UC San Diego

Fall-related injuries, stemming from dizziness and imbalance caused by dysfunction of gravity receptors in the vestibular system, are the leading cause of traumatic death in senior citizens. Yet, little is known about the genetic architecture of vestibular function variation and how aging affects the vestibular system. Thus, we initiated the first complete genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of mouse vestibular functional variation using the hybrid mouse diversity panel (HMDP); balance beam and vestibular evoked potentials (VsEP) data from up to 84 strains of young-aged mice were used to identify candidate genes associated with vestibular dysfunction. We found significant differences in both beam times and VsEP data between strains. While our preliminary GWAS yielded no clear gene candidates, our final GWAS with 84 strains yielded potential novel gene candidates that still need to be verified with more strains’ data. Future research will include further GWAS with not only more mice strains’ (up to 100) but also old-aged mice from all strains utilized. Once clear gene candidates are determined, researchers will need to investigate whether their expression and functions support their involvement in vestibular function. Only then can scientists further elucidate the genetic mechanisms underlying vestibular dysfunction and develop pharmaceutical compounds to target the genes responsible for this disease.