wild-type (WT) and Fabp gene-disrupted male and female mice. We found that the small intestinal transcriptome of male and female mice showed key differences in the gene expression profiles that affect major biological processes. The deletion of specific Fabp genes induced unique and sex-specific changes in the gene expression program, although some differentially expressed genes in certain genotypes were common to both sexes. Functional annotation and interaction network analyses revealed that the number and type of affected pathways, as well as the sets of interacting nodes in each of the Fabp genotypes, are partitioned by sex. To our knowledge, this is the first time that sex differences were identified and categorized at the transcriptome level in mice lacking different intestinal Fabps. The distinctive transcriptome profiles of WT male and female small intestine may predetermine the nature of transcriptional reprogramming that manifests as sexually dimorphic responses to the ablation of intestinal Fabp genes.
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de Vries GJ, Forger NG. Sex differences in the brain: a whole body perspective. Biol Sex Differ 2015; 6:15. [PMID: 26279833 PMCID: PMC4536872 DOI: 10.1186/s13293-015-0032-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2015] [Accepted: 07/28/2015] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Most writing on sexual differentiation of the mammalian brain (including our own) considers just two organs: the gonads and the brain. This perspective, which leaves out all other body parts, misleads us in several ways. First, there is accumulating evidence that all organs are sexually differentiated, and that sex differences in peripheral organs affect the brain. We demonstrate this by reviewing examples involving sex differences in muscles, adipose tissue, the liver, immune system, gut, kidneys, bladder, and placenta that affect the nervous system and behavior. The second consequence of ignoring other organs when considering neural sex differences is that we are likely to miss the fact that some brain sex differences develop to compensate for differences in the internal environment (i.e., because male and female brains operate in different bodies, sex differences are required to make output/function more similar in the two sexes). We also consider evidence that sex differences in sensory systems cause male and female brains to perceive different information about the world; the two sexes are also perceived by the world differently and therefore exposed to differences in experience via treatment by others. Although the topic of sex differences in the brain is often seen as much more emotionally charged than studies of sex differences in other organs, the dichotomy is largely false. By putting the brain firmly back in the body, sex differences in the brain are predictable and can be more completely understood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Geert J. de Vries
- Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, P.O. Box 5030, Atlanta, GA 30302-5030 USA
| | - Nancy G. Forger
- Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, P.O. Box 5030, Atlanta, GA 30302-5030 USA
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Steegenga WT, Mischke M, Lute C, Boekschoten MV, Pruis MG, Lendvai A, Verkade HJ, Boekhorst J, Timmerman HM, Plösch T, Müller M. Sexually dimorphic characteristics of the small intestine and colon of prepubescent C57BL/6 mice. Biol Sex Differ 2014; 5:11. [PMID: 25243059 PMCID: PMC4169057 DOI: 10.1186/s13293-014-0011-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2014] [Accepted: 08/20/2014] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND There is increasing appreciation for sexually dimorphic effects, but the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects are only partially understood. In the present study, we explored transcriptomics and epigenetic differences in the small intestine and colon of prepubescent male and female mice. In addition, the microbiota composition of the colonic luminal content has been examined. METHODS At postnatal day 14, male and female C57BL/6 mice were sacrificed and the small intestine, colon and content of luminal colon were isolated. Gene expression of both segments of the intestine was analysed by microarray analysis. DNA methylation of the promoter regions of selected sexually dimorphic genes was examined by pyrosequencing. Composition of the microbiota was explored by deep sequencing. RESULTS Sexually dimorphic genes were observed in both segments of the intestine of 2-week-old mouse pups, with a stronger effect in the small intestine. Amongst the total of 349 genes displaying a sexually dimorphic effect in the small intestine and/or colon, several candidates exhibited a previously established function in the intestine (i.e. Nts, Nucb2, Alox5ap and Retnlγ). In addition, differential expression of genes linked to intestinal bowel disease (i.e. Ccr3, Ccl11 and