The German Mouse Clinic

The NGFN has established the German Mouse Clinic in January 2002 at the GSF research center in Munich/Neuherberg. This facility is unique throughout the world.

The mice entering the German Mouse Clinic have very specific modifications in individual genes and it is the challenge of specialists from various fields of mouse phenotyping to find out if the genetic alterations lead to heritable disease (e.g obesity and deafness). Therefore mouse mutants undergo in a general screen which does not adversely affect the animals.

166 parameters are examined in a standardised workflow which takes about 20 weeks. For example, using Computer tomograph analysis it is possible to reveal abnormalities of the mouse skeleton. The equipment used for these analyses originally was developed for human medicine and was adapted for use on the unusually small mouse-patients.

Mice which reveal peculiarities in the first screen, e.g. abnormal beating of the heart, raised cholesterol, deformed bones, are subjected to more detailed analyses. Characterizing these mouse models is aimed to understand the molecular mechanisms of disorders and draw conclusions regarding the corresponding human diseases.

Special care has to be taken in order to avoid cross infections and the development of diseases, because the spreading of pathogens could ruin the research of several years. Therefore the mice are housed in a specific pathogen-free area. All heat-resistent material has to be autoclaved, while other materials are treated with desinfectants. Before entering the mouse clinic the scientists have to change their clothes and shoes and must pass a desinfection chamber which serves as a sluice.

More than 180 mouse mutants with hereditary diseases have been examined in the German Mouse Clinic and analyses of further genetically altered mice continues. The project is headed by Prof. Martin Hrabe de Angelis.