Genetics of blood pressure and associated phenotypes in the Lyon rat

Genomic Research in Rat Models of Kidney Disease

Current understanding of the mechanisms underlying renal disease in humans is incomplete. Consequently, our ability to prevent the occurrence of renal disease or treat established kidney disease is limited. Investigating kidney disease directly in humans poses objective difficulties, which has led investigators to seek experimental animal models that simulate renal disease in humans. Animal models have thus become a tool of major importance in the study of renal physiology and have been crucial in shedding light on the complex mechanisms involved in kidney function and in our current understanding of the pathophysiology of renal disease. Among animal models, the rat has been the preferred and most commonly used species for the investigation of renal disease. This chapter reviews what has been achieved over the years, using the rat as a tool for the investigation of renal disease in humans, focusing on the contribution of rat genetics and genomics to the elucidation of the mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of the major types of renal disease, including primary and secondary renal diseases.

Rat Models of Metabolic Syndrome

Metabolic syndrome is a complex disorder that comprises several other complex disorders, including obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes. There are several rat models that encompass component features of MetS. Some models are inbred strains selected for one or more traits underlying MetS; others are population models with genetic risk for MetS traits, are induced by environmental stressors such as diet, are spontaneous monogenic mutant models, or are congenic strains derived from a combination of these models. Together they can be studied to identify the genetic and physiological underpinnings of MetS to identify candidate genes or mechanisms for study in human MetS subjects.

Robust coordination of cardiac functions from gene co-expression reveals a versatile combinatorial transcriptional control

The necessary overall coordination of cardiac cellular functions is little known at the mRNA level. Focusing on energy production and cardiac contraction, we analyzed microarray data from heart tissue obtained in groups of mice and rats in normal conditions and with a left ventricular dysfunction. In each group and for each function, we identified genes positively or negatively correlated with numerous genes of the function, which were called coordinated or inversely coordinated with the function. The genes coordinated with energy production or cardiac contraction showed the coupling of these functions in all groups. Among coordinated or inversely coordinated genes common to the two functions, we proposed a fair number of transcriptional regulators as potential determinants of the energy production and cardiac contraction coupling. Although this coupling was constant across the groups and unveiled a stable gene core, the combinations of transcriptional regulators were very different between the groups, including one half that has never been linked to heart function. These results highlighted the stable coordination of energy production or cardiac contraction at the mRNA level, and the combinatorial and versatile nature of potential transcriptional regulation. In addition, this work unveiled new transcriptional regulators potentially involved in normal or altered cardiac functional coupling.

Genome-wide association mapping of quantitative traits in outbred mice

Recent developments in high-density genotyping and statistical analysis methods that have enabled genome-wide association studies in humans can also be applied to outbred mouse populations. Increased recombination in outbred populations is expected to provide greater mapping resolution than traditional inbred line crosses, improving prospects for identifying the causal genes. We carried out genome-wide association mapping by using 288 mice from a commercially available outbred stock; NMRI mice were genotyped with a high-density single-nucleotide polymorphism array to map loci influencing high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, triglyceride levels, glucose, and urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratios. We found significant associations (P < 10(-5)) with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and identified Apoa2 and Scarb1, both of which have been previously reported, as candidate genes for these associations. Additional suggestive associations (P < 10(-3)) identified in this study were also concordant with published quantitative trait loci, suggesting that we are sampling from a limited pool of genetic diversity that has already been well characterized. These findings dampen our enthusiasm for currently available commercial outbred stocks as genetic mapping resources and highlight the need for new outbred populations with greater genetic diversity. Despite the lack of novel associations in the NMRI population, our analysis strategy illustrates the utility of methods that could be applied to genome-wide association studies in humans.

ETA receptor-mediated Ca2+ signaling in thin descending limbs of Henle's loop: impairment in genetic hypertension

BACKGROUND

Endothelins (ET) have diuretic and natriuretic actions via ETB receptors that are found in most renal tubular segments, although the thin limbs have not been studied. Data also suggest that dysfunction of the renal ET system may be important in the pathogenesis of hypertension. The present study was aimed at determining the presence and nature of ET receptors in the thin limbs of Henle's loop and their ability to activate a Ca2+-dependent signaling pathway, as well as whether ET-induced Ca2+ signals are altered in hypertension.

