Figure 7.
Effects of deleting cardiomyocyte glucocorticoid receptors on male and female heart gene expression. A, Differentially expressed genes between cardiomyocyte‐specific glucocorticoid receptor knockout (cardioGRKO) males vs females were analyzed by literature‐based Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) software. The top 13 diseases and biological functions were ranked and assigned an activation z‐score (orange indicates induced; blue indicates repressed). Heart failure was ranked as the most significant activated biological function. One hundred and twenty‐six genes in the heart failure function were significantly altered in male hearts; in contrast, only 77 of these genes were dysregulated in the female hearts. B, Visualization of the genes involved in the heart failure category in male and female cardioGRKO hearts. Genes involved in cardiomyocyte contraction, structure of cardiac sarcomeres, and cardiomyocyte viability are marked with an asterisk (*). ATPase sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ (Atp2a2, Serca), ryanodine receptor 2 (Ryr2), desmin (Des), troponin C1 (Tnnc1), and the solute carrier family 25 member 4 (Slc25a4). Red depicts induced genes and green represents repressed genes. CardioGRKO indicates cardiomyocyte‐specific glucocorticoid receptor knockout.