This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Data Supplement All Versions of this Article: 45/3/460    most recent 01.HYP.0000155213.83719.7cv1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Gauguier, D. Articles by Jacob, M. P. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Gauguier, D. Articles by Jacob, M. P. Pubmed/NCBI databases Gene GEO Profiles HomoloGene Protein UniGene UniSTS Compound via MeSH Substance via MeSH Related Collections Genomics Genetics of cardiovascular disease Other Vascular biology

(Hypertension. 2005;45:460.)
© 2005 American Heart Association, Inc.

Original Articles

Chromosomal Mapping of Quantitative Trait Loci Controlling Elastin Content in Rat Aorta

Dominique Gauguier; Jacques Behmoaras; Karène Argoud; Steven P. Wilder; Christelle Pradines; Marie Thérèse Bihoreau; Mary Osborne-Pellegrin; Marie Paule Jacob

From The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics (D.G., K.A., S.P.W., C.P., M.T.B.), University of Oxford, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford, United Kingdom; and INSERM U460 (J.B., M.O.-P., M.P.J.), C.H.U. Bichat-Claude Bernard, Paris, France.

Correspondence to Marie Paule JACOB, INSERM U460, C.H.U. Bichat-Claude Bernard, 46, rue Henri Huchard, 75018 Paris, France. E-mail jacob{at}bichat.inserm.fr

Abstract

Extracellular matrix molecules such as elastin and collagens provide mechanical support to the vessel wall. In addition to its structural role, elastin is a regulator that maintains homeostasis through biologic signaling. Genetically determined minor modifications in elastin and collagen in the aorta could influence the onset and evolution of arterial pathology, such as hypertension and its complications. We previously demonstrated that the inbred Brown Norway (BN) rat shows an aortic elastin deficit in both abdominal and thoracic segments, partly because of a decrease in tropoelastin synthesis when compared with the LOU rat, that elastin gene polymorphisms in these strains do not significantly account for. After a genome-wide search for quantitative trait loci (QTL) influencing the aortic elastin, collagen, and cell protein contents in an F2 population derived from BN and LOU rats, we identified on chromosomes 2 and 14, 3 QTL specifically controlling elastin levels, and a further highly significant QTL on chromosome 17 linked to the level of cell proteins. We also mapped 3 highly significant QTL linked to body weight (on chromosomes 1 and 3) and heart weight (on chromosome 1) in the cross. This study demonstrates the polygenic control of the content of key components of the arterial wall. Such information represents a first step in understanding possible mechanisms involved in dysregulation of these parameters in arterial pathology.

Key Words: aorta • elastin • genetics • rats

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P. J. Ahmad, L. R. Osborne, and M. P. Bendeck Bouncing Back From Elastin Deficiency Circ. Res., August 31, 2007; 101(5): 439 - 440. [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. Kota, M. Osborne-Pellegrin, H. Schulz, J. Behmoaras, M. Coutard, M. Gong, and N. Hubner Quantitative genetic basis of arterial phenotypes in the Brown Norway rat Physiol Genomics, June 19, 2007; 30(1): 17 - 25. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. Llamas, C. Lau, W. A. Cupples, M.-L. Rainville, E. Souzeau, and C. F. Deschepper Genetic Determinants of Systolic and Pulse Pressure in an Intercross Between Normotensive Inbred Rats Hypertension, November 1, 2006; 48(5): 921 - 926. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]