News

INFRAFRONTIER H2020- Precision mammalian model development / rat models service call

INFRAFRONTIER Research Infrastructure / INFRAFRONTIER2020 Project - Trans-national Access call - January 2019

Precision rat model development

This Trans-national Access call of the INFRAFRONTIER2020 project supports a total of 3 precision rat model development projects. A complementary call provides support for 12 customised mouse model development projects.

• Free-of-charge rat model development service implemented as a Trans-national Access activity supporting a total of 3 projects in this call.
• The access unit offered covers the production of a single F1 genome-edited rat line (at least one individual of a F1 genome edited rat line will be provided).
• The model development service using genome editing involves project design, preparation of sgRNAs and Cas9 mRNA/protein, and injection into zygotes to generate F0 founder mutant animals (Sprague Dawley genetic background).Selected F0 animals (very often mosaic) will be bred to germ line to produce F1 genome edited animals. Possible allele types that can be generated are indels, exon deletions (< 10kb) and point mutation insertions.

in collaboration with PHENOMIN-ICS

Proposal submission to proposals@infrafrontier.eu by 15 February 2019. (Proposal evaluation from 15 February 2019 to 15 March 2019)

More information and call application on the website

Jan. 28, 2019

https://www.infrafrontier.eu/resources-and-services/infrafrontier-open-calls/precision-mammalian-model-development-rat-models-0

French Foundation for Rare Diseases (Fondation maladies rares) - Development of new experimental models of rare diseases-Call 2019

French Foundation for Rare Diseases (Fondation maladies rares) - 2019 Call

Development of new experimental models of rare diseases (animal models), and in vitro models throught Human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines

Genome editing and advances in associated methodologies represent a technological revolution that extend opportunities in rare diseases research and new avenues towards addressing pathophysiological and therapeutic approaches. This call aims to give a significant boost to the development of new experimental models of rare diseases, in order to:

• improve the understanding of molecular and cellular mechanisms leading to pathological conditions related to a rare disease,
• provide evidence for therapeutic proofs of principle that may eventually lead to treatment.

In collaboration with PHENOMIN-ICS

Proposal submission on line - dead line: April 4th 2019

More information and call application on the website

Download

March 4, 2019

https://fondation-maladiesrares.org/la-recherche/aide-au-financement/nos-appels-a-projet/

Associated file

INFRAFRONTIER2020 mouse axenic service call

In a Trans-national Access Call, Infrafrontier offers a service to derive germ-free mice for European researchers who study the role of the microbiome in metabolism, physiology, and immune function.

The `axenic´ service is free of charge. Access to the axenic service will be granted on the basis of scientific excellence and supports pilot projects for the derivation of-germ-free mice. Further breeding and characterisation of axenic mice or the development of gnotobiotic models can be offered on a fee-for-service or on a collaborative basis.

in collaboration with PHENOMIN-TAAM.

Deadline for submission of proposals: 31 January 2019

All details on website. 

Jan. 7, 2019

https://www.infrafrontier.eu/resources-and-services/axenic-service/derivation-germ-free-mice-axenic-service

Functional genomics school: Registration open !

The registration to the 3rd edition of the European Advanced school in Mouse Phenogenomics now open 

Would you like to learn more about mouse functional genomics to improve your research?

• Discuss your work in progress and receive advice on experimental design issues
• Benefit from state-of-the-art expertise and innovative methods
• Gain crucial skills required to choose, create and analyse the suitable mouse model for your research
• Learn how to use the available resources from the international projects
• Gain personnal connections with experts and peers throughout Euro

PHENOMIN's school provides the unique opportunity for you to discuss their research in detail with experts as well as peers.

• Connection between doctoral education and international research projects
• Theory and workshops
• Networking and socialising

Do you expected concrete changes in the management of your experimental projects, in your animal facility, in the analysis and interpretation of the model data you use ?

This event is for you.

