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Rat Respiratory Virus (RRV) Status to be Included on all Health Reports for North American and European Rat Production Colonies

On May 14, 2010, Charles River will begin reporting rat respiratory virus (RRV) on all North American and European rat production area health reports. Based on comprehensive screening, all rat strains produced worldwide by Charles River are free from RRV.

What is Rat Respiratory Virus?
The novel respiratory pathogen RRV is common in laboratory rats in North America, Europe and Asia, and is one of the most frequently reported rat infectious agents found in animals bred at customer sites. For further information, please view our Rat Respiratory Virus Technical Sheet or contact us at askcharlesriver@crl.com to obtain a copy of the article titled, “Histopathology of Naturally Transmitted ’Rat Respiratory Virus’: Progression of Lesions and Proposed Diagnostic Criteria” (Veterinary Pathology, 46:5, 2009).

Charles River Production Area Testing
Currently, there is no serologic or molecular method to diagnose this agent, and screening for RRV infection is only possible by pulmonary histopathology for the characteristic lesions. All Charles River rat colonies are screened quarterly for RRV via histopathology; up-to-date health reports can be accessed on our Health Reports page. Detection of RRV within any Charles River rat production area would be reported on our website and that production area would be recycled as soon as it could be practically scheduled (i.e., a planned recycle of the affected area).

RRV Screening for Research Animal Colonies
To screen rats from your facility, lung samples should be collected from sentinel or resident animals. Formalin-fixed lungs or whole animals can be submitted to Charles River Research Animal Diagnostic Services for RRV histopathology; RRV will continue to be included in all comprehensive rat health monitoring (HM) protocols. Please click here for sample submission information.

Upcoming Educational Webinar
We invite you to join us for a complimentary webinar focused on RRV that will be held on June 3, 2010, at 11am EDT. This webinar will touch on the history of RRV, potential effects on research and the use of histopathology in RRV surveillance. If you would like to attend, please click here to register.

Charles River is committed to exceeding your expectations for high-quality research animals of the strictest health standards. If you would like to discuss this announcement further or discuss RRV in general with a member of our scientific or technical staff, please contact us at askcharlesriver@crl.com.

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Accelerate and Standardize the Creation of Genetically Engineered Models with the BlastoKit®

A key step of chimera creation is the production of injectable blastocysts. To help streamline the blastocyst development process, Charles River has developed the BlastoKit®.

In order to harvest sufficient viable injectable blastocysts, each lab is required to set up its own colony of breeder males and to purchase females of breeding age. Doing so requires dedicated resources, including competence and space, equipment and time commitments. Experienced researchers also recognize that there can be variations in blastocyst quantity and quality that are difficult to control.

The Charles River BlastoKit® provides frozen morulae that are supported with technical recommendations. After embryo thawing and overnight culture, the BlastoKit® permits researchers to produce injectable blastocysts while using less space and other resources, including animals, while still maintaining the benefits of standardization. Because of centralized embryo production, the number of embryos produced per breeding male is higher. These two points contribute to a reduction in animal use.

In addition, the BlastoKit® helps control the quality of embryo production. The need to euthanize females for no embryo production and to thaw valuable ES cell clones without definitively having a blastocyst to inject is almost eliminated. Germ line transmission using BlastoKit®-derived embryos has been validated by a range of users in private and academic laboratories for both C57BL/6NCrl and BALB/cAnNCrl embryos.

Blastocyst development rates (at least 70% for C57BL/6NCrl and at least 50% for BALB/cAnNCrl embryos) and birth rates (up to 40% for C57BL/6NCrl embryos) obtained during beta testing are higher than in traditional methods.

To learn more about the Blastokit®, please click here or contact us at askcharlesriver@crl.com.

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JAX® Mice Strain NSG Now Available through Charles River in Europe

The Jackson Laboratory and Charles River have expanded their current agreement to include marketing, sales and production through Charles River in Europe for JAX® Mice strain NOD.Cg-PrkdcscidII2rgtm1Wjl/SzJ (stock number 005557), commonly known as the NOD scid gamma (NSG) mouse.

