Expression data from Human Kidney (HK) samples

Males are 50% more likely to develop end stage kidney failure compared to women. In this study we wanted to find out the molecular mechanism responsible for this increased risk. We collected kidney samples from patients with and without kidney disease and performed a comprehensive gene expression analysis in healthy and diseased male and female kidneys. Interestingly, the set of gender biased genes in healthy kidneys were different from those in diseased kidneys indicating not only baseline gene expression differences but also that the male and female kidney respond differently to disease condition. Our studies indicate that men and women with kidney problems might need to be treated differently. Keywords: Gender difference We collected 42 kidney samples from healthy living transplant donors, nephrectomies and from diagnostic kidney biopsies. Preliminary studies did not show significant gene expression differences in control kidneys based on the collection method (i.e. living kidney biopsy vs. unaffected portion of tumor nephrectomy). We grouped the tissue samples based on the histological readings of the kidney biopsies. Samples with evidence of glomerular and tubulointerstitial fibrosis were assigned into the diseased group. Characteristics of the research participants indicate diverse ethnic and disease groups and mild (StageIII) CKD. The tissue was microdissected into glomerular and tubulointerstitial fractions and expression arrays were performed separately.