Figure 1

Relative mRNA expression levels of HPA axis-related genes in mouse fetal lungs. Crh (A), Crhbp (B), Crhr1 (C), Crhr2b (D), Pomc (E), Mc2r (F), and Nr3c1 (G) were quantified by QPCR in male and female total fetal lung extracts from several litters on GD 15.5, 16.5, and 17.5. For each litter, the black bar represents the male pool and the white bar represents the female pool. Dashed bars represent adult tissues. Number of animals in each litter (litter #: number of males (M), number of females (F)): #1: 2 M, 2 F; #2: 4 M, 5 F; #3: 4 M, 3 F; #4: 2 M, 3 F; #5: 3 M, 6 F; #6: 4 M, 3 F; #7: 1 M, 2 F; #8: 4 M, 4 F; #9: 3 M, 4 F; #10: 3 M, 1 F. Each value (± SD) was normalized using a factor generated from expression values of three housekeeping genes, namely Hprt1, Sdha, and Gapdh. ANOVA was performed to evaluate the effect of time and sex. A trend in increase in Crh mRNA levels was observed according to gestation time (p = 0.053) (A), a significant interaction between time and sex (p = 0.019), as well as a significant impact of sex (p = 0.017), were observed for Crhbp mRNA levels (B), and a significant increase in Nr3c1 mRNA levels was observed over time (p = 0.0003) (G).