title: Identification of SMEK2 as a candidate gene for regulation of responsiveness to dietary cholesterol in rats.
abstract: We have previously mapped a diet-induced hypercholesterolemia locus (Dihc2) to chromosome 14 in the F2 generation cross of high-responsive exogenous hypercholesterolemia rats and low-responsive BN rats. To identify a causal gene within this locus, we constructed interval-specific congenic lines and carried out expression and sequencing analyses. Here we narrowed Dihc2 to a region including 33 genes and predicted transcripts and identified RGD1309450_predicted, a homologous gene of SMEK2, as a strong candidate for responsiveness to dietary cholesterol. Our finding provides new insights into the pathway underlying the individual responsiveness to dietary cholesterol in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Nutrition Chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan.
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Asahina
authors.forename: Waka
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Haruyama
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ichida
authors.forename: Mai
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
authors.forename: Masao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Katsumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Imaizumi