Do you know the sex of your cells?
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Do you know the sex of your cells? Not a question that is frequently heard around the lab bench, yet thanks to recent research is probably one that should be asked. It is self-evident that cervical epithelial cells would be derived from female tissue and prostate cells from a male subject (exemplified by HeLa and LnCaP, respectively), yet beyond these obvious examples, it would be true to say that the sex of cell lines derived from non-reproductive tissue, such as lung, intestine, kidney, for example, is given minimal if any thought. After all, what possible impact could the presence of a Y chromosome have on the biochemistry and cell biology of tissues such as the exocrine pancreatic acini? Intriguingly, recent evidence has suggested that far from being irrelevant, genes expressed on the sex chromosomes can have a marked impact on the biology of such diverse tissues as neurons and renal cells. It is also policy of AJP-Cell Physiology that the source of all cells utilized (species, sex, etc.) should be clearly indicated when submitting an article for publication, an instruction that is rarely followed ( http://www.the-aps.org/mm/Publications/Info-For-Authors/Composition ). In this review we discuss recent data arguing that the sex of cells being used in experiments can impact the cell's biology, and we provide a table outlining the sex of cell lines that have appeared in AJP-Cell Physiology over the past decade.
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In female cells, culture conditions can lead to a release of the epigenetic inactivation of one of the two X-chromosomes and consequently expression of gene products from both X-chromosomes, coding for a large number of genes involved in metabolism and general cell function.
“In female cells, culture conditions can lead to a release of the epigenetic inactivation of one of the two X-chromosomes and, consequently, the expression of gene products from both X-chromosomes, coding for a large number of genes involved in metabolism and general cell function (Shah et al., 2013).”
From In Vitro research Reproducibility: Keeping up High Standards (2019) · cites this paper as Shah et al., 2013
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Epigenetic changes during aging and their reprogramming potential
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- Authors
- Shah, K., McCormack, C. E., & Bradbury, N. A.
- Affiliations
- Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science (US)
- Corresponding author
- Bradbury, Neil A.
- Venue
- American Journal of Physiology-Cell Physiology
- Publisher
- American Physiological Society
- Published
- 2014-01-01
- Volume
- 306
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- C3-C18
- ISSN
- 0363-6143 (ISSN-L)
- 1522-1563
- PMC
- PMC3919971
- OpenAlex
- W2108937262
- Cited by
- 219
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 1.05
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- American Journal of Physiology-Cell Physiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01HL102208, HL102208)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic and Clinical Aspects of Sex Determination and Chromosomal Abnormalities
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Sex and Gender in Healthcare
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Sexual Differentiation and Disorders
- Keywords
- sex chromosomes, Y chromosome, sex chromosome genes, cell line origin, neurons, kidney cells
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Cell Line, Cell Physiological Phenomena, Female, Humans, Male, Sex Characteristics, X Chromosome, Y Chromosome
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