Heritability of fat distributions in male mice from the founder strains of the Diversity Outbred mouse population

Abstract

AbstractSpecific fat distributions are risk factors for complex diseases, including coronary heart disease and obstructive sleep apnea. To demonstrate the utility of high-diversity mouse models for elucidating genetic associations, we describe the phenotyping and heritability of fat distributions within the five classical inbred and three wild-derived founder mouse strains of the Collaborative Cross and Diversity Outbred mice. Measurements of subcutaneous and internal fat volumes in the abdomen, thorax and neck, and fat volumes in the tongue and pericardium were obtained using magnetic resonance imaging in male mice from the A/J (nnnnnnnn