How should I contact the Advanced Rodent Transgenics Laboratory (ART-Lab)?

You can contact us by emailing Dr. Ran Brosh at Ran.Brosh@NYULangone.org

What is the rederivation process for transgenic mice (live mice or frozen stock)?

Mouse rederivation is a laboratory technique used to eliminate pathogens from a mouse strain by re-establishing the strain in a sterile or pathogen-free environment. It is required when importing mice from most other facilities. The procedure involves isolation of early, pre-implantation stage embryos from the reproductive tract of 1-2 donor females and their transfer to the reproductive tract of a sterile recipient females which are made pseudo-pregnant in order to allow implantation, gestation, and birth. Once ART-Lab re-derives pups, DCM performs serology tests to ensure sterility before mice can be transferred into investigator’s mouse room.  Timeline is 4-5 weeks.

How many male mice are required for sperm cryopreservation?

For sperm cryopreservation we require a minimum of 1 male mouse. If possible, 2 males are preferred.

Age requirement at time of procedure: Optimal age: 2.5-6 months; Minimum age: 2 months; Maximum age: 1 year.

How many male and female mice are required for embryo cryopreservation?

Investigators are required to provide ART-Lab with 1-2 male stud mice. Proven breeders are preferred. Providing 2 males will ensure we have sufficient sperm to freeze down (see below).

Age requirement at time of procedure for males: Optimal age: 2.5-6 months; Minimum age: 2 months; Maximum age: 1 year. Optimal age is strain-dependent, with C57BL/6 showing more rapid decline in sperm quality after 6 months of age.

In addition, investigators are required to provide 6-8 females. Age requirement at time of procedure for females: Optimal age: 3-5 weeks; Minimum age: 3 weeks; Maximum age: 6 months. Optimal age is strain-dependent, with C57BL/6 showing more rapid decline in embryo production after 5 weeks of age.

For combined sperm and embryo cryopreservation please submit 2 males and 5 females and request both procedures on iLab.

How do I design and generate complex mouse models?

ART-Lab applies state-of-the-art genome engineering methods in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) for generating a wide variety of mouse models, including gene insertions, conditional alleles, large deletions and more. This process can be complex, involving many procedures that are carried out over a period of several months or more. Careful attention to detail in the design stage often makes the difference between a smooth, successful experience and a failure. Investigators are invited to contact Dr. Ran Brosh at Ran.Brosh@NYLangone.org for help with designing the best genome engineering strategy.

What kind of support can I get for genotyping my transgenic mice?

Please contact Dr. Ran Brosh at Ran.Brosh@NYULangone.org for help in planning genotyping assays or interpreting genotyping results. In addition, if you need tail tip DNA from wild type C57BL/6 mice (or other strains) to set up controls for your assays, please let us know.