Rationale for Core C as a Shared Resource for the Program Proiect: The Mouse Core provides a centralized platform for the efficient management of mouse resources utilized by the Program. In essence, this proposal asks for funds for (a) salary for personnel managing the mouse resources of the Program (-40% of Core C budget), (b) materials, reagents, and small equipment maintenance for conducting genotyping of mouse strains (-10% of budget), and (c) for animal husbandry of breeding programs for the production of experimental animals (-50% of Budget). All five projects heavily rely on timely access to normal and genetically modified mice for conducting in vivo experiments testing the effect of specific genetic alterations, and as a source of platelets and immune cells for corresponding in vitro analyses. There is considerable overlap between Projects in the use of specific mouse strains, experimental procedures related to the generation and genotyping of experimental animals, routine husbandry activities, breeding protocols to generate strains combining several desired traits, as well as administration of animal protocols and compliance with rules established for the use of animals in biomedical research. Consolidating the numerous routine and repetitive activities that would otherwise be conducted individually by staff from each project will Significantly decrease the overall person-effort required for animal husbandry and administration; thereby freeing project-associated manpower for experimental work; Reduce overall animal use and husbandry cost by eliminating the maintenance of redundant breeding colonies for experimental animals shared between projects. Ensure timely and predictable access to experimental animals Reduces overall non-husbandry-related cost by eliminating redundancy of common reagents for genotyping procedures Reduce the incidence of non-compliance with animal use regulations through centralized tracking of animal numbers for each project, and by ensuring uniformity of and adherence to experimental animal protocols employed by the Program Project. Enable continued access to skilled personnel as a knowledge resource for all issues regarding animal use, as well as the generation of genetically modified animals. While the impact on the quality and efficiency of the studies is difficult to quantitate, this Core function has in the past been considered extremely important by the Project Leaders. In addition, the capabilities and activities of Core C are tightly integrated with the joint Transgenic Core Facility of the Medical College of Wisconsin and the BloodCenter of Wisconsin, which is also supervised by the Leader of Project 2 and Director of Core C, Hartmut Weiler.
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