What is mouse genotyping?
An essential step in mouse breeding is genotyping your mice to ensure that they have the expected genotype. The genotype for a specified gene in a mouse can be homozygous, heterozygous, wild type, and sometimes hemizygous (such as X-linked genes or transgenes).
What causes leptin deficiency?
Causes. Congenital leptin deficiency is caused by mutations in the LEP gene. This gene provides instructions for making a hormone called leptin , which is involved in the regulation of body weight. Normally, the body’s fat cells release leptin in proportion to their size.
How is genotyping performed?
Genotyping is the process of determining differences in the genetic make-up (genotype) of an individual by examining the individual’s DNA sequence using biological assays and comparing it to another individual’s sequence or a reference sequence.
How does leptin cause Alzheimer’s?
In laboratory studies, several in vivo and in vitro studies have shown that leptin supplementation decreases amyloid-β (Aβ) production and tau phosphorylation, two major biochemical events that play a key role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease.
What is the pathophysiology of diabetes spontaneous mutation (LepR DB)?
Mice homozygous for the diabetes spontaneous mutation (Lepr db) become identifiably obese around 3 to 4 weeks of age. Elevations of plasma insulin begin at 10 to 14 days and of blood sugar at four to eight weeks. Affected mice are polyphagic, polydipsic, and polyuric. The course of the disease is markedly influenced by genetic background.
Why is genotyping essential for the identification of db/db mice?
Since homozygous db/db mice are sterile, the maintenance of db/db mice requires breeding between heterozygous pairs, which makes genotyping essential for the identification of offspring.
What is the pathophysiology of leprdb mice with leptin receptor dysfunction?
The leprdb mice have a single-point mutation (G→T) within intron 18 of the leptin receptor gene. Mutations in this gene have been associated with obesity and pituitary dysfunction.
What is the difference between wild-type mice and db/db heterozygous mice?
Since wild-type mice have two normal G-alleles of the lepr gene, only the positive-control and G-allele specific amplicons will be observed. The db/db heterozygous mice, which have one normal lepr gene and one mutant T-allele of lepr gene, will yield the control amplicon, a G-allele specific amplicon and a T-allele specific amplicon.