|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Free Newsletters
Archive
My Subscriptions
News by Subject
News by Disease
News by Date
PLoS
Search News
Post Your News
JoVE
Job Seeker Login
Most Recent Jobs
Browse Biotech Jobs
Search Jobs
Post Resume
Career Fairs
Career Resources
For Employers
Regional News
US & Canada
Biotech Bay
Biotech Beach
Genetown
Pharm Country
BioCapital
BioMidwest
Bio NC
BioForest
Southern Pharm
BioCanada East
US Device
Europe
Asia
Market Summary
News
IPOs
Company Profiles
Companies
Events
Research Store
Biotech Events
Post an Event
Real Estate
Business Opportunities
|
|
|
|
|
News | News By Subject | News by Disease |
News By Date | Search News
|
|
|
Oh, Rats! Designer Animals Reveal Possible Heart Disease Genes
1/16/2006 12:54:25 PM
Every year, heart disease claims an estimated 7 million lives, according to the World Health Organization. Scientists have struggled to pinpoint the precise genes behind this complex disease. Now, however, they have a new research ally: the designer rat.
In a four-year study published in the January 15 advance online publication of Nature Genetics, researchers at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) and the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) systematically bred and studied 43 designer rats with and without high blood pressure, in order to pinpoint candidate genes behind heart disease. In total, the scientists built 2,200 microarray gene expression profiles from these designer rats--providing a valuable new online resource now available to researchers worldwide.
Scientists have long used rat models to study heart disease in the lab. But those studies have yet to answer key questions: Which genes, on which chromosomes, combine to cause this complex condition? Why, and how, do some animals become hypertensive when consuming high-salt diets, while others stay healthy? To turn the tools of genomics onto these questions, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, funded the new study.
In the first part of the study, MCW researchers began with a strain of rats bearing high blood pressure, a hallmark of heart disease. The researchers then bred an almost identical designer rat, with one important change: they substituted one chromosome from the parental, hypertensive rat with the homologous chromosome from a healthy rat. Continuing this way, the team generated 22 unique designer rat strains, each bearing one distinct healthy chromosome substitution. Some of these new designer rats were disease-free, implying that their replaced chromosomes carried genes for high blood pressure and related conditions.
In the second part of the study, TIGR molecular biologist Norman Lee led the team in using a DNA microarray technique to compare the expression of more than 22,000 genes among the hypertensive, healthy, and designer rats. By studying the physical characteristics and gene expression of more than 800 rats, the team identified candidate genes that may contribute to cardiovascular disease, including some genes not previously associated with the condition.
"This information offers an unprecedented amount of data for cardiovascular researchers to now mine," remarks Lee, senior author of the study. Lead author Renae Malek, also a molecular biologist at TIGR, notes that the data point to promising genes for salt-sensitive hypertension, among other conditions. The online database resulting from the study, dubbed TREX, is available free of charge at: http://pga.tigr.org/.
TIGR continues to study the panels of designer
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|