Whole transcriptome analysis of Lingual Sensory Neurons in Naïve and Tongue-Tumor Bearing Male and Female Mice

Using RNA sequencing of FACS sorted retro-labeled sensory neurons innervating tongue tissue, we determined changes in transcriptomic profiles in males and female mice under naïve as well as tongue-tumor bearing conditions Our data revealed the following interesting findings: 1) Naïve female neurons innervating the tongue exclusively expressed immune cell markers such as Csf1R, C1qa and others, that weren’t expressed in males. 2) Male neurons were more tightly regulated than female neurons upon tumor growth; 3) While very few differentially expressed genes (DEGs) overlapped between males and females post-tumor growth, several biological processes (BPs) were similar between two sexes. However, additional distinct processes were sex-specific; 4) Post-tumor growth, male DEGs contained an equal mix of transcription factors, ligands, growth factors, receptors and channels, whereas female DEGs predominantly contained channels/receptors, enzymes, cytokines and chemokines. Neurons were isolated by preparation of single-cell suspensions of TG tissues followed by flow sorting. Each sample was prepared by pooling 4 TGs from 2 animals for normal sample and 4 animals for tumor-bearing samples. Total of 12 samples (independent triplicate samples derived from normal and tumor tissues, both from male and female mice) were submitted for RNA-sequencing.