Sex and APOE Genotype Differentially Shape Microglial Transcriptomic Profiles Across the Hippocampus and Cortex
- 1Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Abstract
Female sex and the APOEe4 allele are top risk factors for Alzheimers disease (AD). Microglia play a role in the pathogenesis of AD, yet how sex and APOE genotype affect microglia remain poorly understood. Here, we characterized the transcriptomic and morphological profiles in the hippocampus and cortex of microglia from humanized APOEe3 and APOEe4 mice of males and females. The hAPOEe4 genotype was associated with sex-dependent effects on microglia co-expression modules in both brain regions, involving cellular stress and immunometabolism processes. In females, a hippocampal cell cycle module was supported by reduced microglial proliferation. Cortical modules were enriched for lipid metabolism and immune-related processes whose expression decreased in females but increased in male hAPOEe4. Male, but not female, hAPOEe4 microglia shifted toward an ameboid state in both regions. Together, these findings reveal sex-dependent microglial responses to APOEe4 across brain regions and highlight the need to incorporate sex-specific approaches into AD research.
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BibTeX
@misc{ledesmacorvi2026apoe,
title = {{Sex and APOE Genotype Differentially Shape Microglial Transcriptomic Profiles Across the Hippocampus and Cortex}},
author = {S. Ledesma-Corvi and S. Blankers and A. McGovern and M. Towriss and J. Kim and A. V. Ciernia and L. Galea},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.64898/2026.08.31.748388},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.31.748388v1},
note = {CC BY-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Sex and APOE Genotype Differentially Shape Microglial Transcriptomic Profiles Across the Hippocampus and Cortex
AU - S. Ledesma-Corvi
AU - S. Blankers
AU - A. McGovern
AU - M. Towriss
AU - J. Kim
AU - A. V. Ciernia
AU - L. Galea
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/31
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.08.31.748388
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.31.748388v1
AB - Female sex and the APOEe4 allele are top risk factors for Alzheimers disease (AD). Microglia play a role in the pathogenesis of AD, yet how sex and APOE genotype affect microglia remain poorly understood. Here, we characterized the transcriptomic and morphological profiles in the hippocampus and cortex of microglia from humanized APOEe3 and APOEe4 mice of males and females. The hAPOEe4 genotype was associated with sex-dependent effects on microglia co-expression modules in both brain regions, involving cellular stress and immunometabolism processes. In females, a hippocampal cell cycle module was supported by reduced microglial proliferation. Cortical modules were enriched for lipid metabolism and immune-related processes whose expression decreased in females but increased in male hAPOEe4. Male, but not female, hAPOEe4 microglia shifted toward an ameboid state in both regions. Together, these findings reveal sex-dependent microglial responses to APOEe4 across brain regions and highlight the need to incorporate sex-specific approaches into AD research.
ER -