Animal Facility Room Protocol

Our mice are housed in John Morgan (JM3) - Room 363

1. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Requirements

Before entering Room 363, ensure you are wearing:

  • Sterile gloves

If you are opening cages, you will also need to wear:

  • Shoe covers
  • Isolation gown
  • Face mask
  • Scrub cap (optional)

Remove all PPE before leaving the animal facility room.

2. Biosafety Cabinet Protocol

Always use the biosafety cabinet when opening cages to handle mice.

Before Use:

Turn on the light and fan.

During Use:

The alarm will ring once in a while. Press the alarm button to turn it off.

After Use:

Wipe down the surface with disinfectant. Turn off the light and fan.

3. Transporting Mice to the Lab

Survival Surgery:

  • Use new, clean cages for transportation.
  • Cover the cage with an isolation gown during transport.
  • Flip the water bottle upside down to prevent flooding the cage during transport.
  • If transporting many cages at once, use a cart from the lab.

Terminal Surgery:

  • Use food pails for transportation.
  • Maximum 2-3 mice per food pail.

General Guidelines:

  • Discard cages in the wash station when no longer needed.
  • Deactivate cage cards once a cage is no longer in use.

4. Breeding and Weaning Mice

Identification and Numbering:

  • ID numbers > 1000 typically denote breeders.
  • ID numbers < 1000 usually denote pups.

Breeder Cages:

  • Denote breeder cages by boxing the cage ID (e.g. C001).
  • Breeders should be replaced every 6-8 months. Remaining pups are sacrificed as necessary.

Pregnancy and Weaning Procedures:

  • If a female becomes pregnant, move other mice out of the cage. Return the removed mice to the cage once the pups have been weaned.
  • Order cage cards to be activated on the weaning date. Cage card requests should be submitted through POLARIS at least 2 business days in advance.
  • Wean pups after 21 days and ear-tag them for identification. Remember to update the colony sheet: [Cheng Lab Colony Sheet] (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nWXFYK2RldgJ07-j5yEXCYFKmiCouoic/edit?gid=868474274#gid=868474274) *If you do not know which female is the mom, leave both females in the cage. The pups will die if the mom is removed. *Check on colony regularly in order to keep track of new pups.

Post-Weaning Procedures:

  • Label cage cards with breeder cage ID, mouse IDs, and gender.
  • Separate pups by gender.
  • Each cage can have a maximum of 5 mice.
  • Different litters with the same genotype can be housed together.
  • Ensure that the lab maintains no more than ~20 cages.

5. Experimental Use of Mice

  • Mice are used for experiments between the ages of 6-8 weeks.
  • Refer to the colony sheet (Cheng Lab Colony Sheet) to select mice of the appropriate age and/or genotype.
  • Mark these mice by writing the experiment name under the “Notes” column.
  • Make sure the colony sheet is up-to-date by inputting the IDs of new pups under their respective breeder cages
  • Once taken for experiments, record the mouse ID and cage card ID in the Mice Log Sheet