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TL;DR
This study used a computational meta-analysis of public microarray data and qPCR validation to evaluate housekeeping gene expression stability by sex in human and mouse adipose tissue.
Biology of Sex Differences · 8 authors, 6 centres
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This study used a computational meta-analysis of public microarray data and qPCR validation to evaluate housekeeping gene expression stability by sex in human and mouse adipose tissue.
This study employed a computational meta-analysis strategy combining public microarray transcriptomic data from the Gene Expression Omnibus database with qPCR experimental validation to assess expression stability of six classical housekeeping genes (GAPDH, HPRT, PPIA, UBC, 18S, RPL19) in human and mouse adipose tissue, with sex as a biological variable. A novel Rank Product meta-analysis approach was used to identify sex-unbiased housekeeping gene candidates. Results revealed sex-dependent differences in housekeeping gene expression stability in humans, with female samples presenting greater instability, and identified 18S as unsuitable due to sex-based variability. The authors proposed a sex-unbiased housekeeping gene signature validated by qPCR. A major limitation was that approximately half of the studies surveyed failed to report the sex of samples, and an insufficient number of female mouse samples precluded mouse-specific meta-analytic ranking. Although restricted to adipose tissue, the findings suggest sex bias in housekeeping genes may affect normalization across tissues, emphasizing the importance of sex-aware experimental design.