The overall objectives of the Mouse Phenotyping Core will be to provide DERC investigators with consultation, accurate and easily accessible mouse phenotyping, and the availability of both standard and certain unique mouse models of diabetes and its complications. Services provided by the Mouse Phenotyping Core to DERC investigators concentrate heavily on mouse metabolic, cardiovascular and pathologic phenotyping. These services particularly focus on interests of DERC members: 1) metabolic phenotyping relevant to the genesis of insulin resistance and the progression to type 2 diabetes; 2) cardiovascular physiological phenotyping relevant to models of atherosclerosis, diabetic cardiomyopathy and hypertension; 3) renal phenotyping relevant to hypertension and diabetic nephropathy. The existing strengths at UCSD in metabolic phenotyping and at UCLA in renal-cardiovascular phenotyping will be standardized and merged into one central, partially mobile Core. Seamless integration of phenotyping among DERC investigators at UCLA and UCSD will be facilitated by the Mobile Mouse Physiology Unit. This exciting and innovative concept permits delivery of many phenotyping services directly to the laboratory of DERC investigators, as well as provides needed transport of animals, cryopreserved embryos, equipment and other precious materials. Increased quality of data and substantial savings in costs to individual DERC investigators and the Core are anticipated through implementation of this unique concept. Dr. Gerald Levey, Provost UCLA, has committed to purchasing and equipping this Unit. Currently, the most heavily used services of the DERC include: oral glucose tolerance testing, plasma glucose determinations, renal function tests, non-invasive blood pressure measurements, osmotic minipump placement, cardiac fibrosis quantification, echocardiography, cardiac catheterization, and quantification of atherosclerosis. DERC funding will allow expansion of services and development of a new assay development component of this Core.
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