The NSG mouse (NOD.Cg-PrkdcscidII2rgtm1Wjl/SzJ) is severely immunocompromised, lacks mature T, B and NK cells and is deficient in multiple cytokine signaling pathways. The complete IL2 receptor gamma chain knockout enables superior engraftment of human tissues and cells, which makes it an ideal model in many fields of research, including:

  • Human haematopoiesis and humanised mice
  • Infectious diseases
  • Regenerative medicine
  • Solid tumours and hematopoietic cancers
  • Cancer stem cells
  • Primary tumour engraftment

The breeding colony will be located at Charles River's facility in the United Kingdom and will be produced to Jackson Laboratory standards to serve the needs of the biomedical research community across Europe.

For more information, click here.

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Ten New PI3-K Strains from the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Ltd. and University of Edinburgh Now Available through Charles River

Charles River is pleased to announce the availability of ten new research models. Nine of the strains were created jointly by the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Ltd. (LICR), developers of the popular Immortomouse® strain offered through Charles River, and the University of Edinburgh, while the additional strain was created exclusively by LICR. These new PI3-K strains will help expand our portfolio of licensed genetically engineered models.

Listed below are general details about the new PI3-K strains. The S1039A strain was developed exclusively by the LICR, while the others were developed jointly by LICR and the University of Edinburgh.

p110alpha D933A constitutive
Full strain name: p110alpha PI 3-kinase kinase dead (PIK3CA-D933A constitutive)
Therapeutic areas: Angiogenesis, metabolism, cancer
Publication: Foukas, L.C., et al. Critical role for the p110alpha phosphoinositide-3-OH kinase in growth and metabolic regulation. Nature.  441(7091), 366-70 (2006).
Abstract: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v441/n7091/full/nature04694.html

alpha flox
Full strain name: p110 alpha flox
Therapeutic areas: Angiogenesis, metabolism, cancer
Publication: Graupera, M., et al. Angiogenesis selectively requires the p110alpha isoform of PI3K to control endothelial cell migration. Nature.  453(7195), 662-6 (2008).
Abstract: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v453/n7195/full/nature06892.html

p110alpha WT + neo/LacZ reporter cassette
Full strain name: p110alpha PI 3-kinase active + neo/LacZ reporter cassette (PIK3CA WT + neo/LacZ reporter cassette)
Therapeutic areas: Angiogenesis, metabolism, cancer, neuronal study
Publication: Supplementary text from Foukas, L.C., et al. Critical role for the p110alpha phosphoinositide-3-OH kinase in growth and metabolic regulation. Nature.  441(7091), 366-70 (2006). See FigS1.pdf.
Abstract: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v441/n7091/full/nature04694.html

beta flox
Full strain name: p110 beta flox
Therapeutic areas: Angiogenesis, metabolism, cancer
Publication: Guillermet-Guibert, J., et al. The p110beta isoform of phosphoinositide 3-kinase signals downstream of G protein-coupled receptors and is functionally redundant with p110gamma. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 105(24), 8292-7 (2008).
Abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18544649

p110beta KI + cassette
Full strain name: p110beta PI 3-kinase dead + neoLacZ reporter cassette PIK3CB/p110beta KI +neo/LacZ reporter cassette
Therapeutic areas: Fertility, cancer
Publication: No publication currently available.

p110beta D931A constitutive
Full strain name: p110beta PI 3-kinase dead PIK3CB D931A constitutive
Therapeutic areas: Fertility, cancer
Publication: No publication currently available.

p110beta DEL
Full strain name: p110beta-DEL-21/22
Therapeutic areas: Fertility
Publication: No publication currently available.

