Core Director: Sanjeev Gupta, M.D.
Purpose
Animal models of human disease constitute an indispensable modality for investigators. The missions of the Special Animals Core are as follows:
- Breed, maintain and provide specific animals that are not at all available or are not readily available elsewhere
- Instruct investigators or designees in specific animal procedures
- Provide consultation in general experimental design for animal studies or for working with animals requiring special attention due to disease or other perturbations
- Develop or reproduce animal models for relevant studies
- Maintain the Core as a dynamic force with additions and deletions in its stock according to Liver Research Center requirements
- Incorporate new services according to the needs of center investigators
- Encourage use of the Core by new investigators
Services
Bred Animals
- Gunn rat (congeneic with the Wistar-RHA strain)
- Wistar-RHA rat
- Long Evans Cinnamon (LEC) rat with copper toxicosis
- Long Evans rat syngeneic to LEC rats (LEA)
- Dipeptidyl peptidase IV mutant (DPPIV) F344 rat
- Dipeptidyl peptidase IV knockout in C57BL/6 background
- NOD-CB17-prkdc-SCID-IL2Rg null mice
- C57BL/6-Tg(ACTB-RGFP)1Osb/J GFP mice
Other Services
Reproduction of Animal Models for Investigators
- Acute liver injury in rats by treatment with D-galactosamine, CCl4, allyl alcohol, thiocetamide, acetaminophen, monocrotaline, etc.
- Acute liver injury in mice with azoxymethane, CCl4, concavalin A, monocrotaline, etc.
- Induction of cirrhosis in rats by chronic administration of CCl4.
- Radiation-induced liver disease in the rat.
- Localized and metastatic liver tumors in immunodeficient mice.
Training and/or Assistance with Animal Procedures
- Partial hepatectomy (68%, 35%) in rats, mice, rabbits and woodchucks.
- Injections into the peritoneal cavity, portal vein, superior mesenteric vein, spleen, internal jugular vein, femoral vein or tail vein in mouse and rats, and intraorbital injections in mice.
- Gallbladder or bile duct cannulation and bile collection in rats and mice.
- Liver perfusion in mice, rats, rabbits, woodchucks and ducks.
- Intrathymic injections in mice and rats.
- Intrasplenic, intraportal, subcutaneous cell transplantation.
- Portal and right atrial pressure measurements.
- Implantation of osmotic pumps for intraperitoneal, intrasplenic or intravenous infusions.
- Nuclear medicine methods for quantitating intrahepatic shunting, blood pool analysis with radiolabeled RBC, hepatobiliary excretion of radiolabeled ligands, and biodistribution of radiolabeled liver cells.
- Analysis of Kupffer cell function with incorporation of carbon particles or radiolabeled technetium sulfur-colloid.
- Perfusion fixation of liver and other tissues in situ for tissue analysis or electron microscopy.
Animal rederivation, breeding or backcrossing
Embryo harvest and freezing