Given the success of the first edition of
Sexual Dimorphism and Steroid Hormone Crosstalk and the continuing advances in the field, we are pleased to announce the Volume II.
Sexual dimorphism refers to the condition where the two sexes of the same species exhibit different features beyond the differences in their sexual organs. It is increasingly being recognized that many diseases present in a sexually dimorphic manner, including endocrinological, inflammatory, and (cardio)metabolic diseases. The difference in incidence and severity of disease between males and females can in part be attributed to a different genetic landscape (allosomes), by sex-specific expression of disease-modulators, and by the different levels of sex hormones. Nevertheless, there remains a lack of insight into how these factors influence the pathogenesis of diseases. Also, the contribution of steroid hormones to sexual dimorphism warrants more research.
Steroid hormones like androgens, estrogens, and glucocorticoids have a similar structure, their receptors are of common ancestry, and their DNA-binding sites are similar or even identical. It is therefore plausible that the signaling pathways of steroid hormones interact, and this is in fact widely described in hormone-driven cancers but understudied in (cardio)metabolic disease and auto-immune disease.
This research topic aims to bring together research on sexual dimorphism and steroid hormone crosstalk, in order to generate a timely overview ranging from molecular, functional, and clinical research. Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:
• Sexual dimorphism in the incidence and severity of endocrinological and metabolic diseases;
• Molecular modes of nuclear receptor crosstalk between the GR, MR, AR, ER and PR;
• Different levels of steroid hormone crosstalk including enzymatic (in)activation of hormones, hormone secretion, localization, and other indirect modes of interaction;
• Translational relevance of steroid hormone crosstalk to human disease (cardiometabolic disease, auto-immune disease, cancer);
• New animal models and cells could address the mechanisms of sex differences;
• New omics and multi-omics data to study sexual dimorphism of endocrine system;
• Novel therapies or drugs are beneficial for both sexes;
• The pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of female masculinization and male feminization disease.