3. Identifying genetic determinants
Combining congenic fine-mapping, comparative genomic tools, gene expression array resources, transgenic rescue and knockout technology in the rat provides a powerful tool for the discovery of novel genes underlying complex cardiovascular traits. The first successful example of this combined strategy was the identification of the gene encoding Cd36 as a major contributor to insulin resistance and dyslipidaemia in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) [32], confirmed by transgenic rescue [33] and subsequent translation to human populations [34] and [35]. However, there was an issue concerning the contribution of Cd36 to hypertension. These issues have only recently been resolved by implicating Cd36 as a determinant of blood pressure and risk for hypertension by specifically identifying deficient renal expression of Cd36 [36].