It has been a puzzle why males can get more severe illnesses from viruses than females, but now scientists may have uncovered the answer. It turns out that there is an epigenetic regulator that makes it easier for certain types of virus-fighting cells, called natural killer (NK) cells, to work properly.
Recently, scientists from UCLA did a study about female mice and humans. They found out that females have an extra version of a gene called UTX which is located on the X chromosome. This gene helps to boost NK cells so they can fight viruses better even though it reduces their numbers in the body. The research was published in the Nature Immunology journal.
Males usually have more natural killer (NK) cells than females do, but we didn’t know why this doesn’t make them better protected from viral infections. Now Dr. Maureen Su from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA has revealed that females have something called UTX in their NK cells, which helps them to fight off viruses better.
Scientists made an interesting finding when they looked at mice with and without special internal organs (ovaries in female mice, and testes in male mice). Even when the mice didn’t have these organs, the researcher still noticed a pattern. Female mice with decreased levels of “UTX” had more natural killer cells that weren’t as good at fighting off infection.
Mandy Cheng, who is studying molecular biology at UCLA, said that this suggests UTX has something to do with gender differences in NK cells.
Researchers say that when it comes to therapies involving the immune system, they should stop using an approach that treats everyone the same and should instead switch to something called ‘Precision Medicine.’ This kind of medicine takes into account how different people are – like their genes, where they live, and other things that affect their health – so treatments can be personalized for each person.
Recently, scientists have been really excited about using NK cells for medical treatments. But according to Tim O’Sullivan, assistant professor of microbiology and genetics at the Geffen School, we should also take into account the difference between sexes in terms of treatments and immunotherapy design.
A study, by Mandy I. Cheng, Joey H. Li and other authors (all wrote on March 16, 2023 in Nature Immunology), showed that a certain type of gene called UTX controls the different behavior of male and female NK cells. It is indicated in this research paper with a DOI number 10.1038/s41590-023-01463-8.
The study was funded by different organizations, like the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, and others. This money came from a few sources such as government grants, awards from organizations like the National Organization of Rare Diseases and fellowships from institutes like UCLA’s Molecular Biology Institute.
