ABSTRACT
This application requests funds to acquire specialized laboratory mouse housing systems- Digital Ventilated
Caging (DVC) designed to initiate a new generation of husbandry, breeding colony and animal welfare
management, and research data acquisition. The requested equipment will improve NKI’s animal housing by
establishing an ability for 24-hour remote monitoring of the cage microenvironment, promoting health, less
disturbance of cage inhabitants, and normal baseline behavior and physiology, conditions necessary to
produce more accurate animal models in brain-and-behavior studies. Such models, which, at NKI, aim at
understanding the molecular basis of normal and diseased states, also have improved translational usefulness,
including the development of early diagnostic and treatment abilities. Long-term monitoring of the behavior
and activity of mice in their natural environment using non-intrusive methods in their home cages can better
reveal their behavior and activity in their natural environment. Using home cage monitoring devices to track
the activity levels of mice, researchers can evaluate phenotypic expression of inserted or deleted genes as well
as the effectiveness of interventions, such as exercise and pharmaceutical treatments, on activity levels and all
while improving overall general health and husbandry. The DVC systems, as a shared resource, will be used to
provide GEM (genetically modified mice) models for multiple studies supported by funding from the NIH,
Alzheimer’s Association, Jerome LeJeune Foundation, New Vision Research, the Dr. Ralph and Marian Falk
Medical Research Trust, and the Templeton World Charity Foundation. Upgrading and modernizing animal
caging systems along with continued Institutional funding for facility improvements further the NKI animal care
and use program toward AAALAC accreditation.
