Sex-specific gene expression in the blood of four primates

Jiao Wang; Yue Lan; Lewei He; Ruixiang Tang; Yuhui Li; Yuan Huang; Shan Liang; Zhan Gao; Megan Price; Bisong Yue; Miao He; Tao Guo; Zhenxin Fan

doi:10.1016/j.ygeno.2021.06.007

Sex-specific gene expression in the blood of four primates

Genomics. 2021 Jul;113(4):2605-2613. doi: 10.1016/j.ygeno.2021.06.007. Epub 2021 Jun 8.

Authors

Jiao Wang¹, Yue Lan¹, Lewei He¹, Ruixiang Tang², Yuhui Li³, Yuan Huang⁴, Shan Liang³, Zhan Gao³, Megan Price⁵, Bisong Yue⁶, Miao He⁷, Tao Guo⁸, Zhenxin Fan⁹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Bioresources and Eco-Environment (Ministry of Education), College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, Sichuan, China.
² Sichuan Key Laboratory of Conservation Biology on Endangered Wildlife, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, Sichuan, China.
³ Institute of Blood Transfusion, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu 610052, Sichuan, China.
⁴ Medical Laboratory Department of West China Fourth Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610000, Sichuan, China.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Bioresources and Eco-Environment (Ministry of Education), College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, Sichuan, China. Electronic address: meganprice@scu.edu.cn.
⁶ Sichuan Key Laboratory of Conservation Biology on Endangered Wildlife, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, Sichuan, China. Electronic address: bsyue@scu.edu.cn.
⁷ Institute of Blood Transfusion, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu 610052, Sichuan, China. Electronic address: hemiao@ibt.pumc.edu.cn.
⁸ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan, China. Electronic address: ivan.gt@163.com.
⁹ Key Laboratory of Bioresources and Eco-Environment (Ministry of Education), College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, Sichuan, China. Electronic address: zxfan@scu.edu.cn.

PMID: 34116169
DOI: 10.1016/j.ygeno.2021.06.007

Abstract

Blood is an important non-reproductive tissue, but little is known about the sex-specific gene expressions in the blood. Therefore, we investigated sex-specific gene expression differences in the blood tissues of four primates, rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), Tibetan macaques (M. thibetana), yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus), and humans. We identified seven sex-specific differentially expressed genes (SDEGs) in each non-human primate and 31 SDEGs in humans. The four primates had only one common SDEG, MAP7D2. In humans, immune-related SDEGs were identified as up-regulated, but also down-regulated in females. We also found that most of the X-Y gene pairs had similar expression levels between species, except pair EIF1AY/EIF1AX. The expression level of X-Y gene pairs of rhesus and Tibetan macaques showed no significant differential expression levels, while humans had six significant XY-biased and three XX-biased X-Y gene pairs. Our observed sex differences in blood should increase understanding of sex differences in primate blood tissue.

Keywords: Blood; MSY gene; Primates; Sex-specific expression; X-Y gene pair.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Female
Gene Expression
Macaca mulatta / genetics
Male
Primates*
Sex Characteristics*