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Nature Reviews. Disease Primers Oct 2023Bladder cancer is a global health issue with sex differences in incidence and prognosis. Bladder cancer has distinct molecular subtypes with multiple pathogenic pathways... (Review)
Review
Bladder cancer is a global health issue with sex differences in incidence and prognosis. Bladder cancer has distinct molecular subtypes with multiple pathogenic pathways depending on whether the disease is non-muscle invasive or muscle invasive. The mutational burden is higher in muscle-invasive than in non-muscle-invasive disease. Commonly mutated genes include TERT, FGFR3, TP53, PIK3CA, STAG2 and genes involved in chromatin modification. Subtyping of both forms of bladder cancer is likely to change considerably with the advent of single-cell analysis methods. Early detection signifies a better disease prognosis; thus, minimally invasive diagnostic options are needed to improve patient outcomes. Urine-based tests are available for disease diagnosis and surveillance, and analysis of blood-based cell-free DNA is a promising tool for the detection of minimal residual disease and metastatic relapse. Transurethral resection is the cornerstone treatment for non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer and intravesical therapy can further improve oncological outcomes. For muscle-invasive bladder cancer, radical cystectomy with neoadjuvant chemotherapy is the standard of care with evidence supporting trimodality therapy. Immune-checkpoint inhibitors have demonstrated benefit in non-muscle-invasive, muscle-invasive and metastatic bladder cancer. Effective management requires a multidisciplinary approach that considers patient characteristics and molecular disease characteristics.
Topics: Humans; Female; Male; Treatment Outcome; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms; Urinary Bladder; Prognosis
PubMed: 37884563
DOI: 10.1038/s41572-023-00468-9 -
American Journal of Human Genetics Dec 2019While genes with an excess of de novo mutations (DNMs) have been identified in children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), few studies focus on DNM patterns where...
While genes with an excess of de novo mutations (DNMs) have been identified in children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), few studies focus on DNM patterns where the sex of affected children is examined separately. We considered ∼8,825 sequenced parent-child trios (n ∼26,475 individuals) and identify 54 genes with a DNM enrichment in males (n = 18), females (n = 17), or overlapping in both the male and female subsets (n = 19). A replication cohort of 18,778 sequenced parent-child trios (n = 56,334 individuals) confirms 25 genes (n = 3 in males, n = 7 in females, n = 15 in both male and female subsets). As expected, we observe significant enrichment on the X chromosome for females but also find autosomal genes with potential sex bias (females, CDK13, ITPR1; males, CHD8, MBD5, SYNGAP1); 6.5% of females harbor a DNM in a female-enriched gene, whereas 2.7% of males have a DNM in a male-enriched gene. Sex-biased genes are enriched in transcriptional processes and chromatin binding, primarily reside in the nucleus of cells, and have brain expression. By downsampling, we find that DNM gene discovery is greatest when studying affected females. Finally, directly comparing de novo allele counts in NDD-affected males and females identifies one replicated genome-wide significant gene (DDX3X) with locus-specific enrichment in females. Our sex-based DNM enrichment analysis identifies candidate NDD genes differentially affecting males and females and indicates that the study of females with NDDs leads to greater gene discovery consistent with the female-protective effect.
Topics: Child; Cohort Studies; Exome; Female; Gene Regulatory Networks; Genetic Markers; Genome-Wide Association Study; Humans; Male; Mutation; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Phenotype; Sex Factors
PubMed: 31785789
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2019.11.003 -
Cell Feb 2024Autoimmune diseases disproportionately affect females more than males. The XX sex chromosome complement is strongly associated with susceptibility to autoimmunity. Xist...
Autoimmune diseases disproportionately affect females more than males. The XX sex chromosome complement is strongly associated with susceptibility to autoimmunity. Xist long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) is expressed only in females to randomly inactivate one of the two X chromosomes to achieve gene dosage compensation. Here, we show that the Xist ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex comprising numerous autoantigenic components is an important driver of sex-biased autoimmunity. Inducible transgenic expression of a non-silencing form of Xist in male mice introduced Xist RNP complexes and sufficed to produce autoantibodies. Male SJL/J mice expressing transgenic Xist developed more severe multi-organ pathology in a pristane-induced lupus model than wild-type males. Xist expression in males reprogrammed T and B cell populations and chromatin states to more resemble wild-type females. Human patients with autoimmune diseases displayed significant autoantibodies to multiple components of XIST RNP. Thus, a sex-specific lncRNA scaffolds ubiquitous RNP components to drive sex-biased immunity.
