Carnitine plays an essential role in transporting fatty acid from cytosol into the mitochondrial matrix to be broken down into usable metabolic energy. The SLC22A5 gene is therefore an important regulator of fatty acid metabolism, and is necessary for the maintenance of skeletal and cardiac muscle function (Steiber et al., 2004). Mutations in the SLC22A5 gene can cause systemic primary carnitine deficiency (Sonne et al., 2012). Alcohol has the capacity to upregulate genes involved in fatty acid metabolism similar to effects of glucagon when blood sugar is low. SCUBE3 is a secreted and cell-associated glycoprotein that can form either homo or hetero-oligomers that can attach to the cell surface (Wu et al., 2004). It can act either in an endocrine or autocrine/paracrine fashion in regards to cell signaling. SCUBE3 can be expressed in human osteoblasts (but not in nonosseus tissues), cardiac tissue, and vascular endothelial cells (Wu et al., 2004). When SCUBE3 was overexpressed in mice, the animals were diagnosed with cardiac hypertrophy (Yang et al., 2007). Thus, both of the top hub genes have some involvement in cardiovascular function.
