FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 8, 2008
FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION:
Janet Wolf, Executive Director
856-447-9787
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Susan Little DVM, DABVP,
President
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Winn Announces Five
Grants Awarded in Partnership with the Miller
Trust for Important Feline
Health Studies
The Winn Feline Foundation is pleased to announce the
award of five
grants funded in partnership with the George Sydney and
Phyllis Redman
Miller Trust in 2008. Winn President Dr. Susan Little
commented, "We
are excited about the proposals that have received funding.
This year
we awarded $116,500 in grants for studies on feline hypertrophic
cardiomyopathy, feline infectious peritonitis, and calcium oxalate
bladder stones, among others.
MT08-001: SNP analysis in Siberian
cats with HCM.
Robert A. Grahn; University of California, Davis.
$18,086
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most common cardiac
disorder
of domestic cats. Maine Coons, Ragdolls, American Shorthairs, Devon
Rex, Sphynx, Bengals and Siberians all have reports of HCM. Mutations
in
the gene MYBPC3 have been found in Ragdolls and Maine Coons, but
this does
not account for all the HCM in Maine Coons and the other
breeds have not yet
been evaluated. The feline condition closely
resembles human HCM resulting
from mutations in any of seven candidate
genes. Naturally occurring sequence
mutations have been identified
near these genes that can be used to
determine if said gene is
associated with the disease or not. Over 100
samples have been
submitted from Siberians for HCM testing. Multiple gene
mutations may
result in HCM in this breed, thus this project proposes to
identify
which gene or genes are involved by finding which affected cats are
associated with which genes. Thus selection of a gene for sequencing
will be based upon scientific data as opposed to the best guess.
MT08-004: Molecular basis of feline coronavirus pathogenesis and
development of FIP in cats.
Gary R. Whittaker; Cornell University.
$35,514
Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is a deadly disease of cats,
caused by infection with feline coronavirus. The virus normally
resides
in the gut of the cat (enteric coronavirus)
, but can mutate
and so
infect the immune system of certain cats (FIP virus). Based on
an analysis
of the genome sequence of viruses that either infect the
gut or the immune
system, the researchers believe that key changes in
the surface protein of
the virus make it more efficient at infecting
the cells of the immune
system. They will perform laboratory-based
experiments using gut and immune
system cells to define the
differences between the different viruses. The
work will characterize
the changes that occur in the virus surface protein
and will allow a
more detailed understanding of the devastating disease of
cats known
as FIP, for which there remains no effective
treatment.
MT08-007: Is the lack of oxalate degrading bacteria a risk
factor for
calcium oxalate urolith formation in cats?
Jody P. Lulich;
University of Minnesota. $19,840
Calcium oxalate (CaOx) is the most
common urinary stone in cats.
Urinary stones are associated with difficulty
urinating, blood in the
urine, and life-threatening urinary tract
obstruction. Stone removal
is the treatment of choice; however, many will
recur. Excessive urine
oxalate concentration predisposes cats to CaOX
urinary stones.
Bacteria that degrade oxalate in the intestinal tract are
correlated
with absence of oxalate stones in other species. This study is
designed to determine the association of these bacteria with
development
of urinary stones in cats. The researchers predict that
the prevalence of
intestinal bacterial that degrade oxalate will be
lower in cats with CaOx
than in clinically healthy cats. These results
will help in the development
of new therapies, such as probiotics, to
manage CaOx urinary stones in
cats.
MT08-009: Unraveling feline stone genetics: Searching for
associations
between polymorphisms in candidate genes and calcium oxalate
stone
formation in cats.
Richard E. Goldstein; Cornell University.
$23,615
Stone formation (urolithiasis) is an extremely common disorder of
the
cat urinary tract, with a major effect on the well being and mortality
of our feline pet population. Over 50% of all feline urinary stones
are
made up of calcium and oxalate precipitating together in the
urine. Despite
this, little is known about the genetics of stone
production in cats. Feline
genetics is just now emerging with the
publication of the feline genetic
sequence, making genetic studies in
cats more feasible than ever before.
This proposal represents part of
a broad initiative by the investigators to
use a DNA bank that they
are establishing from cats suffering from urinary
stones, to unravel
the genetic causes of and predispositions to stone
formation in cats.
The findings will contribute immensely to our
understanding of feline
stone formation genetics and pathophysiology. In
addition, the
findings of this study are likely to enable identification of
cats at
increased risk for stone formation via genetic testing. Specific
prevention programs can then be implemented for these cats, even prior
to their first episode of urolithiasis.
MT08-015: Heritable
progressive retinal atrophy.
Leslie A. Lyons; University of California,
Davis. $19,445
The goal of this project is to investigate the progression
of an
inherited blindness (progressive retinal atrophy [PRA]) in Persians
and decipher which gene results in the disease. Persian cats are the
most popular cat breed throughout the world. PRA has similarities to
a
common inherited blindness in people called retinitis pigmentosa.
Many other
breeds use Persians as allowable outcrosses. Thus, health
problems in
Persians can be spread quickly and widely in the cat
world. PRA in Persians
causes vision problems very early in life, at
about 4 – 8 weeks of age, and
progresses very rapidly. Cats become
completely blind by 15 weeks of age,
but do not have other health
issues. PRA is a recessively inherited disease,
so that two copies of
the mutation are required to cause blindness. Carrier
cats, cats with
one copy of the mutation, are perfectly healthy, but when
bred may
pass the mutation on to their offspring. Thus, a genetic test is
required to detect these carrier cats so that they do not spread the
mutation. This project is designed to analyze genetic markers on a
chromosome suspected to be associated with PRA and also to improve
overall knowledge of the feline genome.
-WINN-
|
Articles 