Topics: Animals; Female; Humans; Male; Mice; Autoantibodies; Autoimmune Diseases; Autoimmunity; Ribonucleoproteins; RNA, Long Noncoding; X Chromosome; X Chromosome Inactivation; Sex Characteristics
PubMed: 38306984
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.12.037 -
Nature Jul 2023Sex exerts a profound impact on cancer incidence, spectrum and outcomes, yet the molecular and genetic bases of such sex differences are ill-defined and presumptively...
Sex exerts a profound impact on cancer incidence, spectrum and outcomes, yet the molecular and genetic bases of such sex differences are ill-defined and presumptively ascribed to X-chromosome genes and sex hormones. Such sex differences are particularly prominent in colorectal cancer (CRC) in which men experience higher metastases and mortality. A murine CRC model, engineered with an inducible transgene encoding oncogenic mutant KRAS and conditional null alleles of Apc and Trp53 tumour suppressors (designated iKAP), revealed higher metastases and worse outcomes specifically in males with oncogenic mutant KRAS (KRAS*) CRC. Integrated cross-species molecular and transcriptomic analyses identified Y-chromosome gene histone demethylase KDM5D as a transcriptionally upregulated gene driven by KRAS*-mediated activation of the STAT4 transcription factor. KDM5D-dependent chromatin mark and transcriptome changes showed repression of regulators of the epithelial cell tight junction and major histocompatibility complex class I complex components. Deletion of Kdm5d in iKAP cancer cells increased tight junction integrity, decreased cell invasiveness and enhanced cancer cell killing by CD8 T cells. Conversely, iAP mice engineered with a Kdm5d transgene to provide constitutive Kdm5d expression specifically in iAP cancer cells showed an increased propensity for more invasive tumours in vivo. Thus, KRAS*-STAT4-mediated upregulation of Y chromosome KDM5D contributes substantially to the sex differences in KRAS* CRC by means of its disruption of cancer cell adhesion properties and tumour immunity, providing an actionable therapeutic strategy for metastasis risk reduction for men afflicted with KRAS* CRC.
Topics: Animals; Female; Humans; Male; Mice; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes; Colorectal Neoplasms; Disease Models, Animal; Histone Demethylases; Mice, Transgenic; Minor Histocompatibility Antigens; Sex Characteristics; Up-Regulation
PubMed: 37344599
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06254-7 -
Nature Jul 2022Gonadal development is a complex process that involves sex determination followed by divergent maturation into either testes or ovaries. Historically, limited tissue...
Gonadal development is a complex process that involves sex determination followed by divergent maturation into either testes or ovaries. Historically, limited tissue accessibility, a lack of reliable in vitro models and critical differences between humans and mice have hampered our knowledge of human gonadogenesis, despite its importance in gonadal conditions and infertility. Here, we generated a comprehensive map of first- and second-trimester human gonads using a combination of single-cell and spatial transcriptomics, chromatin accessibility assays and fluorescent microscopy. We extracted human-specific regulatory programmes that control the development of germline and somatic cell lineages by profiling equivalent developmental stages in mice. In both species, we define the somatic cell states present at the time of sex specification, including the bipotent early supporting population that, in males, upregulates the testis-determining factor SRY and sPAX8s, a gonadal lineage located at the gonadal-mesonephric interface. In females, we resolve the cellular and molecular events that give rise to the first and second waves of granulosa cells that compartmentalize the developing ovary to modulate germ cell differentiation. In males, we identify human SIGLEC15 and TREM2 fetal testicular macrophages, which signal to somatic cells outside and inside the developing testis cords, respectively. This study provides a comprehensive spatiotemporal map of human and mouse gonadal differentiation, which can guide in vitro gonadogenesis.
