Two-dimensional, sex-specific autosomal linkage scan of the number of sodium pump sites.

Overview

OBJECTIVES: The sodium pump consists of the membrane-bound enzyme sodium/potassium-ATPase, which exchanges internal sodium ions for external potassium ions. Obesity, hypertension, and diabetes associate with the activity of the sodium pump, motivating gene discovery for sodium pump number. METHODS: Variance components linkage analysis was applied to the number of red blood cell sodium pump sites measured by ouabain-binding assays on 1375 members of 46 Utah pedigrees. Both one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) autosome-wide linkage analyses of pump number were performed on the combined sample as well as separately on the male and female subsets. RESULTS: Two significant 1D linkages were identified: on chromosome 1p13 in the combined sample [1D logarithm of odds (LOD) score = 3.76] and on chromosome 17p21 in the female subset (1D LOD score = 3.24). In addition, two significant 2D linkages were identified in the female subset: on chromosome 10q22 interacting with chromosome 18q11 (2D LOD score = 7.18) and on chromosome 13q21 interacting with chromosome 4q31 (2D LOD score = 6.05). Single-nucleotide polymorphism rs17376826 in neuropeptide Y receptor Y2, an obesity-associated gene and a candidate in the chromosome 4q31 linkage region, is associated with pump number (P = 0.046 in the combined sample and P = 0.042 in the female subset). CONCLUSION: Pump number is influenced by multiple genes, possibly including neuropeptide Y receptor Y2.