{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]],"date-time":"2026-06-24T12:55:26Z","timestamp":1782305726269,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"18","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,12]],"date-time":"2025-09-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1757635200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation","award":["075-15-2025-487"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["075-15-2025-487"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Cells"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study investigates the adrenal gland structure and gene expression in Acomys cahirinus compared to Mus musculus, aiming to assess its relevance for human adrenal disease modeling. We identified a well-defined zona reticularis in Acomys, resembling the human adrenal cortex. Transcriptomic analysis revealed upregulation of key steroidogenic genes (Cyp17a1, Sult1e1, Hsd3b2, Defb18, Kiss1, H2-Ke6), with validation by qRT-PCR and CAGE-seq. The gene Nupl1 showed discordant results between RNA-seq and CAGE. Pathway analysis highlighted enrichment of steroidogenesis and adrenal metabolism. Notably, a GTEx-based comparison demonstrated that Acomys adrenal gene expression closely mirrors the expression in the human adrenal cortex, whereas Mus musculus samples diverged toward brain-specific signatures. These findings suggest that Acomys cahirinus represents a promising model for adrenal research, though further studies including single-cell transcriptomics and functional assays are warranted to fully establish its translational potential.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/cells14181431","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,12]],"date-time":"2025-09-12T13:43:02Z","timestamp":1757684582000},"page":"1431","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Morphological and Transcriptomic Analyses of the Adrenal Gland in Acomys cahirinus: A Novel Model for Murine Adrenal Physiology"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Alina","family":"Bilyalova","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Fundamental Medicine and Biology, Kazan Federal University, 420008 Kazan, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8888-8395","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Airat","family":"Bilyalov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Medical Research Centre of Cardiology Named After Academician E.I. Chazov, 121552 Moscow, Russia"},{"name":"Loginov Moscow Clinical Scientific Center, 111123 Moscow, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6013-0761","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Olga","family":"Kozlova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Fundamental Medicine and Biology, Kazan Federal University, 420008 Kazan, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-9179-515X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nikita","family":"Filatov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Medical Research Centre of Cardiology Named After Academician E.I. Chazov, 121552 Moscow, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Daria","family":"Filimoshina","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Fundamental Medicine and Biology, Kazan Federal University, 420008 Kazan, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Guzel","family":"Gazizova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Fundamental Medicine and Biology, Kazan Federal University, 420008 Kazan, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0019-2076","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ruslan","family":"Deviatiiarov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Life Improvement by Future Technologies (LIFT) Center, 121205 Moscow, Russia"},{"name":"Intractable Disease Research Center, Graduate School of Medicine, Juntendo University, Tokyo 113-8421, Japan"},{"name":"Endocrinology Research Centre, Institute of Personalized Medicine, 117292 Moscow, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5608-7809","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Angelina","family":"Titova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Fundamental Medicine and Biology, Kazan Federal University, 420008 Kazan, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrey","family":"Bydanov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Fundamental Medicine and Biology, Kazan Federal University, 420008 Kazan, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yana","family":"Mukhamedshina","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Fundamental Medicine and Biology, Kazan Federal University, 420008 Kazan, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2339-261X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Elena","family":"Shagimardanova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Life Improvement by Future Technologies (LIFT) Center, 121205 Moscow, Russia"},{"name":"Genomics and Bioimaging Core Facility, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, 143026 Moscow, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrey","family":"Kiyasov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Fundamental Medicine and Biology, Kazan Federal University, 420008 Kazan, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-2032-537X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dmitry","family":"Tychinin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Federal State Budgetary Institution \u00abCentre for Strategic Planning and Management of Biomedical Health Risks\u00bb of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency (Centre for Strategic Planning, of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency), 119121 Moscow, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mary","family":"Woroncow","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Medical Research and Education Institute, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Oleg","family":"Gusev","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Life Improvement by Future Technologies (LIFT) Center, 121205 Moscow, Russia"},{"name":"Intractable Disease Research Center, Graduate School of Medicine, Juntendo University, Tokyo 113-8421, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"239","DOI":"10.1016\/B978-0-12-416021-7.00007-9","article-title":"Adrenocortical development, maintenance, and disease","volume":"106","author":"Yates","year":"2013","journal-title":"Curr. 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