Cause of Glucose Intolerance in C57BL/6J Mice Discovered
JAX® NOTES Issue 503, Fall 2006
By performing QTL analysis in an intercross between the C57BL/6J (B6) strain, a widely used model of diet-induced diabetes, and the C3H/HeJ strain, researchers from the United Kingdom recently found strong evidence that a spontaneous in-frame five-exon deletion in the nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase (Nnt) gene is partly responsible for glucose intolerance and reduced insulin secretion in B6 mice. B6 mice transgenic for the entire Nnt gene had normal phenotypes. This discovery may offer insight into the poorly understood genetic reasons for aberrant glucose homeostasis in type 2 diabetes.
Reference
Freeman HD, Hugill A, Dear NT, Ashcroft FM, Cox RD. 2006. Deletion of nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase: a new quantitive trait locus accounting for flucose intolerance in C57BL/6J mice. Diabetes 55:2153-6
