Identification of SMEK2 as a candidate gene for regulation of responsiveness to dietary cholesterol in rats.

We have previously mapped a diet-induced hypercholesterolemia locus (Dihc2) to chromosome 14 in the F2 generation cross of high-responsive exogenous hypercholesterolemia rats and low-responsive BN rats. To identify a causal gene within this locus, we constructed interval-specific congenic lines and carried out expression and sequencing analyses. Here we narrowed Dihc2 to a region including 33 genes and predicted transcripts and identified RGD1309450_predicted, a homologous gene of SMEK2, as a strong candidate for responsiveness to dietary cholesterol. Our finding provides new insights into the pathway underlying the individual responsiveness to dietary cholesterol in vivo.