Have a look to the schedule program of the PHENOMIN school conisting of workshops on case study in order to support you in your model choice, phenotyping, taking into account the animal welfare. The program also addresses the item of continuing professional education consistent with the new European directive requirement for lab animal protection in experiments.

We will be delighted to welcome you !

Oct. 25, 2018

https://advanced-school.phenomin.eu/

Last days to register: Openness & transparency in Animal Research

Invitation to a round table !

CELPHEDIA, French infrastructure, invites to a round table about transparency and openness in animal research. It's an opportunity to share the speakers’ experience in the launching of the transparency agreement in Spain, United Kingdom and France.

Registration mandatory: HERE

Oct. 11, 2018

http://www.celphedia.eu/fr/seminar

Register to our webinar on CRISPR-Cas9

Guillaume Pavlovic, PHENOMIN-ICS, will present a Webinar in collaboration with our partner Charles River 

The topic: While the power CRISPR/Cas9* has to achieve targeted mutations in nearly any species is clear, what conclusions can we truly draw about its use in genome editing? Attend our webinar, where we’ll answer this question and more with topics including:

• Is genome editing safe and efficient for human therapy?
• Will CRISPR help us rid the world of mosquitos, or find the cure for AIDS?
• How to best expand research applications using dead Cas9 protein?

*CRISPR/Cas9 used under license to granted and pending US and international patents from ERS Genomics Limited.

Have a scheduling conflict? Sign up even if you can't make it; we'll share the recording after.

Registration 

Oct. 1, 2018

https://www.criver.com/education-training/wbr-rm-crisprcas9-genome-editing-model-creation-gene-therapy-and-beyond

Common rules of organization and operating rules of ethics committees for animal experimentation

A first guide on the common rules for organizing and operating committees was published in French in March 2018. It is now published in English.

Following the transposition into French law of the Directive 2010/63 / EU, ethics committees became competent authorities in charge of the ethical evaluation of projects. As such, the Director General of Research and Innovation of the Ministry of Research asked the French association GIRCOR  to draft reference documents on ethics committees. It commits to harmonising the functioning of the committees to ensure uniform treatment of the projects evaluated and to affirm their position as a forum for dialogue and reflection.

The English version of this guide will facilitate exchanges and harmonisation with the other countries of the European Union. 

Aug. 27, 2018

https://www.recherche-animale.org/lorganisation-et-le-fonctionnement-des-comites-dethique

Advancing Rare Disease Research and Gene Therapy Applications with Animal Models

To their second joint Stakeholder Meeting on December 3 and 4 2018, Infrafrontier and IMPC invite medical research experts from all over the world to discuss the advances in RareDiseases and GeneTherapy using animal models.

More than 50 mouse Rare Disease models have been generated by PHENOMIN as clinicians can use our data catalogue and IMPC data to find relevant mouse models to human disease by orthologous gene and by shared phenotypic features.

The Stakeholder Meeting provides an excellent opportunity to support a better alignment of INFRAFRONTIER / IMPC platforms with current Rare Disease research and personalised medicine initiatives, and supports interactions with human genetics centers and clinical consortia. New partnerships can support the rapid impact of mouse functional genomics analyses on the understanding of human genetic variation and disease, and the translation into diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.

Join us !

Aug. 16, 2018

https://www.infrafrontier.eu/infrafrontier-research-infrastructure/public-relations/infrafrontier-impc-stakeholder-meeting-2018

Epigenetic consequences of Ehmt1 haploinsufficiency

PHENOMIN has again successfully supported the biomedical research on rare disease.

Data and more information

March 29, 2018

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29554304

La science un métier de femmes !

Dans le cadre de l’activité de l’association Femmes et Sciences, en partenariat avec les associations femmes et mathématiques et Femmes Ingénieur, l’Institut Clinique de la souris, a participé aux rencontres Femmes et Sciences, coordonnées par le jardin des Sciences de l’Université de Strasbourg; C. Toubari, assistante ingénieur en animalerie en technique d'élevage et de production animale, a exposé son parcours et son métier actuel auprès de classes du collège Jules Hoffman à Strasbourg, le 13 et 14 mars dernier ; à partir des objets du quotidien, les collégiens devaient deviner quelle était sa profession. Cette journée a été une belle réussite en terme d’échanges sur les métiers des femmes en science.

