TITLE:
The Long Way from Complex Phenotypes to Genes: The Story of Rat Chromosome 4 and Its Behavioral Effects
AUTHORS:
Gabriela Ferreira de Medeiros, Fernanda Junkes Corrêa, María Elisa Corvino, Geison de Souza Izídio, André Ramos
KEYWORDS:
Rat Chromosome 4, QTL Anxrr16, Emotionality-Related Behaviors, Alcohol Consumption, Stress-Response
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of Neuroscience,
Vol.4 No.3,
June
10,
2014
ABSTRACT: Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) mapping has been performed
during the past decades in an attempt to identify genes, gene products and
mechanisms underlying numerous quantitative traits. It’s a strategy based on
natural variations in genes and gene products, which facilitates translation
from animal models to human clinical conditions. Our team has shown that the
inbred rat strains Lewis (LEW) and Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats (SHR) differ
with respect to several emotionality- related behaviors, one of which (inner
locomotion in the open field) was strongly influenced by a QTL (Anxrr16) on rat chromosome 4. Since
then, several other studies not only corroborated the initial description of Anxrr16, but also extrapolated its
effects to a broader context (rats from both sexes and regardless of the
estrous cycle phase) and suggested that this same region influences other
emotionality-related behaviors as well as alcohol intake. Other QTLs affecting
neurobiological traits were also found on rat chromosome 4 and several
candidate genes have been pointed out as possibly influencing those phenotypes.
Altogether, these studies suggest that rat chromosome 4 constitutes an
interesting target for the study of the molecular bases of anxiety and other
traits related to emotional reactivity.