Gender differences in cellular response

Autoimmune and other diseases frequently manifest a sexual discordance thar cannot be explained by hormonal differences. Although there is evidence fo r gender skewing being caused by gonadal hormones, such skewing does not. e xplain an increase of frequency rather than of severity of such diseases in women. To examine if skewing might have a genetic explanation, we have ask ed how male and female cells devoid of hormonal differences respond to chal lenges. We used mouse embryonic cells from heart, liver and brain and asses sed cellular responsiveness by cell survival. We find that female cells in general show more sensitivity to challenges, such as ethanol, hydrogen pero xide, and camptothecin. Our findings indicate that there is a differential behavior to challenges, in male vs female cells, which may be due to differ ences in the biological make-up of the cells with regard to gender, and pro vide preliminary information regarding the feasibility of this type of appr oach.