Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death in both the U.S and Mexico. Unfavorable serum lipid levels, such as high serum total cholesterol, high serum triglycerides and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, are well-known risk factors for CHD. Although several studies have demonstrated that the Mexican population has an increased predisposition to dyslipidemias, this population is underinvestigated for the genetic factors conferring this susceptibility. Considering the rapid growth of the Mexican-American population in the U.S., investigation of these genetic factors in the Mexican population is of great importance and relevant also to this U.S. minority. To identify genetic variants that confer susceptibility to high serum lipid levels in Mexicans, we recently began an international collaboration between investigators at UCLA, Los Angeles, and Institute Nacional de Ciencias Medicas y Nutricion, Mexico City. We examined 24 extended Mexican familial combined hyperlipidemia (FCHL) families for one gene and seven chromosomal loci previously detected for FCHL in Caucasian families. FCHL is the most common mixed dyslipidemia predisposing to CHD, with an estimated prevalence of 8% in Mexicans. We demonstrated that the upstream transcription factor 1 (USF1) gene and chromosomal loci on 10q and 16q are implicated in the Mexican FCHL families (Huertas-Vazquez et al. 2005). This study is the first one to extensively investigate the genetic component of the FCHL disorder in Mexicans. Recently, we also identified significant associations between DMA variants in the hepatic nuclear factor 4, alpha (HNF4A) gene and FCHL in Mexicans. Although HNF4A variants have previously been associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), our data show for the first time that the HNF4A variants are associated with serum lipid levels. Considering the clear phenotypic overlap between T2DM and FCHL, we hypothesize that HNF4A is a good candidate gene for FCHL as weJI. We propose to identify novel susceptibility loci for common lipid disorders in Mexicans and further examine these implicated genes.
In Specific Aim 1, we will perform a genome scan in Mexican FCHL families to identify additional susceptibility loci undiscovered or nonexistent in the previously studied Caucasian populations.
In Specific Aim 2, we will investigate USF1, HNF4A and the chromosomal loci implicated in the genome scan to characterize the DNA variants conferring the susceptibility to FCHL in Mexicans. ? ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01HL082762-03
Application #
7440183
Study Section
Cardiovascular and Sleep Epidemiology (CASE)
Program Officer
Sorlie, Paul
Project Start
2006-07-01
Project End
2010-06-30
Budget Start
2008-07-01
Budget End
2009-06-30
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2008
Total Cost
$349,398
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California Los Angeles
Department
Genetics
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
092530369
City
Los Angeles
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
90095
Rodríguez, Alejandra; Gonzalez, Luis; Ko, Arthur et al. (2016) Molecular Characterization of the Lipid Genome-Wide Association Study Signal on Chromosome 18q11.2 Implicates HNF4A-Mediated Regulation of the TMEM241 Gene. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 36:1350-5
Weissglas-Volkov, Daphna; Aguilar-Salinas, Carlos A; Sinsheimer, Janet S et al. (2010) Investigation of variants identified in caucasian genome-wide association studies for plasma high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides levels in Mexican dyslipidemic study samples. Circ Cardiovasc Genet 3:31-8
Dastani, Zari; Pajukanta, Paivi; Marcil, Michel et al. (2010) Fine mapping and association studies of a high-density lipoprotein cholesterol linkage region on chromosome 16 in French-Canadian subjects. Eur J Hum Genet 18:342-7
Weissglas-Volkov, Daphna; Plaisier, Christopher L; Huertas-Vazquez, Adriana et al. (2010) Identification of two common variants contributing to serum apolipoprotein B levels in Mexicans. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 30:353-9
Wu, Sulin; Mar-Heyming, Rebecca; Dugum, Eric Z et al. (2010) Upstream transcription factor 1 influences plasma lipid and metabolic traits in mice. Hum Mol Genet 19:597-608
Iatan, Iulia; Dastani, Zari; Do, Ron et al. (2009) Genetic variation at the proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 5 gene modulates high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Circ Cardiovasc Genet 2:467-75
Plaisier, Christopher L; Horvath, Steve; Huertas-Vazquez, Adriana et al. (2009) A systems genetics approach implicates USF1, FADS3, and other causal candidate genes for familial combined hyperlipidemia. PLoS Genet 5:e1000642
Plaisier, Christopher L; Kyttälä, Mira; Weissglas-Volkov, Daphna et al. (2009) Galanin preproprotein is associated with elevated plasma triglycerides. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 29:147-52
Meex, Steven J R; Weissglas-Volkov, Daphna; van der Kallen, Carla J H et al. (2009) The ATF6-Met[67]Val substitution is associated with increased plasma cholesterol levels. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 29:1322-7
Mar-Heyming, Rebecca; Miyazaki, Makoto; Weissglas-Volkov, Daphna et al. (2008) Association of stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 activity with familial combined hyperlipidemia. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 28:1193-9

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