Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis is a statistical method to link phenotypes with regions of the genome that affect the phenotypes in a mapping population. R/qtl is a powerful statistical program commonly used for analyzing rodent QTL crosses, but R/qtl is a command line program that can be ...
Different expression of maternally and paternally inherited alleles at certain genes is called genetic imprinting. Despite its great importance in trait formation, development, and evolution, it remains unclear how genetic imprinting operates in a complex network of interacti ...
Haplotype Association Mapping (HAM) is a novel phenotype-driven approach to identify genetic loci and was originally developed for mice. This method, which is similar to Genome-Wide Association (GWA) studies in humans, looks for associations between the phenotype and the haplotypes ...
Candidate gene association study is the most common method for associating human genetic variations with the phenotypes they produce, due to the relative simplicity of acquiring patient samples and genotype data. The study design begins with identifying appropriate DNA samples and an ...
Genome-wide association studies have opened a new era in the study of the genetic basis of common, multifactorial diseases and traits. Before the introduction of this approach only a handful of common genetic variants showed consistent association for any phenotype. Using genome-wide a ...
Since the introduction of genetical genomics in 2001, many studies have been published on various organisms, including mouse and rat. Genetical genomics makes use of the latest microarray profiling technologies and combines vast amounts of genotype and gene expression information, a ...
Gene expression profiling provides unprecedented opportunities to study patterns of gene expression regulation, for example, in diseases or developmental processes. Bioinformatics analysis plays an important part of processing the information embedded in large-scale e ...
Improving human health is a major aim of medical research, but it requires that variation between individuals be taken into account since each person carries a different combination of gene variants and is exposed to different environmental conditions, which can cause differences in sus ...
It is increasingly common to combine genome-wide expression data with quantitative trait mapping data to aid in the search for sequence polymorphisms responsible for phenotypic variation. By joining these complex but different data types at the level of the biological pathway, we can ta ...
Mouse models have become the most common model for defining mechanisms of atherosclerotic disease. Many genetic manipulations have enabled the development of atherosclerosis in mice due to either endogenous or diet-induced hypercholesterolemia. This availability of lesion ...
Development of effective treatment or, more critically, preventative measures against atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease will require animal models that mimic the disease processes seen in humans and permit identification of the genetic and physiological factor ...
Hypertension is a leading cause of heart attack, stroke, and kidney failure and represents a serious medical issue worldwide. The genetic basis of hypertension is well-established, but few causal genes have been identified thus far. Non-invasive blood pressure measurements are a criti ...
The ability to monitor and record precise blood pressure fluctuations in research animals is vital to research for human hypertension. Direct measurement of blood pressure via implantable radio telemetry devices is the preferred method for automatic collection of chronic, contin ...
Mice lacking or over-expressing a gene of experimental interest have become important tools to understand the regulation of kidney function and water and electrolyte homeostasis. The use of mice in physiological studies is becoming more widespread, but there are still a number of techni ...
Mouse models that mimic human diseases are important tools for investigating underlying mechanisms in many disease states. Although the demand for these models is high, there are few schools or courses available for surgeons to obtain the necessary skills. Researchers are usually expo ...
Ischemic stroke occurs most often in the territory of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) in humans. Since its description in rats more than two decades ago, the minimally invasive intraluminal suture occlusion of MCA is an increasingly used model of stroke in both rats and mice due to its ease of inducing ...
Rats and mice are the predominant experimental species in cardiovascular research due to the widespread availability of genetic and transgenic rodent models of heart disease. Phenotyping of these models requires reliable and reproducible methods to noninvasively and serially ...
In the past two decades, various statistical approaches have been developed to identify quantitative trait locus with experimental organisms. In this chapter, we introduce several commonly used QTL mapping methods for intercross and backcross populations. Important issues rel ...
Recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) vectors are capable of mediating long-term gene expression in a wide variety of animals, including primates. The rAAV genome is packaged into the virion as single-stranded DNA devoid of any viral genes. A proportion of the single-stranded genom ...
Following AAV-based gene transfer, the occurrence of adaptive immune responses specific to the vector or the transgene product is a major roadblock to successful clinical translation. These responses include antibodies against the AAV capsid, which can be neutralizing and therefo ...