METHODS

Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Fura 2 fluoreselected strains of Lyon rats with low-normal (LL), normal (LN), and high (LH) blood pressure.

RESULTS

In SD rats, ET induced Ca2+ signals in DTL of long-looped nephrons, but not in DTL of short loops, or in ascending thin limbs. Ca2+ increases were abolished by BQ123, an antagonist of the ETA receptor, but not by BQ788, an antagonist of the ETB subtype. Endothelin-3 and sarafotoxin 6c, two ETB receptor agonists, were both inactive. RT-PCR showed the presence of both ETA and ETB receptor mRNA. Ca2+ signals measured scence measurements of [Ca2+]i were made to characterize ET receptors in descending thin limbs (DTL) of Sprague-Dawley rats, spontaneously hypertensive (SH) rats, and control Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats, and the three in DTL of WKY LL and LN rats were similar to those in Sprague-Dawley rats, but were significantly diminished (LH) or abolished (SH) in hypertensive rats.

CONCLUSION

A functional ETA receptor activating a Ca2+-dependent pathway is expressed in DTL. This ETA-induced calcium signaling is impaired in two strains of genetically hypertensive rats.

Genetic analysis of inherited hypertension in the rat

Blood pressure is a quantitative trait that has a strong genetic component in humans and rats. Several selectively bred strains of rats with divergent blood pressures serve as an animal model for genetic dissection of the causes of inherited hypertension. The goal is to identify the genetic loci controlling blood pressure, i.e., the so-called quantitative trait loci (QTL). The theoretical basis for such genetic dissection and recent progress in understanding genetic hypertension are reviewed. The usual paradigm is to produce segregating populations derived from a hypertensive and normotensive strain and to seek linkage of blood pressure to genetic markers using recently developed statistical techniques for QTL analysis. This has yielded candidate QTL regions on almost every rat chromosome, and also some interactions between QTL have been defined. These statistically defined QTL regions are much too large to practice positional cloning to identify the genes involved. Most investigators are, therefore, fine mapping the QTL using congenic strains to substitute small segments of chromosome from one strain into another. Although impressive progress has been made, this process is slow due to the extensive breeding that is required. At this point, no blood pressure QTL have met stringent criteria for identification, but this should be an attainable goal given the recently developed genomic resources for the rat. Similar experiments are ongoing to look for genes that influence cardiac hypertrophy, stroke, and renal failure and that are independent of the genes for hypertension.

Evidence for a common defect associated with pressure in the aorta of two hypertensive rat strains

1. Thoracic aortas of normotensive (Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and Lyon normotensive (LN)) and hypertensive (spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and Lyon hypertensive (LH)) rats from two groups (Japanese (WKY rats and SHR) and Lyon (LN and LH rats)) were compared using organ chambers. Changes in endothelium and smooth muscle reactivity to noradrenaline (NA), carbamylcholine and N omega-nitro-L-arginine (L-NNA) were analysed to distinguish between changes in reactivity that are associated with the presence of hypertension and those that are dependent on group (Japanese vs Lyon). 2. Aortas of hypertensive rats had lower pD2 values for NA than aortas from normotensive rats. These differences were associated with hypertension (P < 0.005 and P < 0.01) and group (P < 0.005 and P < 0.005) in presence or absence of endothelium, respectively, whereas no difference was seen in the maximal developed tension in response to NA. 3. Aortas also differed by a reduced ability to relax in response to carbamylcholine in hypertensive rats; this effect is hypertension (P < 0.05) and group (P < 0.005) dependent, without any change in carbamylcholine pD2 values. 4. Changes in maximum developed tension in the presence of L-NNA were found to be endothelium dependent and pressure and group independent. Furthermore, the change in tension induced by L-NNA appears significantly more pronounced in SHR than in LH rats (P < 0.05). 5. These results indicate that the common defect associated with hypertension appears to be linked to the endothelium through alpha-adrenoceptors and muscarinic receptors in both the Japanese and Lyon groups. However, SHR differs markedly from LH rats by having a higher developed tension in response to NA, this increased tension being counterbalanced by the release of nitric oxide, as observed in the presence of L-NNA.