ANIMAL MODELS SHARED RESOURCE The Animal Models (AM) SR has a long and productive history providing experimental assistance to Cancer Center members. The Genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs), Cell-line Derived Syngeneic or Xenografts (CDX) models and Patient Derived Xenografts (PDX) models are central to LCCC basic and translational research. This is an endeavor that the LCCC and UNC helped to create through the work of the late Oliver Smithies who won the Nobel Prize for his groundbreaking techniques to allow creation of gene modified mouse models. The AM SR has grown dramatically in scope and usage over the last 20 years and is now composed of services for the creation, investigation at multiple levels and imaging of animal models of cancer. These services include: innovative methods for transgenic/knockout allele production and design, generation of PDX models from primary human tumors, allele phenotyping and colony management, animal imaging and tumorigenicity studies in CDXs (both syngeneic immunocompetent and immunocompromised models), PDXs and GEMMs. The AM SR assists Cancer Center members in the planning and execution of carefully designed animal studies. The availability of this SR and its highly skilled personnel eliminates the need for Cancer Center investigators to hire similar individuals within their laboratories and ensures a high level of rigor and reproducibility for their experiments. The three arms of this SR facility; 1) GEMM production, 2) surgery on and experimental testing of syngeneic mouse, CDX and PDX mouse models, 3) translational cancer imaging, benefit from a team of three experienced Facility Directors and well-trained staff. Users of this SR benefit from significant cost reduction and decreased completion times for their studies. The AM SR requests $235,252 from the CCSG to fund this facility in fiscal year 2020; this represents approximately 6% of the total FY19 operating costs for the AM SR which was used by over 100 labs 74% of whom were LCCC members.
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