Sex Differences in Biology of Stress

A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2023) | Viewed by 2574

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Ob/Gyn and the Center for Reproductive Sciences, University of California San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Ave, HSE1645, Box 0556, San Francisco, CA 94143-0556, USA
Interests: sex differences; stress; CRF; GPCRs; HPA axis; cell signaling and receptor crosstalk; metabolic disease; mental health; systems biology; neuroendocrinology; neurodegenerative diseases; gut–brain axis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Ob/Gyn and the Center for Reproductive Sciences and the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, University of California San Francisco 513 Parnassus Ave, HSE1645, Box 0556, San Francisco, CA 94143-0556, USA
Interests: PTSD; psychophysiology; fear conditioning; sleep; sex differences

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Many diseases present as a spectrum of symptoms, and biological sex is an important variable that might predispose men and women to different risks of a given disease. Some symptoms may be more prominent in one sex, whereas some may be sex and/or gender specific, suggesting that underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms might be both shared and distinct. For example, COVID-19 has highlighted the issue of sex differences in disease outcome and symptom presentation. 

For this Special Issue, we are seeking original research related to stress that analyzes data by considering sex as a biological variable. Stress is a polysemous word, and stress-related pathophysiology encompasses a myriad of diseases that range from mental disorders to reproductive dysfunction and from cardiovascular, renal to gastrointestinal diseases. For human research, how gender was assessed should be specified. Brief reports and original articles will be considered.

Prof. Dr. Aditi Bhargava
Prof. Dr. Sabra Inslicht
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • biological sex
  • SABV
  • gender
  • physiology
  • COVID-19
  • immune responses
  • mental health
  • gut–brain

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

16 pages, 4451 KiB  
Article
Extensive Alternative Splicing Patterns in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Highlight Sexual Differences
by Despoina Kosmara, Sofia Papanikolaou, Christoforos Nikolaou and George Bertsias
Cells 2023, 12(23), 2678; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells12232678 - 22 Nov 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2047
Abstract
Substantial evidence highlights divergences in immune responses between men and women. Women are more susceptible to autoimmunity, whereas men suffer from the more severe presentation of autoimmune disorders. The molecular mechanism of this sexual dimorphism remains elusive. Herein, we conducted a comprehensive analysis [...] Read more.
Substantial evidence highlights divergences in immune responses between men and women. Women are more susceptible to autoimmunity, whereas men suffer from the more severe presentation of autoimmune disorders. The molecular mechanism of this sexual dimorphism remains elusive. Herein, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of sex differences in whole-blood gene expression focusing on alternative splicing (AS) events in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), which is a prototype sex-biased disease. This study included 79 SLE patients with active disease and 58 matched healthy controls who underwent whole-blood RNA sequencing. Sex differences in splicing events were widespread, existent in both SLE and a healthy state. However, we observed distinct gene sets and molecular pathways targeted by sex-dependent AS in SLE patients as compared to healthy subjects, as well as a notable sex dissimilarity in intron retention events. Sexually differential spliced genes specific to SLE patients were enriched for dynamic cellular processes including chromatin remodeling, stress and inflammatory responses. Remarkably, the extent of sexual differences in AS in the SLE patients and healthy individuals exceeded those in gene expression. Overall, this study reveals an unprecedent variation in sex-dependent splicing events in SLE and the healthy state, with potential implications for understanding the molecular basis of sexual dimorphism in autoimmunity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sex Differences in Biology of Stress)
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