Development and Improvement of an Animal Resource Core

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The relevance of the vivarium in regard to public health is to provide the services and resources to assist and support the development and maintenance of animal models used to advance the study of age-related diseases and mechanisms of aging. The vivarium design will be comprised of maintaining current and developing transgenic lines, utilized both internally and externally by collaborating institutions, and of specific services offered to the investigative staff. Specifically, the vivarium will provide an Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) accredited facility, exceeding all state and federal regulations, to maintain animal models relating to: changes in gene expression with age, degenerative disease models pertaining to mitotic and post-mitotic tissues, mortality kinetics and experimental drug therapies in conjunction with a variety of transgenic mouse models. The vivarium and these animal models will combine the expertise of investigative staff, technical staff and facility management to facilitate interdisciplinary approaches to cell regulation, differentiation, proliferation, transformation and metastasis. The vivarium will provide husbandry care, and veterinary care of specific-pathogen free and immunodeficient animals, as well as the following services: technical applications (injections, dosing), surgical applications to include micro-injections for induction of specific transgenic lines, ovarian transfer surgeries, breeding colony maintenance, euthanasia training and services, perfusions, necropsy services, routine serology monitoring and testing, quarantine procedures, and staff training for protocol specific needs and will ensure required training policies for animal users. Additional ventilated caging equipment is requested to facilitate housing the additional animals produced on current studies and from the transgenic production services. The ventilated equipment will reduce the husbandry and bedding supply costs. The transgenic and technical service equipment is needed to support approximately 40 new constructs per year and current studies utilizing the vivarium that have anticipated colony expansion within the next year. The Attending Veterinarian will provide expert advice and guidance for all surgical and technical proposals that are submitted to the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), and will address health issues in the colonies via the vivarium health surveillance program.