Sexual dimorphism in the immune system becomes evident in the perinatal period in the four core genotypes mouse

We conclude an existence of a previously unrecognized role for estradiol in the regulation of cell development in the neonatal thymus and an organizational role for perinatal testosterone in the development of immune sexual dimorphism To determine the effect of testosterone surge and estradiol during the perinatal period, day 7 thymic epithelium/stroma was collected. RNA was extracted from the thymic epithelium/stroma of four core genotype mouse and then subjected to microarray analysis using probe sets present on an Affymetrix mouse GeneChip 1.0 ST array.