Influence of gender on ABCC2 expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells

Abstract

ABSTRACT. It is known that several factors, including gender, may influence the expression of multidrug resistance associated proteins 2 (MRP2/ABCC2) in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). This study aims to compare ABCC2 gene expression in PBMCs of healthy males and females. PBMCs were extracted from 48 females and 44 males, and gene expression was measured using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (real-time QPCR). Multiple housekeeping genes (Actin-β, β2-M, GAPDH) were utilized as endogenous controls. The stability of housekeeping genes was verified using the Excel-based Bestkeeper ® program. Our results showed that expression level of ABCC2 in PBMCs was 1.2-1.4 fold higher in males compared to that in females, depending on the endogenous control(s) used. However, this difference was not statistically significant. When considering using a single endogenous control gene, GAPDH and Actin-β were found to be more suitable than β2-M. Moreover, GAPDH + Actin-β, or the combination of all three housekeeping gene as endogenous control(s) showed greater stability than other endogenous control genes for normalization of ABCC2 expression in PBMCs. This study suggests that ABCC2 expression in PBMCs may be, in part, influenced by gender, and that at least two endogenous control genes should be utilized for gene expression normalization.