Liarte, S.Chaves-Pozo, E.Abellán, E.Meseguer, J.Mulero, V.Canario, Adelino V. M.García-Ayala, A.2014-05-092014-05-092011Liarte, S.; Chaves-Pozo, E.; Abellán, E.; Meseguer, J.; Mulero, V.; Canario, A.V.M.; García-Ayala, A. Estrogen-responsive genes in macrophages of the bony fish gilthead seabream: A transcriptomic approach, Developmental & Comparative Immunology, 35, 8, 840-849, 2011.0145-305XAUT: ACA00258;http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/3834The role of sex steroids in the modulation of fish immune responses has received little attention. Previous studies have demonstrated that 17 -estradiol (E2) is able to alter the response of gilthead seabream leukocytes to infectious agents. We have used suppression subtractive hybridization to identify genes upregulated by E2 (50 ng/ml) in macrophage cultures from gilthead seabream. We isolated 393 upregulated cDNA fragments that led to the identification of 162 candidate estrogen-responsive genes. Functional analyses revealed the presence of several enriched immune processes and molecular pathways. The E2 up-regulation of some immune-relevant genes was further confirmed by real time RT-PCR. Bioinformatics analysis revealed the ability of E2 to orchestrate profound alterations in the macrophage expression profile, especially immune-related processes and pathways. This is the first report on E2- dependent modifications of fish macrophage transcriptome and lends weight to a suggested role for estrogen in the immune system, the possible significance of which is discussed.engEstrogensMacrophagesTranscriptomicGilthead seabreamjournal article2014-05-08http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dci.2011.03.015