The susceptibility to neurological and psychiatric disorders reveals sexual dimorphism in the structure and function of human brains. Recent evidence has also demonstrated the sex-related differences in cellular components of the brain, including neurons, microglia, astrocytes, and endothelial cells. Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) regulate the neuronal system in various ways and play crucial roles in brain homeostasis beyond their well-known role as a reservoir for mature oligodendrocytes. Although recent studies have shown regional diversities and heterogeneities of OPCs, sex-related differences in OPCs are largely unknown. Here, we revealed transcriptomic differences in OPCs isolated from male and female neonatal rat brains. Furthermore, we demonstrated sex-dependent differences in OPCs regarding proliferation, migration, differentiation, tolerance against ischemic stress, energy metabolism, and the ability to regulate the blood–brain barrier integrity.

对神经和精神疾病的易感性揭示了人类大脑结构和功能的性别二态性。最近的证据也证明了大脑细胞成分的性别相关差异，包括神经元、小胶质细胞、星形胶质细胞和内皮细胞。少突胶质前体细胞 (OPCs) 以各种方式调节神经元系统，并在大脑稳态中发挥重要作用，而不仅仅是众所周知的成熟少突胶质细胞的储存库。尽管最近的研究表明 OPCs 的区域多样性和异质性，但 OPCs 中与性别相关的差异在很大程度上是未知的。在这里，我们揭示了从雄性和雌性新生大鼠脑中分离的 OPCs 的转录组差异。此外，我们证明了 OPCs 在增殖、迁移、分化、