Sex-Dimorphism in Aging Gene Regulation: Are We Missing Half of the Picture?

The existence of human supercentenarians reveals a surprising predictor for exceptional longevity: being female. Not only are 33 out of 34 living supercentenarians women, women are also more resistant to most diseases responsible for age-related morbidity in the US. However, because most molecular aging studies generally opt to use only one sex, sex-driven differences in aging remain poorly understood. A key compartment that can actively respond to sex-specific inputs throughout life is the immune system. Indeed, the majority of age-related diseases share common inflammatory mechanisms, a phenomenon described as “inflamm-aging”. Macrophages play an important role in the inflammatory response throughout life, and are considered major mediators of this phenomenon. Thus, to unbiasedly dissect sex differences in immune aging, we generated ‘omics’ data from 4 and 20 months old female and male mice. Intriguingly, we found that transcriptional aging in primary macrophage populations varies strongly between sexes, with up to 20-fold more aging changes in female vs. male cells. Pathways specifically downregulated in females with aging included lysosome, inflammation and phagolysosome. We confirmed experimentally that metabolic preferences of macrophages are indeed directly modulated in this context (e.g. glycolytic preference for male-derived cells). Our results support the notion that there are functional differences in aging trajectories in the immune system of female vs. male mice. Our research could provide new insights into the molecular underpinnings of sex-dimorphism in aging and disease.

Biomarkers of Parkinson’s disease in carriers of mutations in the glucocerebrosidase gene

Оценка гексозилсфингозина (HexSph), в крови в настоящее время является чувствительным диагностическим тестом развития болезни Гоше. Мы предположили, что оценка данного метаболита может быть эффективна при выявлении развития болезни Паркинсона (БП) у носителей мутаций в гене GBA (GBA-БП). Концентрация HexSph и ферментативная активность GBA была оценена у пациентов с GBA-БП, бессимптомных носителей мутации в гене GBA, пациентов со спорадической БП (сБП) и в контрольной группе в крови, а также в первичной культуре культивируемых макрофагов. Показано, что оценка уровня HexSph в первичной культуре макрофагов позволяет отличить заболевших БП носителей мутаций в гене GBA, от бессимптомных носителей мутаций и может быть рассмотрена как биомаркер развития БП у носителей мутаций в гене GBA. Assessment of hexosylsphingosine (HexSph) in the blood is currently a sensitive diagnostic test for Gaucher disease. We suggested that the assessment of this metabolite may be effective in detecting the development of Parkinson’s disease (PD) in mutation carriers in the GBA gene (GBA-PD). In the present study HexSph concentration and GBA enzymatic activity were evaluated in patients with GBA-BP, asymptomatic carriers of GBA mutations, patients with sporadic PD (sPD) and the control group in blood, as well as in the primary culture of macrophages. An assessment of HexSph level in the primary macrophage culture makes it possible to distinguish GBA mutation carriers with PD from asymptomatic mutation carriers, and though could be considered as a biomarker of PD development in carriers of GBA mutations.

Interaction Differences of the Avian Host-Specific Salmonella enterica Serovar Gallinarum, the Host-Generalist S. Typhimurium, and the Cattle Host-Adapted S. Dublin with Chicken Primary Macrophage

ABSTRACT Most Salmonella serovars cause disease in many host species, while a few serovars have evolved to be host specific. Very little is known about the mechanisms that contribute to Salmonella host specificity. We compared the interactions between chicken primary macrophages (CDPM) and host-generalist serovar Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, host-adapted Salmonella enterica serovar Dublin, and avian host-specific Salmonella enterica serovar Gallinarum. S. Gallinarum was taken up in lower numbers by CDPM than S. Typhimurium and S. Dublin; however, a higher survival rate was observed for this serovar. In addition, S. Typhimurium and S. Dublin caused substantially higher levels of cell death to the CDPM, while significantly higher concentrations of NO were produced by S. Gallinarum-infected cells. Global transcriptome analysis performed 2 h postinfection showed that S. Gallinarum infection triggered a more comprehensive response in CDPM with 1,114 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) compared to the responses of S. Typhimurium (625 DEGs) and S. Dublin (656 DEGs). Comparable levels of proinflammation responses were observed in CDPM infected by these three different serovars at the initial infection phase, but a substantially quicker reduction in levels of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), CXCLi1, and CXCLi2 gene expression was detected in the S. Gallinarum-infected macrophages than that of two other groups as infections proceeded. KEGG cluster analysis for unique DEGs after S. Gallinarum infection showed that the JAK-STAT signaling pathway was top enriched, indicating a specific role for this pathway in response to S. Gallinarum infection of CDPM. Together, these findings provide new insights into the interaction between Salmonella and the host and increase our understanding of S. Gallinarum host specificity.