March 19, 2018

Les femmes & les sciences

Website

Sexe et genre : Mieux soigner les femmes et les hommes

Ce dossier, réalisé par Françoise Dupuy Maury, décrit des exemples "d'études precliniques et cliniques qui sont menées sur un seul sexe, soulignant alors que pour l’autre sexe est moins bien diagnostiqué et pris en charge. D’où la nécessité des recherches fondamentales intégrant les différences mâles et femelles".Yann Hérault, directeur de l’Institut clinique de la souris (ICS) de l’Institut de génétique et de biologie moléculaire et cellulaire à Illkirch, est convaincu que "les projets qui impliquent des animaux pour la connaissance de la fonction des gènes ou la recherche de traitements doivent systématiquement intégrer des mâles et des femelles, sous peine que leurs conclusions ne soient transposables qu’à une moitié de l’humanité".

Nov. 16, 2017

Science & Santé

Website

Associated document

Using Cre-lox Recombination to Discover Gene Functions

PHENOMIN-ICS will present a webinar "The Cre-Toolbox: Revealing Gene Functions with Cre-lox Recombination", November 14, 2017, 9:00 AM EST (3:00 PM CET)

this webinar will discuss

• Using Cre-lox to understand pleiotropy and dissecting gene functions
• Overcoming embryonic and early postnatal lethality
• Inducible inactivation with the creERT2 system
• Phenotypes induced by Cre driver, tamoxifen toxicity, Cre leakiness: What are the unexpected complexities and technical limitations?
• CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing for in vivo spatial and/or temporal gene inactivation

Presenters

• Guillaume Pavlovic, PhD, Head of the Genetic Engineering and Model Validation Department, PHENOMIN-ICS

Register at: http://www2.criver.com/l/60962/2017-10-24/f9rj5b

CreERT2 repository for the collection and distribution of relevant mutant mouse strains: http://mousecre.phenomin.fr/   

Nov. 9, 2017

http://www2.criver.com/l/60962/2017-03-08/ch9pxs

Novel hearing loss genes

Awareness about 1 publication from IMPC consortium 
A large scale hearing loss screen reveals an extensive unexplored genetic landscape for auditory dysfunction- Nature Communications.

The IMPC has to date created almost 5000 ‘mutant’ lines of mice, each with a single gene turned off.  In this study, the scientists analysed the data from hearing tests of the mice, a similar test is also done in humans. Looking at 3,006 of these mouse lines they found that 67 had some degree of hearing loss. Importantly, 52 of these were not previously known. This represents a significant leap forward in our understanding of the genetics of deafness. Further study of these 52 genes will help us understand the mechanisms of hearing loss. 

Click here for more details ! 

Oct. 18, 2017

http://www.mousephenotype.org/news/novel-hearing-loss-genes-identified-large-study-scientists-across-world

NC3Rs visits French scientists during Celphedia annual meeting

PHENOMIN-ICS is please to welcome Dr. Mark Prescott, Head - Research management and policy at NC3Rs center (London, uk), during the annual meeting of the French Network CELPHEDIA. Mark Prescott will give a talk "The NC3Rs: ingredient for succes" on Wednesday October 11^st, 11:00 am. 

CELPHEDIA networks aims to develop transverse inter-species approaches (rodents with the mouse as a leader, non-human primates and non mammalians including aquatic vertebrates), at the level of both the technology and the study of human diseases, but also to harmonise scientific protocols and processes. The network consists of the 15 partner centers of CELPHEDIA infrastructure as well as the external scientifc community. 

Mark Prescott's visit underlines the beneficial 3Rs impact of CELPHEDIA network to the use of animals for scientific research.

