This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Sauvage, M. Articles by Jacob, M. P. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Sauvage, M. Articles by Jacob, M. P. Related Collections Animal models of human disease Gene expression Other Vascular biology

(Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 1999;19:2308-2315.)
© 1999 American Heart Association, Inc.

Vascular Biology

Influence of Elastin Gene Polymorphism on the Elastin Content of the Aorta

A Study in 2 Strains of Rat

Marie Sauvage; Mary Osborne-Pellegrin; Françoise Deslandes-Le Flohic; Marie Paule Jacob

From INSERM U 460, UFR de Médecine Xavier Bichat, Paris, France.

Correspondence and reprint requests to Dr M.P. Jacob, INSERM U 460, UFR de Médecine Xavier Bichat, 16 rue Henri Huchard, 75870 Paris cedex 18, France. E-mail jacob{at}bichat.inserm.fr

Abstract—The elastin content in the thoracic aorta of male Brown-Norway (BN) rats is 31.4±1.2% (dry weight), whereas that of male LOU rats is 37.2±1.0%. A similar difference in the elastin content of the thoracic aorta is also observed in female animals. Furthermore, in the thoracic aorta of young, growing rats as well as in cultured aortic smooth muscle cells, the steady-state level of elastin mRNA is significantly lower in the BN than in the LOU strain. These results suggested that 1 or more genes control the elastin mRNA level and the elastin content in the aortas of BN and LOU rats. A possible relationship between a polymorphism in the elastin gene and the elastin content of the aorta was tested. For this purpose, the aortic elastin content was measured in F₁ and F₂ generations bred from LOU and BN rats and was compared with that of the F₀ (parental) generation. A polymorphic marker located in intron 25 of the elastin gene has been used to genotype the F₂ rats. The degree of genetic determination of aortic elastin content was estimated to be 73% in the F₂ cohort, but the elastin locus accounts for only 3.9% of the total variance in aortic elastin content. Other genes are thus responsible for the major part of the observed interstrain difference by regulating the transcription of the gene, the stability of elastin mRNA, and/or posttranslational events.

Key Words: elastin • genetics • aorta • rats

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. Kota, M. Osborne-Pellegrin, H. Schulz, J. Behmoaras, M. Coutard, M. Gong, and N. Hubner Quantitative genetic basis of arterial phenotypes in the Brown Norway rat Physiol Genomics, June 19, 2007; 30(1): 17 - 25. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. Gauguier, J. Behmoaras, K. Argoud, S. P. Wilder, C. Pradines, M. T. Bihoreau, M. Osborne-Pellegrin, and M. P. Jacob Chromosomal Mapping of Quantitative Trait Loci Controlling Elastin Content in Rat Aorta Hypertension, March 1, 2005; 45(3): 460 - 466. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Behmoaras, M. Osborne-Pellegrin, D. Gauguier, and M.-P. Jacob Characteristics of the aortic elastic network and related phenotypes in seven inbred rat strains Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, February 1, 2005; 288(2): H769 - H777. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. L. HARRIS, M. STOLL, G. T. JONES, M. A. GRANADOS, W. K. PORTEOUS, A. M. VAN RIJ, and H. J. JACOB Identification of two susceptibility loci for vascular fragility in the Brown Norway rat Physiol Genomics, August 28, 2001; 6(3): 183 - 189. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Coutard, W. Huang, M. Osborne-Pellegrin, and H. A. Kontos Heritability of Intracerebral Hemorrhagic Lesions and Cerebral Aneurysms in the Rat Editorial Comment Stroke, November 1, 2000; 31(11): 2678 - 2684. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]