Genetic loci that regulate healing and regeneration in LG/J and SM/J mice

EP Blankenhorn, G Bryan, AV Kossenkov, LD Clark… - Mammalian …, 2009 - Springer
EP Blankenhorn, G Bryan, AV Kossenkov, LD Clark, XM Zhang, C Chang, W Horng…
Mammalian Genome, 2009Springer
MRL mice display unusual healing properties. When MRL ear pinnae are hole punched, the
holes close completely without scarring, with regrowth of cartilage and reappearance of both
hair follicles and sebaceous glands. Studies using (MRL/lpr× C57BL/6) F 2 and backcross
mice first showed that this phenomenon was genetically determined and that multiple loci
contributed to this quantitative trait. The lpr mutation itself, however, was not one of them. In
the present study we examined the genetic basis of healing in the Large (LG/J) mouse …
Abstract
MRL mice display unusual healing properties. When MRL ear pinnae are hole punched, the holes close completely without scarring, with regrowth of cartilage and reappearance of both hair follicles and sebaceous glands. Studies using (MRL/lpr × C57BL/6)F2 and backcross mice first showed that this phenomenon was genetically determined and that multiple loci contributed to this quantitative trait. The lpr mutation itself, however, was not one of them. In the present study we examined the genetic basis of healing in the Large (LG/J) mouse strain, a parent of the MRL mouse and a strain that shows the same healing phenotype. LG/J mice were crossed with Small (SM/J) mice and the F2 population was scored for healing and their genotypes determined at more than 200 polymorphic markers. As we previously observed for MRL and (MRL × B6)F2 mice, the wound-healing phenotype was sexually dimorphic, with female mice healing more quickly and more completely than male mice. We found quantitative trait loci (QTLs) on chromosomes (Chrs) 9, 10, 11, and 15. The heal QTLs on Chrs 11 and 15 were linked to differential healing primarily in male animals, whereas QTLs on Chrs 9 and 10 were not sexually dimorphic. A comparison of loci identified in previous crosses with those in the present report using LG/J × SM/J showed that loci on Chrs 9, 11, and 15 colocalized with those seen in previous MRL crosses, whereas the locus on Chr 10 was not seen before and is contributed by SM/J.
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