The gene-discovery platform called AcB/BcA recombinant congenic strains (RCS) is uniquely applied to the genetic dissection of complex traits.This technology platform, which has been developed at McGill University and licensed to Emerillon Therapeutics Inc. for commercial development, consists of 37 new inbred strains, which were bred from the second backcross generation of the two progenitor strains A/J (A) and C57BL/6J (B). The A and B strains vary widely in the expression of resistance and susceptibility to a considerable number of mouse models of important human diseases.The objective of this project is to use the AcB/BcA RCS platform to dissect complex traits relevant to human health, such as lipid metabolism, osteoporosis, metabolic syndrome X, epilepsy and resistance against tuberculosis and pain; and to elucidate their phenotypic architectures. Ultimately, we aim to identify genes and pathways involved in the control of these phenotypes in mice, which is the first step toward identification of novel targets for the development of preventive and therapeutic interventions in human populations. This project has been developed and is pursued by the R&D team of Emerillon Therapeutics Inc. in Montreal, in collaboration with researchers from the McGill University Health Center, the Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal and from McGill University.
Co-applicants:
| Janet | Henderson | McGill University |
| Thomas | Hudson | Ontario Cancer Institute |
| Jeffrey | Mogil | McGill University |
| Danuta | Radzioch | McGill University |