MicroCAT II Small Animal Imaging System

描述（由申请人提供）： 这项资助要求为田纳西大学健康科学中心的一个多学科研究小组购买MicroCAT（TM）II小动物成像系统。选择该图像分析系统是因为其可用性，易用性和成本效益，高分辨率图像;明显优于其他成像系统，如MRI系统。该工具将由几个NIH支持的研究人员共享，并将补充和大大加强他们目前的研究工作，提供现有技术无法提供的数据收集能力。MicroCATTM II系统的使用将极大地促进与已知遗传操作相关的鼠表型变化的识别，从而鉴定基因功能。它还将允许对小鼠关节炎模型和小鼠前列腺肿瘤生长进行更具成本效益的纵向研究，从而极大地促进我们对疾病和可能的治疗方式的理解。基本上，该仪器将：（1）促进大规模筛选突变小鼠中枢神经系统、眼睛、骨骼和内脏的异常，（2.）在大鼠和小鼠中胶原诱导的关节炎的实验模型中提供关节炎的程度和严重性的可再现的定量测量，（3.）定量硬皮病的Tight Skin 2小鼠模型中皮肤、肺、心脏和肾纤维化的程度，（4.）在受损宿主的节段性骨缺损中使用间充质干细胞和人工骨基质评估骨形成的速率和量，（5.）定量大鼠骨质溶解模型中的骨密度变化，（6.）确定与骨的机械性质相关的骨密度的年龄相关变化，以及（7.）对经历各种治疗方案的肿瘤易感小鼠品系中前列腺中的肿瘤生长进行定量。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This grant requests the purchase of a MicroCAT (TM) II Small Animal Imaging System for a multidisciplinary group of investigators at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. This image analysis system was chosen because of its availability, ease of use, and cost-effective, high-resolution images; distinct advantages over other imaging systems such as MRI systems. This instrument will be shared by several NIH supported researchers and will complement and greatly enhance their current research efforts providing capabilities for data collection that are unavailable by existing techniques. Use of the MicroCAT(TM) II system would greatly facilitate the recognition of murine phenotypic changes associated with known genetic manipulation, thus identification of gene function. It would also allow for more cost effective Longitudinal studies of murine arthritic models and prostate tumor growth in mice, thus greatly facilitating our understanding of the disease and possible treatment modalities. Basically, the instrument will: (1.) facilitate large-scale screening of mutant mice for abnormalities in the central nervous system, the eye, skeleton, and in the internal organs, (2.) provide a reproducible quantitative measurement of the degree and severity of arthritis in the experimental model of collagen induced arthritis in rats and mice, (3.) quantitate the degree of skin, lung, heart, and kidney fibrosis in the Tight Skin 2 mouse model of scleroderma, (4.) assess the rate and amount of bone formation using mesenchymal stem cells and artificial bone matrices in segmental bone defects in compromised hosts, (5.) quantitate bone density changes in a rat osteolysis model, (6.) determine age-related changes in bone density associated with mechanical properties of bone and (7.) quantitate tumor growth in the prostate in tumor susceptible strains of mice undergoing various treatment regimens.