BCAT2 and heart failure: Additionally, all murine Bcat2 models described so far were generated in C57BL/6J mice, a murine strain known to present distinct mitochondrial calcium and reactive oxygen species (ROS) handling properties demonstrated to be protective in heart failure models.32 In our present study, after the initial ENU mutagenesis step, mice were backcrossed onto the C3H background strain which may explain the severe phenotype severity observed in Bcat2p.Q300*/p.Q300* mice.