Use of DVC® systems to acquire and remotely view data for improved monitoring of animal models and their environment.

ABSTRACT This application requests funds to acquire specialized laboratory mouse housing systems- Digital Ventilated Caging (DVC) designed to initiate a new generation of husbandry, breeding colony and animal welfare management, and research data acquisition. The requested equipment will improve NKI’s animal housing by

establishing an ability for 24-hour remote monitoring of the cage microenvironment, promoting health, less disturbance of cage inhabitants, and normal baseline behavior and physiology, conditions necessary to produce more accurate animal models in brain-and-behavior studies. Such models, which, at NKI, aim at

understanding the molecular basis of normal and diseased states, also have improved translational usefulness, including the development of early diagnostic and treatment abilities. Long-term monitoring of the behavior and activity of mice in their natural environment using non-intrusive methods in their home cages can better

reveal their behavior and activity in their natural environment. Using home cage monitoring devices to track the activity levels of mice, researchers can evaluate phenotypic expression of inserted or deleted genes as well as the effectiveness of interventions, such as exercise and pharmaceutical treatments, on activity levels and all

while improving overall general health and husbandry. The DVC systems, as a shared resource, will be used to provide GEM (genetically modified mice) models for multiple studies supported by funding from the NIH, Alzheimer’s Association, Jerome LeJeune Foundation, New Vision Research, the Dr. Ralph and Marian Falk

Medical Research Trust, and the Templeton World Charity Foundation. Upgrading and modernizing animal caging systems along with continued Institutional funding for facility improvements further the NKI animal care and use program toward AAALAC accreditation.