p110delta WT + neo/LacZ reporter cassette
Full strain name: p110delta PI 3-kinase active + neo/LacZ reporter cassette PIK3CD  WT + neo/LacZ reporter cassette
Therapeutic areas: Angiogenesis, immunology, cancer, neuronal study
Publication: Eickholt, B.J., et al. Control of axonal growth and regeneration of sensory neurons by the p110delta PI 3-kinase. PLOS. 2(9), 1-9 (2007).
Abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17846664

p110delta D910A constitutive
Full strain name: PI 3-kinase delta kinase-dead (PIKC3D kinase-dead)
Therapeutic areas: Certain areas of immunity, including autoimmunity, B- and T-cell  function, allergy
Publication: Okkenhaug, K., et al. Impaired B and T Cell Antigen Receptor Signaling in p110delta PI 3-Kinase Mutant Mice. Science. 297(5583), 1031-4 (2002).
Abstract: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/297/5583/1031

S1039A constitutive
Full strain name: p110delta S1039A
Therapeutic areas: Immunology
Publication: No publication currently available.

To receive more information about these strains or any of our genetically engineered models, or to place an animal order, please contact us at askcharlesriver@crl.com.

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Charles River Webinar: The Right Model for Your Oncology Research

Selecting the appropriate immunodeficient model is crucial to your oncology research and is often determined by your specific study design. Being aware of the various oncology models available both at Charles River and within the industry as a whole, as well as understanding the immunodeficient traits that each model possesses, can improve the effectiveness of your program.

Charles River recently hosted a webinar titled “The Right Model for Your Oncology Research: A review of the spontaneous immunodeficient rodent models used in oncology research.” This webinar focused on the spontaneous immunodeficient rodent models currently being utilized in oncology research, with a review of the basic animal immune system and methods employed in producing these models.

If you are interested in viewing a replay of this webinar, please contact us at askcharlesriver@crl.com.

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Charles River Ann Arbor Facility Receives AAALAC Accreditation

Charles River Discovery and Imaging Services is pleased to announce that our Ann Arbor, MI, facility (MIR Preclinical Services) received full accreditation from the Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC Intl.) on October 8, 2009.

The AAALAC accreditation confirms our ability to provide superior service to our clients in a regulatory-compliant environment. The accreditation also reinforces our ongoing commitment to the humane care of the research animals produced and used in all of our activities, which extends beyond mere compliance with applicable local laws and regulations.

This accreditation is an important milestone for our Ann Arbor facility, which joined Charles River in September 2008. Our Discovery and Imaging Services group, which includes both MIR Preclinical Services and our AAALAC Intl.-accredited Piedmont Research Center facility in North Carolina, provides discovery services to the global research and pharmaceutical community that meet the highest animal care standards.

AAALAC International is a private, nonprofit organization that promotes the humane treatment of animals in science through voluntary accreditation and assessment programs. More than 770 companies, universities, hospitals, government agencies and other research institutions in 31 countries have earned AAALAC accreditation, demonstrating their commitment to responsible animal care and use.

For more information about how our Discovery and Imaging Services portfolio can help move your research forward, contact us at askcharlesriver@crl.com.

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Transgenic Mouse Model Validated for Carcinogenicity Studies

Charles River is pleased to offer the rasH2 transgenic mouse model as a recently validated alternative to traditional two-year carcinogenic bioassays. Transgenic mouse oncogenicity models such as the Tg.Ac, p53 and rasH2 models offer a range of benefits, including shorter study durations, lower study costs and quicker report times. The rasH2 model is more widely applicable than the Tg.AC and p53 models and is becoming the preferred transgenic mouse alternative for most major regulatory bodies.

With the rasH2 assay, sponsors can save valuable time and resources by dramatically shortening the duration of their carcinogen studies from the usual two years to a mere six months. Despite the cost of the transgenic mice, the overall study cost of a six-month rasH2 study is considerably less than that of a traditional two-year mouse carcinogenicity study.

In addition, sponsors can take advantage of the much quicker report turnaround time with the rasH2. Reporting for a two-year study takes a minimum of six months and often takes longer. With the rasH2 model, report turnaround time is 20 weeks or less.

The rasH2 model is appropriate for the testing of both genotoxic and non-genotoxic compounds, and is accepted as an alternative to two-year mouse carcinogenicity studies by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare and the EMEA for regulatory submission.

With all these benefits, the rasH2 transgenic mouse model could be an ideal choice for your carcinogen studies. Please contact us at askcharlesriver@crl.com for more information.

 

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