Tohoku university school of medicine

The institute for Animal experimentation is a facility for rearing laboratory animals with about 30 care takers. We are now maintaining about 30,000 laboratory animals including mice, rats, rabbits, dogs, pigs and monkeys. In our research laboratory, we are investigating laboratory medicine and educating graduate students in the field of laboratory animal science and medicine. We perform research using laboratory animals to try to find out human characteristics. We are studying the causes and pathology of hereditary diseases using spontaneous and transgenic animal models for human diseases such as rats with diabetes mellitus, mice with congenital cataracts, mice with Menkes disease and rats with Wilson's disease. In addition, we are now studying mouse model for Jumbled spine and ribs (Jsr) and rat model for human abnormal behavior. Recently we are also investigating improving and recycling bedding for laboratory animals by treating wit soft-hydrothermal processing apparatus.

1)Use of soft-hydrothermal processing to improve and recycle bedding for laboratory animals. Laboratory Animals, in press 2008 Usefulness of recycle bedding produced by soft-hydrothermal processing

2)Possible role of zinc and iron in the development of hepatic abnormality in Long-Evans Cinnamon rats (Review) J. Gastroenterol. Hepatol 22(2), 147-149 2007 Disclosed the role of role of zinc and iron in hepatitis of LEC rats

3)Phenotypic and genetic characterization of the Atp7aMo-Tohm mottled mouse: A new murine model of Menkes disease. Genomics 87, 191-199 2006 Establishing new animal model of Menkes disease

4)Restoration of copper metabolism and rescue of hepatic abnormalities in LEC rats, an animal model of Wilson disease, by expression of human ATP7B gene. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1690, 208-219 2004 The study of rescue of hepatitis in LEC rats by producing transgenic rats introduced human ATP7B gene

5)Bilateral congenital cataracts result from a gain-of-function mutation in the gene for aquaporin-0 in mice. Genomics 81, 361-368 2003 Establishing new animal model of congenital cataracts with mice

laboratory animals, soft-hydrothermal processing, ecycle bedding, LEC rats, mottled mouse, Menkes disease, copper metabolism, Wilson disease, cataract, aquaporin-0