title: The leukemia inhibitory factor receptor gene is not involved in the etiology of pituitary dwarfism in German shepherd dogs.
abstract: Pituitary dwarfism in German shepherd dogs is characterized by combined pituitary hormone deficiency (CPHD) and intrapituitary cyst formation. Activation of the leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF)-LIF receptor (LIFR) signal transduction pathway results in a similar phenotype in (transgenic) mice. We therefore assessed the role of the LIFR in the etiology of pituitary dwarfism in German shepherd dogs. A polymorphic microsatellite marker (UULIFR) was used to analyze the segregation of the LIFR gene in 22 German shepherd dogs from 4 pedigrees, each including one dwarf. There was no allelic association between UULIFR and the dwarfism phenotype. Based on our findings LIFR was excluded as a candidate gene for CPHD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences of Companion Animals, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Yalelaan 8, P.O. Box 80.154, NL-3508 TD Utrecht, The Netherlands. j.m.hanson@vet.uu.nl
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Hanson
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Mol
authors.forename: P A J
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Leegwater
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kooistra
authors.forename: B P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Meij
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000235:genetics*; D004285:Dogs; D004393:Dwarfism, Pituitary / Q000235:genetics / Q000662:veterinary*; D007438:Introns / Q000235:genetics; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics; D010375:Pedigree; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D053606:Receptors, OSM-LIF / Q000235:genetics*; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D053606:Receptors, OSM-LIF