RAT RESOURCE & RESEARCH CENTER

该子项目是利用NIH/NCRR资助的中心赠款提供的资源的许多研究子项目之一。子项目和研究者（PI）可能从另一个NIH来源获得主要资金，因此可以在其他CRISP条目中表示。所列机构为中心，不一定是研究者所在机构。描述（改编自申请人摘要）：大鼠作为人类疾病的模型，对人类医学的几乎每一个领域都做出了宝贵的贡献。最近，在开发大鼠的试剂、基因组信息和关键生殖系修饰技术（包括制备转基因动物）方面取得了重大进展。有了这些工具，大鼠模型可以为理解人类疾病的分子基础和靶向开发新的治疗策略做出前所未有的贡献。不幸的是，实现大鼠作为人类疾病模型的全部潜力存在几个主要障碍：1）许多近交系和基因工程大鼠品系对研究人员来说是不可用的。虽然商业生产商保持库存的常用大鼠品种，不常用的品种往往是不可用的研究人员。2)虽然个别研究人员开发和表征许多突变大鼠模型，但他们缺乏物理和财政资源来维持潜在的重要品系。3)基因敲除目前在大鼠中是不可能的。4)传染病方面的质量控制往往缺乏。总的来说，这些障碍证明了对资源中心的明确需求，该资源中心可以为生物医学界提供高质量的大鼠品系，并开发促进大鼠作为模型所需的技术。本申请的总体目标是建立一个大鼠资源和研究中心（RRRC）。该中心将满足生物医学研究界的需求，通过发展基础设施，将高质量，特征良好的近交系，杂交和遗传工程大鼠（格尔）分配给研究人员，无论是作为活大鼠还是作为冷冻保存的种质，并通过进行创新研究，产生新的信息，这将有利于RRRC和科学界。为了实现这一目标，一个已建立的多学科联合体：印第安纳州大学低温生物学研究所（CRI）、哈兰斯普拉格道利公司。(HSD)西北大学医学院的教育和研究纪念研究所（CMIER）将开发一个RRRC。这个独特的联盟在所需的每个学科都有广泛的专业知识，包括进口，再衍生，育种，胚胎和配子冷冻保存，基因分型，表型，传染病监测和实验室大鼠的分布。RRRC将为生物医学研究人员提供不间断的大鼠供应。将开展旨在改善大鼠核移植和开发大鼠基因敲除模型、低温生物学和大鼠健康监测的研究项目。研究结果将使全世界的研究人员受益。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. DESCRIPTION (Adapted from the applicant''''s abstract): Rats as models for human disease have made valuable contributions to almost every field of human medicine. Recently, major advances have been made in developing reagents, genomic information, and critical germline modification techniques for the rat, including making transgenic animals. With these tools in place, rat models can make unprecedented contributions toward understanding the molecular basis of human disease and targeting development of new therapeutic strategies. Unfortunately, there are several major impediments to realization of the full potential of rats as models of human disease: 1) Many inbred and genetically engineered rat strains are not available to researchers. While commercial producers maintain inventories of commonly used rat strains, less commonly used strains are frequently unavailable to researchers. 2) While individual investigators develop and characterize many mutant rat models, they lack the physical and financial resources to maintain potentially important strains. 3) Gene knockouts are not currently possible in the rat. 4) Quality control with respect to infectious diseases is often lacking. Taken together, these impediments document the clear need for a resource center that can provide high quality rat strains to the biomedical community and develop techniques needed for advancement of rats as models. The overall goal of this application is to establish a Rat Resource & Research Center (RRRC). This center will meet the needs of the biomedical research community by developing the infrastructure for distributing high quality, well-characterized inbred, hybrid and genetically engineered rat (GER) to investigators, either as live rats or as cryopreserved germplasm, and by performing innovative research that generates new information which will benefit the RRRC and the scientific community. To accomplish this goal, an established multidisciplinary consortium: the Cryobiology Research Institute at Indiana University (CRI), Harlan Sprague Dawley Inc. (HSD), Memorial Institute for Education and Research (CMIER) at Northwestern University Medical School, will develop a RRRC. This unique consortium has extensive expertise in each of the disciplines needed, including importation, rederivation, breeding, embryo and gamete cryopreservation, genotyping, phenotyping, infectious disease monitoring, and distribution of laboratory rats. The RRRC will provide an uninterrupted supply of rats to biomedical investigators. Research projects aimed at improving rat nuclear transfer and developing rat knockout models, cryobiology, and health monitoring of rats will be performed. Results will benefit investigators worldwide.