Why study sex differences?
Male-female differences in development, physiology, and aging are widespread in the animal kingdom. Many elegant studies have described the important role that sex chromosomes and sex hormones play in regulating sex differences in phenotypes such as body size and fat storage. Yet, the downstream metabolic genes and pathways that mediate the effects of sex chromosomes and sex hormones on development and physiology remain less clear.
In the Rideout lab, we use the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, as a model to discover metabolic genes and pathways that contribute to sex differences in development and physiology. Two important areas of focus in the lab include studies on 1) the sex-specific regulation of fat storage and breakdown, and 2) the sex-specific regulation of the insulin signaling pathway. For our recent publications in this area, please click here.
Men and women show differences in the risk of developing metabolic diseases associated with abnormal fat metabolism, or abnormal insulin pathway function, such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. We believe that increasing knowledge of genes that influence sex differences in fat metabolism and insulin pathway function will help us to gain a better understanding of how this sex-biased risk of disease arises. In the long term, genes that we discover may also help identify new targets to correct abnormal fat metabolism or insulin pathway function in each sex.
In the Rideout lab, we use the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, as a model to discover metabolic genes and pathways that contribute to sex differences in development and physiology. Two important areas of focus in the lab include studies on 1) the sex-specific regulation of fat storage and breakdown, and 2) the sex-specific regulation of the insulin signaling pathway. For our recent publications in this area, please click here.
Men and women show differences in the risk of developing metabolic diseases associated with abnormal fat metabolism, or abnormal insulin pathway function, such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. We believe that increasing knowledge of genes that influence sex differences in fat metabolism and insulin pathway function will help us to gain a better understanding of how this sex-biased risk of disease arises. In the long term, genes that we discover may also help identify new targets to correct abnormal fat metabolism or insulin pathway function in each sex.
Drosophila as a model....
to study sex differences in fat metabolismWe use flies to study male-female differences in fat storage and breakdown for several reasons. First, the sex differences in fat metabolism in flies mirror the differences we see in many insects and mammals - in most animals females store more fat than males, and break it down at a different rate. Second, the genes and hormones that control fat storage and breakdown in flies are highly similar to factors that control these processes in other animals. This means that our findings in flies can give us clues about how fat storage and breakdown are regulated in other animals, including humans.
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Third, sophisticated genetic tools are available to exert precise control over gene expression.So we can manipulate the expression of fat metabolism genes to study how this affects fat storage, fat breakdown, and physiology. |
to study metabolic pathways?
We also use flies to investigate the sex-specific regulation of metabolic pathways. One important metabolic pathway we study is the insulin signaling pathway. Flies are a great model to discover the genes that contribute to sex differences in the insulin signaling pathway for several reasons. First, we uncovered sex differences in the regulation of insulin production, insulin secretion, and in the intracellular insulin signaling pathway. Second, the genes that regulate insulin production, secretion, and the intracellular insulin signaling pathway are highly conserved between flies and other animals. This means that the mechanisms we uncover in flies will provide clues about how sex differences in the insulin pathway may arise in other animals. Third, many strains of flies have been developed to genetically manipulate insulin production, insulin secretion, and insulin pathway activity. This allows us to determine how each of these processes contribute to sex differences in development, physiology, and lifespan.
Techniques we use in the lab:
- quantitative real-time PCR
- Western blotting
- biochemical assays (e.g., triglyceride measurements)
- immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy
- wide range of assays to study development and physiology (e.g., behavioural tests, physiological assays, stress resistance)
- genomic techniques such as RNA-seq