Sex effect on presenilins expression in post-natal rat brain

Presenilin 1 and presenilin 2 are widely expressed during brain development. Several mutations in these proteins have been associated with autosomal-dominant inherited forms of Alzheimer disease. Their expression is regulated by various cellular and extracellular factors, which change with age and sex. Both age and sex are key risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease, but the issue of whether the expression of presenilins is influenced by the sex during early postnatal development of the brain has been poorly investigated so far. In this study, we report that transcript levels of presenilins, and the subset of neurons expressing these proteins in various brain areas of the developing post-natal brain are different in male and female rats, suggesting that their function(s) may contribute to sexual dimorphism in the brain, both at morphological and functional levels.