Translational approaches to endophenotypes typically rely on comparisons of mouse strains selectively bred for higher and lower alcohol preference. Mapping these differences to genes and gene networks is critical to fully realizing the promise of a translational approach for endophenotypes. A meta-analysis of three mouse strains that differed in alcohol preference identified 3,800 genes that were differentially expressed in the brains of N and NP mice, and functional gene groups including mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling and transcription regulation pathways were overrepresented among these differentially expressed genes [113]. These results provide numerous candidate genes and pathways to be tested for association with translational candidate endophenotypes and, if merited, further testing in human samples.