Do not hesitate to join us and be part of the event ! Opened lectures on Tuesday October 10th from 02:00 pm to 05:00 pm and Wednesday October 11st from 11:00 am to 01:00 pm at the IGBMC Auditorium, Strasbourg, France.

Oct. 5, 2017

http://www.celphedia.eu/

Call " Mouse models for rare diseases"

PHENOMIN-ICS is pleased to announce the results of the 3rd call : 12 new mouse models will be generated !

The French Foundation for rare diseases (Fondation maladies rares) and the French National Infrastructure PHENOMIN has conjointly launched calls for the creation and exploration of mouse models for rare diseases, for 4 years. The calls for projects 'Mouse models and rare diseases' aims to give a significant boost to the development of mouse models, in order to:

• Gain a better understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in rare diseases whose defective genes have been identified;
• Test and validate therapeutic proofs of concept, at the pre-clinical in vivo level.

Indeed, producing these models meets a key objective in the development of a therapeutic strategy. After their initial in vitro testing, therapeutic proofs of concept must be tested in a living model that recapitulates as closely as possible both the phenotype and biological defects associated to the human disease. Such a model should provide appropriate data regarding the safety and the efficiency of the drug, thus evaluating its benefit/risk ratio, prior to conducting early phases of a therapeutic trial.

PHENOMIN and the French Foundation for rare diseases combine their efforts in order to achieve these objectives through the joint call for proposals for the generation and characterization of mouse models, dedicated to rare diseases. This action is part of the objectives of PHENOMIN to develop mouse model resources that will be made available to the scientific community. Finally, the collaboration succeeds to generate 45 new mouse models over the last 4 years”.

July 11, 2017

http://www.phenomin.fr/calls/current-call/

Associated file

Webinars CRISPR/Cas9 in rodents

PHENOMIN-ICS presented 2 webinars on CRISPR/Cas 9 in rodents that were hosted by our partner Charles River.

We are pleased to remind they are now avaibale as replay !

-CRISPR/Cas9 in Rodents Animals: The good, The bad and the ugly: March 30^th  -  CRISPR/Cas9 has revolutionized the creation of complex mouse and rat models. Genome editing opportunities can seem infinite, but there are parameters that must be considered. 

http://www2.criver.com/l/60962/2017-03-08/ch9pxs 

-Modelling Human Disease in Rodents with CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing : June 27^th - Why do the results discovered using genetically engineered mice sometimes fail to translate to humans? This webinar will discuss the promise CRISPR/Cas9 has for rodent studies along with strategies for developing better models to understand and treat human disease.

http://www2.criver.com/l/60962/2017-06-06/d1b7gv

July 4, 2017

http://www.criver.com/customer-service/education-training/archives

L'institut Clinique de la souris - Des moustaches à la queue

L’ICS porte bien son nom. L’institut clinique de la souris, à Illkirch, près de Strasbourg, est une infrastructure de l’Institut de génétique et de biologie moléculaire et cellulaire (IGBMC) entièrement dédiée à la production et la caractérisation des souris. Dirigé par Yann Hérault depuis 2010, l’ICS dispose dans ces 6 200 m2 de services similaires à ceux d’un hôpital pour humains. Service d’exploration cardiaque, respiratoire (photo), métabolique, cognitif… une véritable clinique de la souris ! Pourquoi ? Parce qu’à l’ICS, les chercheurs ont pour ambition de décrire, sous tous leurs aspects, les souris que leur confient d’autres laboratoires, privés ou publics, ou qu’eux-mêmes produisent. Car au sein du Consortium international de phénotypage de la souris (IMPC), qui réunit 18 laboratoires internationaux, l’ICS participe à un projet d’ampleur : explorer les conséquences de la mutation de chacun des 20 000 gènes des souris. À la charge de l’ICS : 235 lignées de souris à produire, grâce à la technologie CRISPR/Cas9 entre autres, soit autant à étudier. Avec en parallèle, l’objectif également d’identifier des candidats-médicaments grâce aux modèles murins des pathologies. Suivez le parcours d’une souris dans les différents services d’exploration. IGBMC : unité 964 Inserm /CNRS 7104 – Université de Strasbourg

