Download VETERINARY SERVICES NEWS ARE YOU REALLY READY

VETERINARY
SERVICES NEWS
WINTER 2013 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1
Office of the Vice-President
(Research and International)
ARE YOU REALLY READY
TO BEGIN YOUR PROJECT?
There are many hurdles to get across to get to the point of performing actual animal work.
But the preparation doesn’t end when your protocol approval letter arrives. There’s much
to think about and look into prior to placing your animal order. This is especially true if this
is a new project for you, if you are new to the facility you are working in or you are simply
picking up where you left off a little while ago with an ongoing project.
Here are just a few examples of important
aspects you need to ensure are in place or
have been considered before you order
animals in some cases:
- Make a list of all the supplies you need
and be sure you can obtain them as
quickly as you think you can. Sometimes
drugs are on back order, sometimes they
need to be special ordered and this takes
some time. Do you know for sure where
to get them if this is the first time you’re
obtaining a drug or chemical, etc. Do you
have all proper permits and approvals
in place to obtain what you need?
(Example – Health Canada exemptions
to obtain controlled drugs like ketamine
and pentobarbital, biosafety permits to
bring in/use biological materials, radiation
safety permits, etc.)
- If surgical/technical procedures in the
animal facility are part of your project,
have you used the facilities before?
Has someone from the facility oriented
you to where everything is, how all the
machines you need work (anesthetic
machines for instance). Do you have a
sufficient supply of oxygen? Think about
everything you need to do from start to
finish and ensure you know where all
RESEARCH ETHICS & COMPLIANCE
ANIMAL CARE AND
VETERINARY SERVICES
Fort Garry Campus
208 - 194 Dafoe Road
Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2
Phone (204) 474-6402
Fax (204) 269 7173
the supplies you might need are. Do you
know where to find cages to put animals
in for post-surgical recovery? Do you need
monitoring records (these can be supplied
by some of the facilities if applicable)?
If there’s anything not covered in your
initial facility orientation, be sure to ask! If
you never received a facility orientation,
contact the animal care staff to arrange
for one.
Visit our website click here
- Does your project include the use of
analgesic medications? Have you read the
approved protocol/SOP’s well to ensure
you know the answer to this for sure?
Is everyone involved familiar with the
protocol/SOP’s?
Leo Kenny is our new Clinical
Veterinarian. Leo comes to us with a
number of years of experience in mixed
animal practice, and has a background
with a multitude of species.
- Are all your instruments and equipment
required for the project in good working
order? If you haven’t used them lately,
check. What was working well a few
months ago might not be now and
finding that out with an anesthetized
animal on the table is not what you want
to have happen. You might think all the
instruments you need for your surgery are
in that pack you prepared 2 months ago,
but did someone “borrow” any equipment
in the mean time? Is it still sterile or does it
need to be autoclaved again prior to use?
UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA, VETERINARY SERVICES
We are extremely pleased to introduce
the addition of two new individuals to
Veterinary Services!!
Shelley Germscheid has joined us
as a third Animal Health Technician
Practitioner (AHTP). Shelley has over
18 years of experience working as a
Technical Officer of Surgical Services for
the National Research Council-Institute
for Biodiagnostics.
umanitoba.ca/http://umanitoba.ca/research/orec
Meet the Researcher: Mouse Models
Provide Insight into Human Genetic Disorders.
Dr. Barbara Triggs-Raine is a Professor
in the Department of Biochemistry and
Medical Genetics with a lab on the 3rd floor
of the Basic Medical Sciences Building.
For more than 20 years, she and her
laboratory staff conducted studies aimed
at characterizing, diagnosing, and treating
human genetic disorders. Her group is
especially interested in genetic disorders of
unique populations, and particularly those
that result from the lysosomal storage of
large macromolecules. To advance their
understanding of these disorders, they
have used mouse models. The new Small
Animal and Materials Imaging Facility will
allow her laboratory to move into new
areas of analysis in these mouse models.
Hyaluronan is a molecule of great interest
to the Triggs-Raine laboratory. This large
polysaccharide is broadly distributed in
the human body and frequently used in
medical or cosmetic applications. TriggsRaine and her laboratory found that a
deficiency of the main lysosomal enzyme
that degrades hyaluronan, HYAL1, results
in a mild lysosomal storage disorder called
Mucopolysaccharidosis IX. By creating a
mouse model of this deficiency, they have
been able to confirm that the pathology
of the deficiency is limited to the joints
and to show that other exoglycosidases
can compensate for HYAL1 deficiency.
In contrast, by creating a mouse model
deficient in an extracellular hyaluronidase,
HYAL2, they identified a phenotype
that is more similar to severe lysosomal
storage disorders in humans, indicating
an important role for this enzyme in
hyaluronan degradation. Using the new
Caliper optical imager, they plan to look at
the uptake and turnover of fluorescently
labeled hyaluronan in both HYAL1 and
HYAL2 deficient mice. This will provide
a much better understanding of the
mechanisms at play in hyaluronan turnover
and how these processes might be
modulated to reduce hyaluronan turnover
to promote joint health or enhance it in
cases of hyaluronan accumulation.
The Triggs-Raine laboratory has also
worked closely with Dr. Hao Ding’s
laboratory to develop and analyze a mouse
model of Bowen-Conradi syndrome (BCS).
BCS is a lethal autosomal recessive disorder
that is unique to the Hutterite population.
After identifying the causative gene as
EMG1 (a ribosomal biogenesis proteinencoding gene) in a large collaborative
effort, Triggs-Raine set out to understand
how EMG1 causes BCS using mouse
models. They have attempted to create a
mouse model of BCS using both knockout
and knockin strategies, and most recently,
the knockin strategy has shown promise.
In preparation to characterize embryonic
BCS mice, mouse embryos were fixed and
stained with osmium tetroxide. When
imaged with the microCT that is now
available in the Small Animal and Materials
Imaging Core Facility, very detailed internal
structures could be seen even in an E13.5
day mouse embryo, indicating that the
microCT will allow a thorough analysis
of the whole embryo that may direct
sectioning and histological studies to
characterize the developmental problems
in BCS embryos.
Needle Reuse
The image on the right is a reminder to all those who are tempted to reuse needles,
that this is never a good idea. As demonstrated in the picture below, needles dull
quickly and also develop burrs. Because of this, repeated use will cause more tissue
trauma at the injection site. Using the same needle on multiple animals can transfer
infectious agents between animals which can lead to poor research results. We have
seen a contaminated needle transfer infections leading to injection site abscesses in
animals it was subsequently used on. Please take this into consideration when the
temptation arises. Your animals will appreciate it. Use of a needle on more than one
animal is strongly discouraged unless there is significant justification.
Calas Symposium 2013
The local Manitoba Chapter for the Canadian Association for Laboratory Animal Science (CALAS) is proud to be hosting the Symposium here in
Winnipeg, May 4-7, 2013. The local organizing committee has put together an excellent program with a diverse set of workshops and an exciting
Scientific Program. The Social Program is guaranteed to entertain our visitors with various events on the agenda. We look forward to show casing
our city and the fantastic research that is done here. For further details please refer to CALAS website: http://calas-acsal.org/
UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA, VETERINARY SERVICES
Winter 2013