Modernizing a Shared-Use Animal Facility Supporting Neuroscience Research at an HBCU

HBCU支持神经科学研究的共享动物设施的现代化 摘要 特拉华州立大学(DSU)是一所历史悠久的黑人大学，在神经科学方面具有新兴实力 研究是美国国立卫生研究院资助的特拉华州神经科学研究中心的牵头机构，该中心已进入第10个年头 NIGMS生物医学研究卓越中心P20赠款的支持。DSU的间隔室设施是 根据该中心的拨款，该中心开始支持密歇根州立大学的研究人员用小鼠进行神经科学研究。我们正在寻找 为了使我们的维瓦利姆工厂的运营现代化，并确保它提供高效的运营，以支持 生物医学研究人员的研究和我们的啮齿动物研究课题的高质量护理。隔膜核心， 于2017年秋季在新装修的空间开放，是一个关键的研究资源，其中存放着鼠标模型，这些模型是 美国国立卫生研究院和美国国家科学基金会资助的特拉华州立大学神经科学研究课题。 我们建议以一套自动化环境控制系统，提升隔音间的鼠房。 和监控系统-自动浇水、湿度控制和Tecniplast数字通风笼子(DVC) 和机架环境监测(REM)系统。这些系统将提高我们设施的效率和 由于更稳定的环境条件和对动物的需求减少，我们的研究动物的健康状况得到改善 搬运、笼子操作和亲自监控动物。 Tecniplast带有湿度控制的空气处理机组和Edstrom自动喷水系统将 显著改善笼子环境和对我们老鼠的照顾。最先进的DVC系统和DVC机架 环境监测系统(DVC-REM)被设计为自动和连续地监测 重要的环境参数直接从动物房间甚至动物笼子中收集。动物 活动监测可以提供连续的家庭笼子动物福利检查，而无需人员进入 动物房间或扰乱笼子，这对于监测疾病模型和手术后将特别有价值 恢复。此外，从DVC系统收集动物活动数据，并与相关数据进行补充 来自REM系统的环境条件提供了一种独特而稳健的方法来提高可靠性和 动物研究的重复性，防止因环境条件(如笼子淹水)造成的动物损失，以及 以帮助研究人员更好地解释动物实验对象可能出现的意想不到的结果。 Vivarum的核心支持由外部资助的、由六个神经科学学院进行的研究，而且很可能 在密歇根州立大学生物和心理学系雇佣的未来教员将有研究项目，包括 啮齿动物。该设施将带来更稳定的环境条件和更少的动物处理 现代化将提高研究的可靠性和重复性，提高当前和 未来的研究人员和支持生物医学研究的进步。

Modernizing a Shared-Use Animal Facility Supporting Neuroscience Research at an HBCU Summary Delaware State University, (DSU) an Historically-Black university with an emerging strength in neuroscience research is the lead institution in the NIH-funded Delaware Center for Neuroscience Research, which is in its 10th year of support from an NIGMS Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence P20 grant. DSU’s Vivarium facility was started under this Center grant to support DSU researchers conducting neuroscience research with mice. We are seeking to modernize the operations of our Vivarium facility and ensure that it provides both efficient operations to support the research of biomedical investigators at DSU and high-quality care for our rodent research subjects. The Vivarium Core, which opened in freshly renovated space in fall 2017, is a key research resource housing the mouse models that are the subject of NIH- and NSF-funded neuroscience research at Delaware State University. We propose to upgrade the rodent housing in our Vivarium with a suite of automated environmental control and monitoring systems - automatic watering, humidity control, and the Tecniplast Digital Ventilated Cages (DVC) and Rack Environmental Monitoring (REM) Systems. These systems will enhance the efficiency of our facility and improve the health of our research animals due to more stable environmental conditions and decreased need for animal handling, cage manipulations and in person animal monitoring. Tecniplast air handling units with humidity control, and an Edstrom automated watering system will significantly improve the cage environment and care of our mice. The state-of-the-art DVC system and DVC Rack Environmental Monitoring system (DVC-REM) have been designed to automatically and continuously monitor important environmental parameters collected directly from animal rooms and even within the animal cages. Animal activity monitoring can provide a continuous home cage animal welfare check without personnel having to enter the animal room or disturb the cages, which will be particularly valuable for monitoring disease models and post-surgery recovery. In addition, collecting animal activity data from the DVC system and complementing it with correlated environmental conditions from the REM system provides a unique and robust approach to advance the reliability and reproducibility of animal research, prevent animal loss due to environmental conditions (such as cage flooding), and to help researchers better interpret possible unexpected results with their animal subjects. The Vivarium core supports the externally-funded research of six neuroscience faculty at DSU, and it is likely that future faculty hired in the biology and psychology departments at DSU will have research projects that involve rodents. The more stable environmental conditions and reduced animal handling that will result from this facility modernization will improve research reliability and reproducibility, increasing the research productivity of current and future investigators and support the advancement of biomedical research.