title: Canine candidate genes for dilated cardiomyopathy: annotation of and polymorphic markers for 14 genes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Dilated cardiomyopathy is a myocardial disease occurring in humans and domestic animals and is characterized by dilatation of the left ventricle, reduced systolic function and increased sphericity of the left ventricle. Dilated cardiomyopathy has been observed in several, mostly large and giant, dog breeds, such as the Dobermann and the Great Dane. A number of genes have been identified, which are associated with dilated cardiomyopathy in the human, mouse and hamster. These genes mainly encode structural proteins of the cardiac myocyte.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We present the annotation of, and marker development for, 14 of these genes of the dog genome, i.e. alpha-cardiac actin, caveolin 1, cysteine-rich protein 3, desmin, lamin A/C, LIM-domain binding factor 3, myosin heavy polypeptide 7, phospholamban, sarcoglycan delta, titin cap, alpha-tropomyosin, troponin I, troponin T and vinculin. A total of 33 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms were identified for these canine genes and 11 polymorphic microsatellite repeats were developed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The presented polymorphisms provide a tool to investigate the role of the corresponding genes in canine Dilated Cardiomyopathy by linkage analysis or association studies.
authors.affiliation: Small Animal Teaching Hospital, University of Liverpool, Leahurst, Chester High Road, Neston, CH64 7TE, UK. a.c.wiersma@uu.nl
authors.forename: Anje C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Wiersma
authors.forename: Peter Aj
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Leegwater
authors.forename: Bernard A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: van Oost
authors.forename: William E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Ollier
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dukes-McEwan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D004285:Dogs; D005819:Genetic Markers; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers