Unbiased, scalable behavioral phenotyping that captures multi-animal interactions in home-cage settings is increasingly needed. Here we present ‘IntelliProfiler’, a research workflow consisting of data processing scripts that extract locomotor activity and pairwise proximity from a commercially available, previously validated, high-resolution radio frequency identification floor...
The development of humane endpoints is critical for refining scientific studies involving animals. Body weight and clinical signs of disease data collected in four recent studies assessing medical countermeasures for utility against the disease melioidosis in mice were further analyzed. Here we used this information to ascertain whether a suitable alternative humane endpoint...
The gut microbiota (GM) affects host development, behavior and disease susceptibility. Biomedical research investigating GM-mediated influences on host phenotypes often involves collecting fecal samples from laboratory mice. Many environmental factors can affect the composition of the GM in mice. While efforts are made to minimize this variation, biological and technical...
There remains a need for animal models with human translatability in lung cancer (LC) research. Findings in pigs can have a substantial impact owing to their similar anatomy and physiology to humans. Here we present a bronchoscopically induced LC model in Oncopigs carrying inducible KRASG12D and TP53R167H mutations. A total of 12 Oncopigs underwent 29 injections via flexible...
Cryopreservation of spermatozoa can be used as a cost-effective way of preserving the ever-increasing number of genetically modified mouse lines. Nevertheless, discontinuing the breeding of a line or strain is only warranted after the quality control of cryopreserved sperm; the ability of sperm to survive the freezing–thawing process and produce well-developed embryos needs to be...
Blood glucose is one of the most essential parameters in metabolic research. Yet, accurate blood glucose monitoring in mouse models of diabetes is challenging owing to the substantial stress associated with the measurements and the variability in diabetes development among experimental mouse models. This variability requires frequent blood glucose measurements, which provide only...
Ante-mortem transcardiac perfusion of a fixative agent is generally recommended for quality preparations for cerebral histology, ensuring rapid and deep penetration in the tissue to preserve the most fragile brain structures. Despite being performed under anesthesia and with proper analgesia, this procedure is cumbersome for the experimenter and raises ethical questions. Recently...
Mammals have evolved under an inseparable association with diverse microbial gut colonizers; thus, fine-tuned host−microbial interactions shape our susceptibility to immunological, oncogenic, metabolic and infectious outcomes. The past two decades have seen a rapid expansion of research into intestinal bacterial communities that impact host health in many preclinical and clinical...
Metabolic cages (MCs) are often used to collect feces and urine samples. However, the housing of mice in MCs can be stressful, potentially affecting parameters of interest. Here we compare our standard protocol for individual MC housing (4 days at 23 °C: 3 days of permanent acclimatization followed by 24 h sampling (MC23)) with a short-term intermittent acclimatization protocol...
Despite ongoing research, realistic in vitro models for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) that can mimic the complex pathology are still not available, highlighting the need for continuous animal-based investigation. As part of the 3R principles, constant refinement of animal experiments is mandatory. Therefore, reviewing the effectiveness of used analgesics is essential for...