A 14-gene region of rat chromosome 8 in SHR-derived polydactylous congenic substrain affects muscle-specific insulin resistance, dyslipidaemia and visceral adiposity.

The SHR and the PD/Cub are two established rodent models of human metabolic syndrome. Introgression of a ca 30 cM region of rat chromosome 8 from PD/Cub onto the genetic background of SHR was previously shown to influence several of the metabolic syndrome-related traits along with causing the PLS in the SHR-Lx congenic strain. In the process of identification of the causative alleles, we have produced several congenic sublines. The differential segment of SHR-Lx PD5 congenic substrain [SHR.PD(D8Rat42-D8Arb23)/Cub] spans approximately 1.4 Mb encompassing only 14 genes. When comparing the metabolic, morphometric and gene expression profiles of the SHR-Lx PD5 vs. SHR, the polydactyly and several distinct metabolic features observed in the original SHR-Lx congenic were still manifested, suggesting that the responsible genes were "trapped" within the relatively short differential segment of PD/Cub origin in SHR-Lx PD5. Particularly, the SHR-Lx PD5 displayed substantial reduction of insulin sensitivity confined to skeletal muscle. Among the candidate genes, the promyelocytic leukaemia zinc-finger Plzf (Zbtb16) transcription repressor is most likely responsible for the Lx mutation resulting in PLS and could also be involved in the alteration of metabolic pathways. The sequence analysis of the Plzf gene revealed a SNP leading to a threonine to serine substitution in SHR at aminoacid position 208 (T208S). In summary, we have isolated a 1.4 Mb genomic region syntenic to human chromosome 11q23, which, apart from causing polydactyly-luxate syndrome (PLS), affects total body weight, adiposity, lipid profile, insulin sensitivity of skeletal muscle and related gene expression as shown in the SHR-Lx PD5 congenic substrain.