The
Veterinary Cardiac Genetics Laboratory at WSU has experienced very successful
growth in our testing service for the HCM Mutation. In December 2005, we
implemented a specialized testing service that had never been offered to the
Maine Coon community. Our initial service was understandably slow and
occasionally problematic as we developed a revolutionary and successful
protocol to test cat DNA for the HCM Mutation. We have appreciated the support
of the Maine Coon community as we steadily climbed the upward spiral of our
learning curve.
Today,
we are happy to report that we have perfected our protocol so that a typical
sample is processed to result within about two weeks from the date of
submission. Both swab samples and blood samples seem to work equally well with
our protocols. Of course, we still encounter the occasional sample that is
problematic for DNA extraction and this may cause a delay in result
publication for that sample.
Our
current statistics show that about 33.6% of all Maine Coons tested for this
mutation return a positive result. About 4% to 5% of these positive results
return a homozygous result. Because of the large number of positive cats
tested, we support those breeders who are carefully breeding otherwise
breed-worthy positive heterozygous cats to negative cats with the goal of
moving forward with negative progeny.
In
our continued search for another HCM mutation, our lab has now completed
analysis of another gene. We evaluated this gene because it is one of the
commonly reported genes for human HCM. Unfortunately, we did not find any
abnormalities in this gene in affected cats. But it is an important part of
our effort to have eliminated this gene from our continued search. We are
again working on the Myosin binding protein C gene. This is the gene that the
original Maine Coon mutation was identified on and it is possible that some
Maine Coons may have a mutation located in a different region of the gene. We
have completed researching about 16% of this gene. This is comprised of 4
exonic regions. It is a more difficult gene to study than the other gene that
we recently eliminated from our search. The Myosin binding protein
research moves slower as it has more areas that are different in the cat and
people. We use the human version to start the analysis because the cat
sequence is not known. The more different the genes are, the more difficult it
is to get good material to study.
As
we move forward, we will strive to continue providing our best possible
service. The support of the Maine Coon community continues to be crucial to
our success both in research and service to the Maine Coon cat breed.
Kathryn
M. Meurs, DVM, PhD, Professor
Washington State University- College of Veterinary Medicine