Topics: Animals; Cell Lineage; Chromatin; Female; Germ Cells; Granulosa Cells; Humans; Immunoglobulins; Macrophages; Male; Membrane Glycoproteins; Membrane Proteins; Mice; Microscopy, Fluorescence; Ovary; PAX8 Transcription Factor; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Trimester, First; Pregnancy Trimester, Second; Receptors, Immunologic; Sex Differentiation; Single-Cell Analysis; Testis; Transcriptome
PubMed: 35794482
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04918-4 -
Nature Reviews. Neuroscience Jun 2022More than a hundred genes have been identified that, when disrupted, impart large risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Current knowledge about the encoded proteins -... (Review)
Review
More than a hundred genes have been identified that, when disrupted, impart large risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Current knowledge about the encoded proteins - although incomplete - points to a very wide range of developmentally dynamic and diverse biological processes. Moreover, the core symptoms of ASD involve distinctly human characteristics, presenting challenges to interpreting evolutionarily distant model systems. Indeed, despite a decade of striking progress in gene discovery, an actionable understanding of pathobiology remains elusive. Increasingly, convergent neuroscience approaches have been recognized as an important complement to traditional uses of genetics to illuminate the biology of human disorders. These methods seek to identify intersection among molecular-level, cellular-level and circuit-level functions across multiple risk genes and have highlighted developing excitatory neurons in the human mid-gestational prefrontal cortex as an important pathobiological nexus in ASD. In addition, neurogenesis, chromatin modification and synaptic function have emerged as key potential mediators of genetic vulnerability. The continued expansion of foundational 'omics' data sets, the application of higher-throughput model systems and incorporating developmental trajectories and sex differences into future analyses will refine and extend these results. Ultimately, a systems-level understanding of ASD genetic risk holds promise for clarifying pathobiology and advancing therapeutics.
Topics: Autism Spectrum Disorder; Female; Genomics; Humans; Male; Neurogenesis; Neurons; Neurosciences
PubMed: 35440779
DOI: 10.1038/s41583-022-00576-7 -
Nature Jan 2023The testis produces gametes through spermatogenesis and evolves rapidly at both the morphological and molecular level in mammals, probably owing to the evolutionary... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
The testis produces gametes through spermatogenesis and evolves rapidly at both the morphological and molecular level in mammals, probably owing to the evolutionary pressure on males to be reproductively successful. However, the molecular evolution of individual spermatogenic cell types across mammals remains largely uncharacterized. Here we report evolutionary analyses of single-nucleus transcriptome data for testes from 11 species that cover the three main mammalian lineages (eutherians, marsupials and monotremes) and birds (the evolutionary outgroup), and include seven primates. We find that the rapid evolution of the testis was driven by accelerated fixation rates of gene expression changes, amino acid substitutions and new genes in late spermatogenic stages, probably facilitated by reduced pleiotropic constraints, haploid selection and transcriptionally permissive chromatin. We identify temporal expression changes of individual genes across species and conserved expression programs controlling ancestral spermatogenic processes. Genes predominantly expressed in spermatogonia (germ cells fuelling spermatogenesis) and Sertoli (somatic support) cells accumulated on X chromosomes during evolution, presumably owing to male-beneficial selective forces. Further work identified transcriptomal differences between X- and Y-bearing spermatids and uncovered that meiotic sex-chromosome inactivation (MSCI) also occurs in monotremes and hence is common to mammalian sex-chromosome systems. Thus, the mechanism of meiotic silencing of unsynapsed chromatin, which underlies MSCI, is an ancestral mammalian feature. Our study illuminates the molecular evolution of spermatogenesis and associated selective forces, and provides a resource for investigating the biology of the testis across mammals.
Topics: Animals; Male; Chromatin; Evolution, Molecular; Mammals; Meiosis; Spermatogenesis; Testis; Transcriptome; Single-Cell Analysis; Birds; Primates; Gene Expression Regulation; Spermatogonia; Sertoli Cells; X Chromosome; Y Chromosome; Dosage Compensation, Genetic; Gene Silencing
PubMed: 36544022
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05547-7 -
Cell Apr 2021The long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) XIST establishes X chromosome inactivation (XCI) in female cells in early development and thereafter is thought to be largely...
The long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) XIST establishes X chromosome inactivation (XCI) in female cells in early development and thereafter is thought to be largely dispensable. Here, we show XIST is continually required in adult human B cells to silence a subset of X-linked immune genes such as TLR7. XIST-dependent genes lack promoter DNA methylation and require continual XIST-dependent histone deacetylation. XIST RNA-directed proteomics and CRISPRi screen reveal distinctive somatic cell-type-specific XIST complexes and identify TRIM28 that mediates Pol II pausing at promoters of X-linked genes in B cells. Single-cell transcriptome data of female patients with either systemic lupus erythematosus or COVID-19 infection revealed XIST dysregulation, reflected by escape of XIST-dependent genes, in CD11c atypical memory B cells (ABCs). XIST inactivation with TLR7 agonism suffices to promote isotype-switched ABCs. These results indicate cell-type-specific diversification and function for lncRNA-protein complexes and suggest expanded roles for XIST in sex-differences in biology and medicine.
