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Sex Differences at Cellular Level: “Cells Have a Sex”

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Sex and Gender Differences in Pharmacology

Part of the book series: Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology ((HEP,volume 214))

Abstract

Different pathways involved in the complex machinery implicated in determining cell fate have been investigated in the recent years. Different forms of cell death have been described: apart from the “classical” form of death known as necrosis, a well characterized traumatic injury of the cell, several additional forms of cell death have been identified. Among these, apoptosis has been characterized in detail. These studies stem from the implication that the apoptotic process plays a key role in a plethora of human pathologies, including cardiovascular diseases. In fact, defects in the mechanisms of cell death, i.e., both an increase or a decrease of apoptosis, have been associated with the pathogenesis of vessel and myocardial diseases. Some new insights also derived from the study of autophagy, a less characterized form of cell damage mainly associated with cell survival strategies but that also leads, as final event, to the death of the cell. Interestingly, very recently, a gender difference has been found in this respect: cells from males and females can behave differently. In fact, they seem to display several different features, including those determining their fate. These gender cytology differences are briefly described here. The study of this gender disparity is of great relevance in cardiovascular disease pathogenesis and pharmacology. The comprehension of the gender-related mechanisms of cell demise can in fact disclose new scenarios in preclinical and clinical management of cardiovascular diseases.

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Abbreviations

Atg:

Autophagy-related genes

CVDm:

Cardiovascular diseases

E2:

Estradiol

ERα:

Estrogen receptor alpha

ERβ:

Estrogen receptor beta

ER:

Estrogen receptor

H2O2 :

Hydrogen peroxides

JNK:

Jun N-terminal kinase

O•− :

Superoxide anion

RA:

Rheumatoid arthritis

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

SLE:

Systemic lupus erythematosus

TNF:

Tumor necrosis factor

VSMC:

Vascular smooth muscle cells

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Cell Aging and Degeneration, Department of Therapeutic Research and Medicine Evaluation, Istituto Superiore di Sanita’, viale Regina Elena 299, 00161, Rome, Italy

    Elisabetta Straface, Lucrezia Gambardella & Walter Malorni

  2. Center of Metabolomics, Rome, Italy

    Elisabetta Straface

  3. Universita’ di Firenze, Florence, Italy

    Marta Brandani

  4. San Raffaele Institute, Sulmona, L’Aquila, Italy

    Walter Malorni

Authors
  1. Elisabetta Straface
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  2. Lucrezia Gambardella
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  3. Marta Brandani
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  4. Walter Malorni
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Walter Malorni .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Gender in Medicine (GiM), Center for Cardiovascular Research (CCR), Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Hessische Str. 3-4, Berlin, 10115, Germany

    Vera Regitz-Zagrosek

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Straface, E., Gambardella, L., Brandani, M., Malorni, W. (2013). Sex Differences at Cellular Level: “Cells Have a Sex”. In: Regitz-Zagrosek, V. (eds) Sex and Gender Differences in Pharmacology. Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, vol 214. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30726-3_3

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