Cryopreservation Services
Interested parties can contact assistant core director to discuss preliminary approach of intended creation of a mouse model. Primary requirement to generate a mouse model at BCH using mouse core services is the PI must have an approved IACUC and IBC protocol for the desired model. After approval is granted the mouse core will co-ordinate with PI or lab member to submit request form and provide required reagents before scheduling an experiment.
Requirements
- Approved IACUC and IBC protocol for the desired mouse model.
- Submit electronic request form (eForm) for services signed by PI and designated lab member.
- Mouse core will co-ordinate with PI or lab member to collect required reagents before scheduling an experiment.
- A fund number or purchase order number to reimburse fees for requested services.
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Current Services
Mouse strain is cryopreserved either by freezing embryos or sperm in high security sterile straws and stored in IMV Cryo-Bio storage system under liquid nitrogen.
Please note cryopreservation service is only available to mouse colonies housed at ARCH facilities.
Embryo cryopreservation
Investigators provide 6-10 fertility tested heterozygous or homozygous males that are used for mating with wild type egg donor females to harvest embryos. If egg donor females from same strain to be used for mating then investigator is responsible to provide egg donor females at 3-4 weeks of age. After desired number of embryos are harvested and frozen – to ascertain recovery is evaluated by thawing embryos and re-implantation into foster mother, pregnancy is allowed to term and is confirmed by live birth.
There are three options offered for embryo cryo-preservation at 8-cell stage in high security sterile straws. Each straw contain 20-30 embryos and stored in IMV Cryo-Bio System Goblets.
- 100-150 embryos – quick and economic option to archive a strain (Cryo-1)
- 150-300 embryos – long term storage of a strain with occasional recovery (Cryo-2)
- 300-450 embryos – large pool of embryos of a strain for storage and if periodic recovery or future distribution is expected (Cryo-3).
Sperm cryopreservation
Sperm cryopreservation is also offered to archive mouse strains. However, due to high variability of frozen/thawed sperm among males, recovery is not guaranteed. We require three fertility tested males that are used to harvest sperm and stored in high security sterile straws as described. Typically 5-8 straws/male is frozen. Recovery is tested by IVF using wild type egg donor females and by transferring fertilized embryos into foster mothers followed by live birth.