Topics: B-Lymphocytes; COVID-19; Cell Line; DNA Methylation; Female; Gene Silencing; Humans; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic; RNA, Long Noncoding; Toll-Like Receptor 7; X Chromosome Inactivation
PubMed: 33735607
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.02.015 -
Journal of Translational Medicine Aug 2021Solute carrier family 7 member 11(SLC7A11) is a component of cysteine/glutamate transporter, which plays a key role in tumor growth; however, its underlying effect on...
BACKGROUND
Solute carrier family 7 member 11(SLC7A11) is a component of cysteine/glutamate transporter, which plays a key role in tumor growth; however, its underlying effect on radiosensitivity in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains unclear. This study aimed to clarify SLC7A11's expression and correlation with nuclear expression of nuclear factor erythroid-2 (NRF2)-associated radioresistance in ESCC.
METHODS
We included 127 ESCC patients who received radical chemoradiotherapy. Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect SLC7A11 and NRF2 nuclear expression, and the relationship between clinicopathological characteristics and survival rates or therapy response were evaluated. Western blot, dual-reporter assays and Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-sequencing were used to analyze their relationship in vitro. Their roles in radioresistance were then investigated through multiple validation steps.
RESULTS
NRF2 nuclear expression and SLC7A11 expression were overexpressed in ESCC tissues and were positively correlated with one another. NRF2 nuclear expression was significantly associated with tumor length, lymph node metastasis, and TNM stage, while SLC7A11 expression was associated with lymph node metastasis. Patients with high NRF2 nuclear expression and SLC7A11 expression had significantly shorter overall and progression-free survival, and poor treatment response. The multivariate model showed that NRF2 nuclear expression and SLC7A11 expression, sex and tumor location are independent prognostic factors. In vitro analysis confirmed that hyperactivation of NRF2 induced SLC7A11 expression by directly binding to its promoter region, promoting radioresistance, reducing radiotherapy-induced lipid peroxidation levels, PTGS2 expression, and radiotherapy-related ferroptosis morphologic features.
CONCLUSION
Our study reveals a connection between high SLC7A11 expression and NRF2 nuclear expression in patients with ESCC that was related to worse survival and poorer therapy outcomes. SLC7A11-mediated ferroptosis inhibition induced NRF2-associated radioresistance, highlighting potential of NRF2/SLC7A11/ferroptosis axis as future therapeutic targets against therapy resistance biomarker.
Topics: Amino Acid Transport System y+; Esophageal Neoplasms; Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma; Ferroptosis; Head and Neck Neoplasms; Humans; NF-E2-Related Factor 2; Prognosis; Radiation Tolerance
PubMed: 34446045
DOI: 10.1186/s12967-021-03042-7 -
Nature Mar 2020Adipose tissue is an energy store and a dynamic endocrine organ. In particular, visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is critical for the regulation of systemic metabolism....
Adipose tissue is an energy store and a dynamic endocrine organ. In particular, visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is critical for the regulation of systemic metabolism. Impaired VAT function-for example, in obesity-is associated with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Regulatory T (T) cells that express the transcription factor FOXP3 are critical for limiting immune responses and suppressing tissue inflammation, including in the VAT. Here we uncover pronounced sexual dimorphism in T cells in the VAT. Male VAT was enriched for T cells compared with female VAT, and T cells from male VAT were markedly different from their female counterparts in phenotype, transcriptional landscape and chromatin accessibility. Heightened inflammation in the male VAT facilitated the recruitment of T cells via the CCL2-CCR2 axis. Androgen regulated the differentiation of a unique IL-33-producing stromal cell population specific to the male VAT, which paralleled the local expansion of T cells. Sex hormones also regulated VAT inflammation, which shaped the transcriptional landscape of VAT-resident T cells in a BLIMP1 transcription factor-dependent manner. Overall, we find that sex-specific differences in T cells from VAT are determined by the tissue niche in a sex-hormone-dependent manner to limit adipose tissue inflammation.
Topics: Androgens; Animals; Chemokine CCL2; Chromatin; Female; Gene Expression Regulation; Gonadal Steroid Hormones; Inflammation; Interleukin-33; Intra-Abdominal Fat; Male; Mice; Positive Regulatory Domain I-Binding Factor 1; RNA-Seq; Receptors, CCR2; Sex Characteristics; Stromal Cells; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory; Transcription, Genetic
PubMed: 32103173
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2040-3