fig1

Figure 1. The male and female steady states. The rectangular boxes and ovals contain the acronyms of the substrates and enzymes, respectively. The yellow ovals in Panel B indicate enzymes whose activities differ between males and menstruating females. The white boxes indicate substrate values (μM) and the blue boxes indicate velocities (μM/hr). Panels A and B are the steady states for males and females, respectively. Full names of enzymes and substrates can be found in the supplementary material. As can be seen, the females have a much higher level of glutathione than males. The flux into the glutathione pathway (CBS) does not vary very much between males and females. So, the large difference in glutathione concentration must be because GCL and GPX are activated by estradiol.