Figure 2.

Sexual dimorphism in mineralocorticoid receptors (MRs), glucocorticoid receptor (GRs), Hsd11b2 and several MR-regulated target gene expressions during renal development in mice. MRs (A); GRs (B); α subunit of the epithelial sodium channel (αENaC) (C); serum and glucocorticoid-regulated kinase 1 (Sgk1) (D); glucocorticoid-induced leucine zipper protein (Gilz) (E); and Hsd11b2 (F) renal relative mRNA expressions throughout development in mice were determined using reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) at various developmental stages as follows: 17.5 days of gestation (E17.5), day of birth (D0), D7.5 and M3. E: Embryonic day, D: postnatal day, M: postnatal month. Results, expressed as the ratio of attomoles of specific gene per femtomoles of ribosomal 18S, normalized to the expression of male mice at D0, arbitrarily set at 1, correspond to mean ± SEM of three independent experiments comprising at least 6 male and 6 female kidneys each. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001. Note that statistical significances between different developmental stages from D0 to D7.5 are not represented on the graph for better clarity, but for all p < 0.0001.