title: A simple cage-autonomous method for the maintenance of the barrier status of germ-free mice during experimentation.
abstract: The use of germ-free (GF) isolators for microbiome-related research is exponentially increasing, yet limited by its cost, isolator size and potential for trans-contamination. As such, current isolator technology is highly limiting to researchers engaged in short period experiments involving multiple mouse strains and employing a variety of mono-inoculated microorganisms. In this study, we evaluate the use of positive pressure Isocages as a solution for short period studies (days to 2-3 weeks) of experimentation with GF mice at multiple simultaneous conditions. We demonstrate that this new Isocage technology is cost-effective and room-sparing, and enables maintenance of multiple simultaneous groups of GF mice. Using this technology, transferring GF mice from isolators to Isocage racks for experimentation, where they are kept under fully germ-free conditions, enables parallel inoculation with different bacterial strains and simultaneous experimentation with multiple research conditions. Altogether, the new GF Isocage technology enables the expansion of GF capabilities in a safe and cost-effective manner that can facilitate the growth, elaboration and flexibility of microbiome research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Resources, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hecht
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Resources, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bar-Nathan
authors.affiliation: Tecniplast SpA, Buguggiate (Varese), Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Milite
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Resources, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Alon
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Resources, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Moshe
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Resources, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Greenfeld
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Resources, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dotsenko
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Suez
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Thaiss
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Resources, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dafni
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Elinav
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Resources, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel alon.harmelin@weizmann.ac.il.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Harmelin
mesh_terms: D000822:Animal Husbandry / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005856:Germ-Free Life; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Isocage; germ-free mice