Integrative analysis of the genomic architecture of a complex kidney damage QTL in inbred hypertensive rats implies Tmem63c for translational research

Despite recent advances in genomics, the identification of genes underlying complex diseases remains challenging. Inbred rat strains offer well-established experimental models to support the identification of susceptibility genes for diseases such as kidney damage associated with elevated blood pressure or hypertension. Here, we combined quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping in two contrasting inbred rat strains with targeted next generation sequencing (NGS), compartment-specific transcriptome sequencing (RNA-Seq), and phenotype directed follow-up translational analysis. Overall design: mRNA profiles of spontaneously hypertensive rats and Munich Wistar Frömter rats were generated by deep sequencing, in triplicate, using NextSeq 500