June 29, 2017

Magazine Science&Santé- INSERM

Website

IMPC important publications

Awareness about 2 important publications from IMPC consortium 

1-The analysis of IMPC database that uncovers 360 new human disease models has just been published : Meehan et al., (2017) Disease model discovery from 3,328 gene knockouts by The International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium. Nature Genetics.

2-One other publication uncovers the role of sex in biological studies: Natasha Karp et al. (2017) Prevalence of sexual dimorphism in mammalian phenotypic traits. Nature Communications.

Have a look here for more details ! 
http://www.mousephenotype.org/news/two-impc-papers-published-nature-genetics-and-nature-communications

June 27, 2017

http://www.mousephenotype.org/news/two-impc-papers-published-nature-genetics-and-nature-communications

INFRAFRONTIER2020 Project - Trans-national Access call "Late-onset systemic phenotyping (ageing pipeline)"

INFRAFRONTIER is the European Research Infrastructure for phenotyping, archiving and distribution of model mammalian genomes. The INFRAFRONTIER Research Infrastructure provides access to first-class tools and data for biomedical research, and thereby contributes to improving the understanding of gene function in human health and disease using the mouse model. The core services of INFRAFRONTIER comprise the systemic phenotyping of mouse mutants in the participating mouse clinics, and the archiving and distribution of mouse mutant lines by the European Mouse Mutant Archive (EMMA) (www.infrafrontier.eu).

INFRAFRONTIER2020 project and ageing The INFRAFRONTIER2020 project aims to develop pilot platforms and services supporting ageing research. These activities are tightly integrated with the current efforts of the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium (IMPC, www.mousephenotype.org) to set up a standardised late-onset (ageing) pipeline. In the IMPC phase 2 a significant fraction of mutant lines will be aged and re-phenotyped to identify genes involved with late-onset disease. The INFRAFRONTIER2020 Trans-national Access call complements the highly standardised IMPC late-onset phenotyping, as existing mouse lines with different mutations and genetic backgrounds can be tested with the IMPC late-onset phenotyping pipeline.

The INFRAFRONTIER open call facilitates access for the wider biomedical research community to the unique infrastructure and scientific expertise of the MRC Harwell mouse clinic. A total of four mouse mutant lines can be tested through a broad based late-onset phenotyping pipeline in all the major adult organ systems and most areas of major human disease and will be re-phenotyped at a later stage (weeks 52-59). Access to the service will be granted on the basis of scientific excellence and supports the development and in depth characterisation of mouse models for research on ageing and age-related diseases. INFRAFRONTIER will provide open access to all tested mouse lines and their phenotyping data.

Call information and application form

Proposal submission to proposals@infrafrontier.eu by June 30th 2017.

Proposal evaluation from July 1st to August 15th 2017.

The INFRAFRONTIER2020 project has received funding from the EU Research and Innovation programme Horizon 2020 (H2020-EU.1.4.1.1. Developing new world class research infrastructures)

June 1, 2017

https://www.infrafrontier.eu/resources-and-services/infrafrontier-open-calls/late-onset-systemic-phenotyping-ageing-pipeline

Le sida éradiqué chez des souris grâce à des "ciseaux à ADN"

Grâce à la technique Crispr-Cas9, qui permet de couper un morceau d'ADN, des chercheurs américains sont parvenus à enlever le virus du sida chez des cobayes. Un espoir de guérison pour les malades.Dans leur article publié dans la revue Molecular Therapy, les chercheurs expliquent leur méthodologie. Marie-Christine Birling (PHENOMIN-ICS) a été invitée à commenter et expliquer ces résultats.

