Gene regulatory mechanisms underlying sex differences in brain development and psychiatric disease

Manoli, D. S., Tollkuhn, J. (January 2018) Gene regulatory mechanisms underlying sex differences in brain development and psychiatric disease. Ann N Y Acad Sci, 1420 (1). pp. 26-45. ISSN 0077-8923

URL: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29363776
DOI: 10.1111/nyas.13564

Abstract

The sexual differentiation of the mammalian nervous requires the precise coordination of the temporal and spatial regulation of gene expression in diverse cell types. Sex hormones act at multiple developmental time points to specify sex-typical differentiation during embryonic and early development and to coordinate subsequent responses to gonadal hormones later in life by establishing sex-typical patterns of epigenetic modifications across the genome. Thus, mutations associated with neuropsychiatric conditions may result in sexually dimorphic symptoms by acting on different neural substrates or chromatin landscapes in males and females. Finally, as stress hormone signaling may directly alter the molecular machinery that interacts with sex hormone receptors to regulate gene expression, the contribution of chronic stress to the pathogenesis or presentation of mental illness may be additionally different between the sexes. Here, we review the mechanisms that contribute to sexual differentiation in the mammalian nervous system and consider some of the implications of these processes for sex differences in neuropsychiatric conditions.

Item Type: Paper
Subjects: diseases & disorders > mental disorders
organs, tissues, organelles, cell types and functions > organs types and functions > brain
organism description > animal > developmental stage
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > epigenetics
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification > epigenetics
organism description > animal behavior > sex differences
CSHL Authors:
Communities: CSHL labs > Tollkuhn lab
Depositing User: Matt Covey
Date: 24 January 2018
Date Deposited: 26 Jan 2018 20:46
Last Modified: 12 Aug 2019 16:59
PMCID: PMC5991992
Related URLs:
URI: https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/35973

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