Gender differences in cellular response

Abstract

Autoimmune and other diseases frequently manifest a sexual discordance that cannot be explained by hormonal differences. Although there is evidence for gender skewing being caused by gonadal hormones, such skewing does not explain an increase of frequency rather than of severity of such diseases in women. To examine if skewing might have a genetic explanation, we have asked how male and female cells devoid of hormonal differences respond to challenges. We used mouse embryonic cells from heart, liver and brain and assessed cellular responsiveness by cell survival. We find that female cells in general show more sensitivity to challenges, such as ethanol, hydrogen peroxide, and camptothecin. Our findings indicate that there is a differential behavior to challenges, in male vs female cells, which may be due to differences in the biological make-up of the cells with regard to gender, and provide preliminary information regarding the feasibility of this type of approach.