Tnfr) and colorectal cancer development (i.e. Wt1 and Mmp25) was observed between males and females. Amongst the genes displaying significant sexually dimorphic expression, nine genes were histone-modifying enzymes, suggesting that epigenetic mechanisms might be a potential underlying regulatory mechanism. However, our results reveal no significant changes in DNA methylation of analysed CpGs within the selected differentially expressed genes. With respect to the bacterial community composition in the colon, a dominant effect of litter origin was found but no significant sex effect was detected. However, a sex effect on the dominance of specific taxa was observed. CONCLUSIONS This study reveals molecular dissimilarities between males and females in the small intestine and colon of prepubescent mice, which might underlie differences in physiological functioning and in disease predisposition in the two sexes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wilma T Steegenga
- Nutrition, Metabolism and Genomics Group, Division of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Mona Mischke
- Nutrition, Metabolism and Genomics Group, Division of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Carolien Lute
- Nutrition, Metabolism and Genomics Group, Division of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Mark V Boekschoten
- Nutrition, Metabolism and Genomics Group, Division of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Maurien Gm Pruis
- Center for Liver, Digestive and Metabolic Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Agnes Lendvai
- Center for Liver, Digestive and Metabolic Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Henkjan J Verkade
- Center for Liver, Digestive and Metabolic Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | | | | | - Torsten Plösch
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Michael Müller
- Nutrition, Metabolism and Genomics Group, Division of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands ; Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
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Gajda AM, Zhou YX, Agellon LB, Fried SK, Kodukula S, Fortson W, Patel K, Storch J. Direct comparison of mice null for liver or intestinal fatty acid-binding proteins reveals highly divergent phenotypic responses to high fat feeding. J Biol Chem 2013; 288:30330-30344. [PMID: 23990461 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m113.501676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The enterocyte expresses two fatty acid-binding proteins (FABP), intestinal FABP (IFABP; FABP2) and liver FABP (LFABP; FABP1). LFABP is also expressed in liver. Despite ligand transport and binding differences, it has remained uncertain whether these intestinally coexpressed proteins, which both bind long chain fatty acids (FA), are functionally distinct. Here, we directly compared IFABP(-/-) and LFABP(-/-) mice fed high fat diets containing long chain saturated or unsaturated fatty acids, reasoning that providing an abundance of dietary lipid would reveal unique functional properties. The results showed that mucosal lipid metabolism was indeed differentially modified, with significant decreases in FA incorporation into triacylglycerol (TG) relative to phospholipid (PL) in IFABP(-/-) mice, whereas LFABP(-/-) mice had reduced monoacylglycerol incorporation in TG relative to PL, as well as reduced FA oxidation. Interestingly, striking differences were found in whole body energy homeostasis; LFABP(-/-) mice fed high fat diets became obese relative to WT, whereas IFABP(-/-) mice displayed an opposite, lean phenotype. Fuel utilization followed adiposity, with LFABP(-/-) mice preferentially utilizing lipids, and IFABP(-/-) mice preferentially metabolizing carbohydrate for energy production. Changes in body weight and fat may arise, in part, from altered food intake; mucosal levels of the endocannabinoids 2-arachidonoylglycerol and arachidonoylethanolamine were elevated in LFABP(-/-), perhaps contributing to increased energy intake. This direct comparison provides evidence that LFABP and IFABP have distinct roles in intestinal lipid metabolism; differential intracellular functions in intestine and in liver, for LFABP(-/-) mice, result in divergent downstream effects at the systemic level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela M Gajda
- From the Department of Nutritional Sciences and; the Rutgers Center for Lipid Research, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901
| | | | - Luis B Agellon
- the School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition, McGill University, Montréal, Québec H9X 3V9, Canada, and
| | - Susan K Fried
- the Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02118
| | | | | | | | - Judith Storch
- From the Department of Nutritional Sciences and; the Rutgers Center for Lipid Research, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901,.
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