Figure 3. Pathway, function, and regulatory analysis of sex- and age-related transcriptomic changes. Age- (A) and sex- (B) related changes in retinal gene expression were analyzed with the Ingenuity Knowledge Base for differentially regulated pathways, functions, and regulators. Significantly overrepresented functional or pathway processes (right-tailed Fisher’s exact test, p<0.05) are shown in the heat map with coloring according to the computed z-score. A regulation z-score was calculated based on prior knowledge of known regulatory functions and direction of changes in the current data set, and a z-score >2 or a z-score <2 indicates significant activation or inhibition of a pathway or process, respectively. Note that increased immune and inflammatory responses with aging are evident in female and male animals. Selected pathways, regulators, and functions are presented. Full lists are included in Appendix 7 and Appendix 8.