Sexual dimorphisms in the transcriptomes of murine salivary glands

Abstract

Transcriptional profiling identified 933 sexually dimorphic genes out of the 14 371 protein-coding genes expressed in the three major murine salivary glands: parotid, sublingual, and submandibular. Most (89%) sex-specific genes were enriched in a single gland, while only 0.5% of the sexually dimorphic genes were enriched in all glands. The sublingual gland displayed a strong male sex bias (94% of sex-enriched genes), while a sex preference was not obvious in the parotid or submandibular glands. A subset of transcription factor genes was correlated with the expression of gland-specific, sex-enriched genes. Higher expression of Cftr chloride and Scnn1 sodium channels in the male submandibular correlated with greater NaCl reabsorption. In conclusion, adult salivary glands display sex- and gland-specific differences in gene expression that reflect their unique functional properties.