Analysis of the effects of sex hormone background on the rat choroid plexus transcriptome by cDNA microarrays

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 8; no. 4; p. e60199
• Main Authors: Quintela, Telma, Gonçalves, Isabel, Carreto, Laura C, Santos, Manuel A S, Marcelino, Helena, Patriarca, Filipa M, Santos, Cecília R A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 09.04.2013; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Alzheimer's disease; Androgens; Animals; Apolipoproteins; Biology; Biosynthesis; Blood; Brain; Brain research; Cerebrospinal fluid; Choroid plexus; Choroid Plexus - physiology; Circadian Rhythm - physiology; Circadian rhythms; Dehydrogenases; DNA microarrays; Endocrinology; Female; Gene expression; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation; Genes; Gonadal Steroid Hormones - genetics; Gonadal Steroid Hormones - metabolism; Gonadectomy; Health sciences; Homeostasis; Hormones; Hormones, Sex; Laboratory animals; Male; Medicine; Metabolism; Metabolites; Nervous system; Nervous system diseases; Neurodegeneration; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neurological diseases; Neuroprotection; Neuroprotective agents; Olfactory Perception - physiology; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; Orchiectomy; Ovariectomy; Proteins; Rats; Receptors; Rodents; Secretion; Sex; Sex Factors; Sex hormones; Signal Transduction; Taste transduction; Transcriptome
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0060199

The choroid plexus (CP) are highly vascularized branched structures that protrude into the ventricles of the brain, and form a unique interface between the blood and the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), the blood-CSF barrier, that are the main site of production and secretion of CSF. Sex hormones are widely recognized as neuroprotective agents against several neurodegenerative diseases, and the presence of sex hormones cognate receptors suggest that it may be a target for these hormones. In an effort to provide further insight into the neuroprotective mechanisms triggered by sex hormones we analyzed gene expression differences in the CP of female and male rats subjected to gonadectomy, using microarray technology. In gonadectomized female and male animals, 3045 genes were differentially expressed by 1.5-fold change, compared to sham controls. Analysis of the CP transcriptome showed that the top-five pathways significantly regulated by the sex hormone background are olfactory transduction, taste transduction, metabolism, steroid hormone biosynthesis and circadian rhythm pathways. These results represent the first overview of global expression changes in CP of female and male rats induced by gonadectomy and suggest that sex hormones are implicated in pathways with central roles in CP functions and CSF homeostasis.