cardiovascular system
|
• on a normal chow diet 3 out of 3 homozygotes developed lesions (mean area 3157 +/- 437 um2) compared to 0 out of 12 wild-type mice
• on a high fat high cholesterol diet all 9 homozygotes developed large lesions in the proximal aorta (mean area 9230 +/- 4700 um2) while no wild-type mice on the same diet developed lesions
• on a high fat high cholesterol diet lesions were found in the proximal aorta, and the coronary and pulmonary arteries
|
digestive/alimentary system
|
• in a vitamin A-fat tolerance test postprandial retinyl ester levels are very high by 4 hours and show no signs of decrease by 12 hours unlike in wild-type mice where retinyl ester levels return to baseline by 12 hours suggesting severely impaired clearance of dietary fat
|
homeostasis/metabolism
nervous system
|
• dendritic simplification is more prominent in the CA1-CA2 pyramidal cell layer and in the molecular layer
|
|
• at 4 months of age widespread vacuolization of apical dendrites and tortuous, dilated, and irregular dendrites are seen
• occasionally, the presynaptic terminals around the dendrites are distended
• this phenotype is mild at 4 months of age but becomes more severe with age
• malformations are more prominent in layers 2, 3, and 5 of the front-parietal region
• in 8 month old mutants a 30% loss of synapses is seen
|
|
• in 12 month old mutants, neurons in the fronto-parietal and hippocampal regions prominently display fragmentation and disruption of the neuritic processes
• neurons in the frontal cortex of 8 month old mutants have disarrayed microtubules, fragmented dendrites, and a distended and vacuolized endomembrane system and spinal apparatus
|