Overview
Specific Aims
Facilities
Contact
2003 progress report
(link to NIEHS site)

Overview
The development of methods that allow scientists to understand how specific genes, including human genes, function in experimental animal models provides an important avenue for investigation into how our genes interact with factors in the environment to cause disease. (e.g., gene-environment interactions). Likewise, the ability to eliminate ("knock out") the function of a normal gene in a living animal also provides a unique approach to studying gene function. These animals are referred to as "transgenic." But these sophisticated techniques require special animal facilities and the advice and guidance of experienced investigators. The CEEH is fortunate to be able to participate in a multi-investigator University of Washington (UW) facility that provides state-of-the-art assistance in producing, breeding, and maintaining transgenic animals. This facility is administered through the UW Department of Comparative Medicine and receives support from numerous sources, including the UW School of Medicine, the Markey Trust, the Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in Basic Biology of Aging, the Alzheimer’s Disease Resource Center, the Seattle Comparative Mouse Genomics Center, and the CEEH.

Specific Aims
The CEEH Transgenic Animal Facility Core supports development and use of transgenic animals to study toxicologically important genetic traits that may influence susceptibility to environmental hazards. Services and resources provided include:

• Generation of transgenic and gene-targeted mice by microinjection and embryonic stem (ES) cell targeted genetic change (mutagenesis).
• Frozen stocks of certain mouse ES cell lines
• Management of transgenic mouse breeding colonies.
• Maintenance of transgenic, disease-free mice, or re-generation of previously created strains from other laboratories, when necessary.
• Consultation such as designing the carrier for the gene, selection of appropriate mouse strains, etc.

Facilities

The microinjection laboratories are located in a "clean" (specific-pathogen–free or SPF) rodent facility in the basement of the UW Health Sciences complex. The facility is a single-corridor, entry-lock, shower-in barrier facility that contains 21 animal rooms for housing mice and some rats. Animals are housed in ventilated caging units. Four additional animal rooms are in an isolated biosafety level three (BSL3) containment area for doing work with biohazardous material. A suite of six laboratories provides space for performing transgenic technology procedures, and seven special procedure rooms throughout the facility are available for animal manipulative procedures, including survival surgery. Equipment is available for total body irradiation experiments. The current daily animal inventory is close to 30,000 transgenic and inbred mice and 800 rats. Ladiges is the faculty member responsible for the facility.

The transgenic laboratory occupies two of the six lab suites and is equipped with a full array of transgenic technology equipment. The laboratory has been in operation since 1995 and is currently generating 50 to 60 transgenic and gene targeted mouse lines per year. In addition, about 70 lines are maintained for investigators.

Contact
Warren Ladiges
(206) 685-3260, wladiges@u.washington.edu
UW Box 357190