Genomics of plasma lipids

Coordinator:		Dr. Marcus Fischer                                                                              Dr. Patrick Linsel-Nitschke
Institution:		Universität Regensburg                                                              Universität Lübeck
Homepage:		www.uniklinikum-regensburg.de

In this setting our overall objective is the identification of genes influencing the HDL lipoprotein subfraction profile as an important step towards understanding the underlying biological principles of HDL-mediated effects on coronary atherosclerosis. Specifically, by the joint use of the available resources genom-wide linkage and association studies on these endophenotypes of CAD, in-depth exploratian of causativ genetic variability will be performed. As initial step for the determinationof the genetics of the lipoprotein profile we phenotyped 1.275 subjects from the German MI family study for the lipoprotein subclass distribution using NMR spectroscopy.
Moreover, we will explore in silico the signalling and metabolic pathways, gene ontology, and canonical pathways of associated genes using bioinformatic pathways analysis to identify networks of interacting genes and other functional groups that are most relevant to HDL metabolism. The molecular mechanisms of variants will be assessed by functional genomic studies applying established resources in the IG, i.e. human and mouse cell culture models. Finally, we aim to transfer our findings in the overall globalization process which may, in turn, facilitate the development of novel preventive and therapeutic strategies.