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Animal Tumor Models and Histopathology Shared Resource
http://med.stanford.edu/compmed/animal_care/
Facility Director: Donna Bouley, DVM, PhD
Contact
Donna Bouley, DVM, PhD, associate professor of comparative medicine and of pathology
Director, Animal Tumor Model and Histology Shared Resource
Research Animal Facility (RAF)
Stanford, CA 94305-5410
Tel: 650-723-3876; 650-498-5403
Fax: 650-725-0940
Email: dbouley@stanford.edu
Overview
This shared resource operates within the setting of an existing institutional resource, the Veterinary Service Center (VSC), which was established in 1994 at the School of Medicine. All of the faculty supporting this shared resource are experts in basic research and experienced in animal modeling, experimental design, veterinary pathology, mouse reproductive technologies and rodent health surveillance; these scientists significantly enhance the quality of research for Cancer Center members and programs. The interdisciplinary nature of cancer biology and biomedical research requires greater expertise to conduct quality in vivo research. The Animal Tumor Models and Histopathology Shared Resource provides this expertise in the form of consultation in animal modeling, comprehensive analysis of lesions in animal models, diagnostic clinical pathology and the availability of high-quality mice to eliminate confounding experimental variables. The overall goal is to capitalize on the collective expertise of Cancer Center member scientists and that of the veterinary faculty in the Department of Comparative Medicine (DCM) and Veterinary Service Center (VSC) staff to enhance in vivo tumor biology studies for reproducible and validated experiments.
Services
The shared resource provides three overall categories of services: Experimental Pathology and Histology, Clinical Diagnostics and Embryo Cryopreservation and Rederivation.
Experimental pathology and histology
Pathology service
The experimental pathology service provides consultations in the following areas: study design, optimum methods for thorough analysis and interpretation of histopathological results, perspectives on species-specific differences and the comparative value of animal models. Pathologists also can assist with interpretation of histochemical and immunohistochemical stains and electron micrographs and provide expertise in correlating pathologic changes with clinical signs and clinical diagnostic results. Pathologists can provide collaboration on projects requiring unbiased stereology of tumor burden/size using Microbrightfield software, Neurolucida and Stereoinvestigator.
Histology service
The histology laboratory (Edwards R330) provides research-quality histology, and uses routine paraffin processing, embedding, sectioning and staining with standard histological methods, including special orientation of tissues, serial and/or step sections and a range of immunocytochemical analyses. The histology laboratory also routinely deals with frozen tissues (both fresh-frozen and fixed-frozen) and sections and stains them for a broad range of biochemical and immunohistochemical stains. In addition, procedures are available to quantify cellular apoptosis, angiogenesis and cell proliferation.
Clinical diagnostics
The diagnostic laboratory offers a wide spectrum of clinical laboratory services, including hematology, cytology, serum chemistry, electrolyte analysis, coagulation profiles, fluid analysis, serology/immunology, parasitology and microbiology. The laboratory specializes in the diagnostic and research needs of laboratory animals. It also has a network of reference laboratories to provide tests that are not performed in-house. The diagnostic laboratory's database uses Sunquest software that reports (usually with species-specific reference ranges) by FAX directly to the investigator's site.
Embryo cryopreservation and rederivation
The shared resource offers embryo cryopreservation and rederivation services using well-established and proven methods. We use all recipient mice as sentinels for the reanimated or rederived pups, and test them to confirm that the weaned pups are also of pristine health status before they are released into the general population.
Operation
The Experimental Pathology Service, Clinical Diagnostic Services and Embryo Cryopreservation and Rederivation are located in the Research Animal Facility (RAF) of the VSC. Diagnostic Laboratory services are available Monday through Friday in room AF065. The Necropsy Laboratory is located in room AF064. embryo cryopreservation and rederivation services are located in R322, Edwards building, and in AF038. Histology services are available in the Edwards Building in rooms R330 and R310.
Procedure
Prospective users, including Cancer Center members, initiate services by submitting a completed requisition form, which is available online through the Department of Comparative Medicine web site (http://med.stanford.edu/compmed) or on-site. These service requests are processed in the order they are received, or scheduled at the convenience of the faculty and staff as needed.
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