Experiment
135 microsatellite markers were typed in 185 (C57BL/6J x C3H/HeJ)F2 female animals to identify loci associated with dystrophic cardiac calcinosis. Animals were placed on a high fat, high cholesterol diet at 3 months of age to induce the phenotype. Parental strain C57BL/6J is resistant to dystrophic cardiac calcinosis whereas C3H/HeJ is susceptible. A previously mapped locus on mouse Chromosome 7, Dyscalc1, mapped in this study with a LOD score of 14.8 at D7Mit229 (15 cM - 24.5 cM) and 3 novel loci were identified. Dyscalc2 mapped to mouse Chromosome 4 spanning 50 cM - 80 cM (LOD = 4.7 at D4Mit16), Dyscalc3 mapped to mouse Chromosome 12 from 1 cM - 10 cM (LOD = 3.5 at D12Mit37), and Dyscalc4 mapped to mouse Chromosome 14 from 10 cM - 30 cM (LOD = 3.7 at D14Mit133). Additive epistasis between Dyscalc1 and Dyscalc2 was detected. Several potential candidate genes map near Dyscalc1 and include Dm9, Dm15, Ckmm, Slc8a2, Calm1, Fosb, Tnni3, Hrc, and Bax. Possible candidate genes for Dyscalc2 and Dyscalc4 are Bmp8a and Bmp4, respectively. No candidate genes for Dyscalc3 have been identified.
Analysis Tools