Skip to main content
. 2021 Jul 22;224(Suppl 6):S647–S659. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiab335

Figure 1.

Figure 1.

Sexually dimorphic placental type II transmembrane serine protease (TMPRSS2) expression in the setting of maternal severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. A, TMPRSS2 gene expression demonstrates a significant interaction effect of fetal sex and maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection (interaction P = .002). TMPRSS2 expression is elevated in male placentas of SARS-CoV-2–negative mothers compared to female placentas, suggesting higher baseline TMPRSS2 expression in males. In the setting of maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection, TMPRSS2 gene expression is significantly reduced in male placentas, with no significant effect of maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection in females. All expression levels are relative to reference gene YWHAZ. B, TMPRSS2 protein expression by Western blot analysis also demonstrates a significant interaction between fetal sex and maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection (P for interaction < .001). In SARS-CoV-2–negative mothers, TMPRSS2 is elevated in male compared with female placentas. In SARS-CoV-2–positive mothers, TMPRSS2 is significantly reduced in male placentas and increased in female placentas relative to sex-matched controls. *P < .05, **P < .01. Data analyzed by 2-way analysis of variance with Bonferroni post hoc testing. C, Representative Western blots showing TMPRSS2 expression between males and females from pregnancies with and without exposure to maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection. “Neg” and “Pos” designate maternal SARS-CoV-2 status.