Nexus Rat Panel

Choice of rats for molecular studies

We will focus our omics studies on 10 inbred strains, our Nexus panel, that captures both meaningful genetic and phenotypic differences in laboratory rats. Our Nexus panel is composed of ACI/EurMcwi, BN/NHsdMcwi, BUF/Mna, F344/DuCrl, LE/StmMcwi, M520/NRrrcMcwi, MR/NRrrc, SHR/OlaIpcvMcwi, WAG/RijCrl, and WKY/Nhsd inbred strains. These strains include all of the "modern" founder strains of the HS rats as well as the progenitor strains of the two recombinant inbred (RI) panels that form the HRDP.

Translation to human genetics

The panel is also a translational resource. Human GWAS loci for alcohol use, nicotine use, and cannabis use disorder map onto genes with conserved roles in the rat, including ARHGAP15, KDM4A, RABEPK, TANK, WNT3, and DPYD. Because the Nexus Panel captures this breadth of both behavior and genotype, candidate genes and pathways that hold up across panel strains are more likely to matter in humans.

Multi-omic data on the panel

The SMART core is generating single-molecule long-read data for all 10 strains (3 males, 3 females each) across nucleus accumbens, medial prefrontal cortex, and amygdala: whole-genome CpG methylation with base-resolved 5-mC, 5-hmC, and 6-mA; direct RNA sequencing with isoform, splicing, alternative polyadenylation, poly(A) tail, and RNA modification information; and long-read snRNA-seq. The SAM core is generating a matching foundational proteomics dataset. Frozen tissue from the panel is available to Pilot grantees on request.

Use the mini-panel in your own work: pilot projects can explore the role of genetic variation in addiction-related phenotypes with strains that carry well-documented genotypes and, increasingly, deeply annotated multi-omic baselines.