Rubtsova Kira, Marrack Philippa, Rubtsov Anatoly V
J Clin Invest. 2015 Jun;125(6):2187-93. doi: 10.1172/JCI78082. Epub 2015 Apr 27.
Autoimmune diseases occur when the immune system attacks and destroys the organs and tissues of its own host. Autoimmunity is the third most common type of disease in the United States. Because there is no cure for autoimmunity, it is extremely important to study the mechanisms that trigger these diseases. Most autoimmune diseases predominantly affect females, indicating a strong sex bias. Various factors, including sex hormones, the presence or absence of a second X chromosome, and sex-specific gut microbiota can influence gene expression in a sex-specific way. These changes in gene expression may, in turn, lead to susceptibility or protection from autoimmunity, creating a sex bias for autoimmune diseases. In this Review we discuss recent findings in the field of sex-dependent regulation of gene expression and autoimmunity.
当免疫系统攻击并破坏自身宿主的器官和组织时，自身免疫性疾病就会发生。自身免疫是美国第三大常见疾病类型。由于自身免疫无法治愈，研究引发这些疾病的机制极其重要。大多数自身免疫性疾病主要影响女性，表明存在强烈的性别差异。包括性激素、第二条X染色体的有无以及性别特异性肠道微生物群在内的各种因素，可以以性别特异性的方式影响基因表达。这些基因表达的变化反过来可能导致对自身免疫的易感性或抵抗力，从而产生自身免疫性疾病的性别差异。在本综述中，我们讨论了基因表达和自身免疫性疾病性别依赖性调控领域的最新研究发现。
