Resistance to diet-induced obesity in mice with a single substituted chromosome

Obesity and its comorbidities are taking an increasing toll on human health. Key pathways that were identified with single gene variants in humans and model organisms have led to improved understanding and treatment of rare cases of human obesity. However, similar progress remains elusive for the more common multifactorial cases of metabolic dysfunction and disease. A survey of mouse chromosome substitution strains (CSSs) provided insight into the complex genetic control of diet-induced obesity and related conditions. We now report a survey of 60 traits related to obesity and metabolic syndrome in mice with a single substituted chromosome as well as selected traits measured in congenic strains derived from the substituted strain. We found that each strain that was resistant to diet-induced obesity had a distinct phenotype that uniquely modeled different combinations of traits related to metabolic disease. For example, the chromosome 6 CSS remained insulin resistant in the absence of obesity, demonstrating an atypical relationship between body weight and insulin resistance. These results provide insights into the genetic control of constant components of this mouse model of diet-induced metabolic disease as well as phenotypes that vary depending on genetic background. A better understanding of these genotype-phenotype relationships may enable a more individualized diagnosis and treatment of obesity and the metabolic syndrome.