2.2 | SERCA2 C674S knock-in mouse construct
All mice used in this study were of C57BL/6J background (RRID:
IMSR_JAX:000664 ) and were originally obtained from The Jackson
Laboratory (Bar Harbor, Maine, USA). The construct of the SKI mouse
(RRID: MGI:5780876 ) was generated as previously described
(Thompson et al., 2014). Briefly, the genetic variation is TGT at C674
to TCC (Ser674 [S674]) in exon 14 of SERCA2. The
presence of the C674S mutation was verified by sequencing of both
genomic DNA and cDNA from heart. Homozygous SKI mice died before birth,
so only heterozygous SKI mice that express 50% of C674 and 50% of S674
were used in this study, and their littermate wild-type (WT) mice
without S674 were used as controls. For aneurysm studies, SKI mice were
mated with LDL receptor-deficient (LDLR−/−, The
Jackson Laboratory, RRID: IMSR_JAX:002207) mice susceptible to
aortic aneurysms to obtain SKI/LDLR+/− mice, which
were further mated with LDLR−/− mice to obtain
SKI/LDLR−/− mice. All mice used for aneurysm studies
were derived from mating between SKI/LDLR−/− mice and
LDLR−/− mice, and the littermate
LDLR−/− mice acted as controls.