Sleep Deprivation Alters the Pituitary Stress Transcriptome in male and female Mice

We performed a comparative, whole-transcriptome, analysis to identify stress-induced genes and relevant pathways that may be affected by sleep deprivation. Methods: One day following 12 hours of Paradoxical Sleep Deprivation (PSD), mice were restrained for 20 minutes. Gene expression changes in the pituitary were assessed via RNA-Seq and Gene Ontology in PSD and/or restrained groups compared to controls. Results: We show that restraint triggers transcriptional responses involved in hormone secretion, the glucocorticoid response, and apoptosis in both sexes, with 285 differentially expressed genes in females and 93 in males. When PSD preceded restraint stress, the numbers of differentially expressed genes increased to 613 in females and 580 in males. The pituitary transcriptome of restraint+PSD animals was enriched for microglia and macrophage proliferation, cellular response to corticosteroids, and apoptosis, among others. Finally, we show sex-specific differences in restraint-induced genes following PSD. Conclusion: The results indicate striking differences in the male and female stress-induced transcriptome, as well as in the PSD-induced changes. When PSD preceded the restraint stress challenge, the effects on the pituitary transcriptome were striking. While the male and female PSD + restraint-induced transcriptome was similar, we detected remarkable differences, perhaps indicating different strategies used by each sex to cope with challenges to homeostasis. We hope that these data illuminate future research elucidating how sleep deprivation impacts the vital response to stress and motivate the analysis of male and female subjects when designing experiments. Overall design: Gene expression changes in the pituitary were assessed via RNA-Seq and Gene Ontology in Paradoxical Sleep Deprivation and/or restrained groups compared to controls.

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Oyola MG, Shupe EA, Soltis AR, Sukumar G, Paez-Pereda M, Larco DO, Wilkerson MD, Rothwell S, Dalgard CL, Wu TJ