Sex Dimorphism

Sex Dimorphism analyzes sex- and age-related differences in immune-system epigenomic and transcriptomic profiles from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) using ATAC-seq, RNA-seq, and flow cytometry to define epigenomic signatures of immune aging.

Key Features:

• Comprehensive Data Integration: Integrates ATAC-seq, RNA-seq, and flow cytometry data to provide a multi-omic view of immune changes across ages and sexes.
• Epigenomic Signature Characterization: Identifies shared epigenomic markers of aging, including decline in naïve T cell functions and increases in monocyte and cytotoxic cell activities.
• Sex-Specific Insights: Highlights sex-specific differences such as a more pronounced decline in B-cell specific loci and earlier onset of age-related epigenomic changes in men compared to women.
• Age-Related Epigenomic Visualization: Visualizes the relationships between age, sex, and immune phenotypes at the epigenomic and transcriptomic level.
• Research Utility: Supports identification of molecular features relevant to lifespan and health-span differences and potential therapeutic targets related to immune aging.

Scientific Applications:

• Sexual dimorphism in immune aging: Enables investigation of molecular bases for sex-specific trajectories of immune system aging.
• Biomarker and target discovery: Facilitates identification of epigenomic and transcriptomic markers and potential therapeutic targets associated with age-related immune decline.

Methodology:

Processes data from a cohort of 172 healthy adults aged 22–93 years using ATAC-seq for chromatin accessibility, RNA-seq for transcriptomic profiling, and flow cytometry for detailed cell population analysis.