Modern exercise suite for basic research in small rodents

我们的联合研究计划侧重于阐明控制几种组织中细胞代谢的新机制。 运动代表了对代谢稳态的快速扰动，因此已成为我们与代谢控制有关的机制研究的基石，因此对于每个独立的研究计划都是绝对必要的。 我们正在申请一个小型啮齿动物运动套件的资金，成本约为100，000美元（73，870美元）。该设备包括可同时容纳6只大鼠或12只小鼠的跑步机，以更换损坏的设备，以及跑步机和跑步轮，它们是我们现有的综合实验室动物监测系统（CLAMS）代谢笼系统的模块化附件。这种模块化基础设施将与我们现有的CLAMS单元一起使用，使我们能够测量运动过程中的能量消耗和底物氧化，从而显着提高生成数据的质量。这种基础设施非常适合我们的目的，因为跑步轮适合我们现有的单个动物舍，使我们能够在小鼠舍内调节运动持续时间和强度，同时继续监测全身燃料利用率。此外，模块化的恒温器（一个用于小鼠，另一个用于大鼠）与CLAMs单元连接，以确定动物的有氧能力。 我们需要所请求的系统有两个主要原因：1）由于我们目前的两个啮齿动物粉碎机坏了，并且由于它们的年龄增长无法修复，因此迫切需要该设备来维持我们的研究生产力和HQP培训，以及2）所请求的设备将扩展我们的能力，使我们能够更准确/全面地研究能量消耗和燃料利用。因此，所要求的设备代表了推进我们的研究计划，并确保HQP获得必要的技术，以解决我们领域的前沿问题的关键组成部分。此外，所要求的设备将支持人类健康和营养科学部（HHNS）约13个NSERC资助的实验室的研究，其中超过50个HQP目前使用我们现有的小型啮齿动物代谢套件。 这是一个极具成本效益的提案，因为所要求的设备将优化我们现有的设备，但仅占过去10年我们部门代谢动物设施总投资（NSERC+CFI）的<5%。

Our combined research programs focus on elucidating novel mechanisms controlling cellular metabolism in several tissues. Exercise represents a rapid perturbation to metabolic homeostasis, and therefore has become the cornerstone of our mechanistic research pertaining to metabolic control, and thus is absolutely essential for each independent research program. We are requesting funds for a small rodent exercise suite costing ~$100,000 ($73,870 USD). This equipment consists of a treadmill accommodating 6 rats or 12 mice simultaneously to replace broken equipment, as well as a treadmill and running wheels that are modular attachments for our existing Comprehensive Laboratory Animal Monitoring System (CLAMS) metabolic caging system. This modular infrastructure will be used with our existing CLAMS unit and allow us to measure energy expenditure and substrate oxidation during exercise, significantly enhancing the quality of data that is generated. This infrastructure is ideal for our purposes as the running wheels fit inside our existing single animal housing, allowing us to regulate exercise duration and intensity within the mouse enclosure while continuing to monitor whole body fuel utilization. Moreover, the modular treadmills (one for mice and another for rats) interface with the CLAMs unit to determine the aerobic capacity of animals. We require the requested system for two primary reasons: 1) the equipment is urgently needed to maintain our research productivity and HQP training as two of our current rodent treadmills are broken, and because of their advancing age cannot be fixed, and 2) the requested equipment will expand our capabilities that will enable us to study energy expenditure and fuel utilization more accurately/comprehensively. As a result, the requested equipment represents a critical component of advancing our research programs and ensuring HQP have access to the necessary technology to address leading edge questions in our field. In addition, the requested equipment will support the research of ~13 NSERC-funded laboratories in the Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences (HHNS) with >50 HQP currently using our existing small rodent metabolic suite. This is an extremely cost-effective proposal, as the requested equipment will optimize our existing equipment, but only represents <5% of the total investment (NSERC+CFI) in our departmental metabolic animal facility in the past 10 years.