June 1, 2017

LesEchos.fr

Website

Stop Vivisection: the Mediator confirms the answer of the European Commission

The initiative European Citizen Stop Vivisection asked to the European Commission for the abrogation of the directive 2010 / 63 / EU on the protection of animals used to fine scientists and the commitment of a process of abolition of the use of animals in scientific research.

The Commission had answered that i) the scientific knowledge need animal research, ii) animal experiment remained important for the protection of the human and animal health,  and to protect the environment, iii) the commission did not intend to repeal the current directive.

The organizers of the initiative had requested a complaint with the European Commission against this answer.

The Mediator led investigation and observed that the Commission had explained in a clear, understandable and detailed way its position and its political choices and that it had introduced a series of actions in answer to the initiative.

The Mediator concludes in its report dated April 18th, 2017 that the Commission had answered according to the spirit and to the logic of the rules of the Initiative European Citizen and that no administrative fault could be raised against it.

April 26, 2017

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/lab_animals/3r/scientific_conference_non_animal_approaches_en.htm

A new synapse disease discovered at the base of Autism and intellectual disabilities.

An international collaborative study coordinated by the Inserm unit 930 "Imaging and Brain" (Dr. Frédéric Laumonnier, Tours), PHENOMIN and the IGBMC (Dr. Yann Hérault, Illkirch) brings new and original data on the characterization of the physiopathological role of the synaptic receptor PTCHD1. Published on April 20 in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, this work reveals that the loss of function of this gene involved in intellectual disability and autism, leads to synaptic dysfunction.

Synapses are zones of contact between neurons, ensuring the connection and propagation of the information between them, and causing their excitation or inhibition. During the development of the brain, the formation of synapses is essential for brain functions such as memory and learning.

Genetic mutations involved in autism and intellectual disability (ID) seem to cause defects in the structure and function of these synapses.

In the Research Unit "Imaging and Brain" at François-Rabelais University in Tours, Frédéric Laumonnier and his colleagues are interested in the synaptic receptor PTCHD1 (Patched Domain containing 1), for which genetic mutations are associated with an ID and / or autism in boys. After creating a pathological mouse model deficient for this gene, through the Gencodys Consortium (Genetic and Epigenetic Networks in Cognitive Dysfunction; http://www.gencodys.eu/), scientists from PHENOMIN and the IGBMC showed major memory defects, as well as significant symptoms of hyperactivity on this model. Parallel studies by the team of Frédéric Laumonnier revealed changes in the synapses. The latter discovered significant alterations in synaptic structure and activity in excitatory neuronal networks of the hippocampus, a region of the brain that plays a major role in cognitive processes.

This work defines a new synapse disease occurring during development, in technical terms a neuro-developmental synaptopathy, caused by the deficiency of the PTCHD1 gene associated with ID and autism. Understanding the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying these neurodevelopmental disorders is essential to improve therapeutic strategies.

Read the recent publication in Molecular Psychology

April 21, 2017

http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/mp201739a.html

2nd Programmable Nucleases Course – OPEN LECTURES

As part of the CCP programmable nuclease course, the following lectures will be open lectures.Lectures will be held in the main BIOCEV conference hall (Kinosál) Průmyslová 595, Vestec and selected lectures (Live at IMG) will be broadcasted live in the Milan Hašek Auditorium at IMG. 

G. Pavlovic and MC Birling from PHENOMIN-ICS give 4 open lectures !

• 5 April 2017, 08:00

Live at IMG    Guillaume Pavlovic and Marie-Christine Birling, PHENOMIN-ICS, France 
Title: “Repertoire of gene targeting methods in rodents”

• 5 April 2017, 16:30

Guillaume Pavlovic, PHENOMIN-ICS, France 
Title: “Expanding the Research Applications for CRISPR”​

• 7 April 2017, 08:00

Live at IMG    Marie-Christine Birling, PHENOMIN-ICS, France
Title: “Genome editing using nucleases: new possibilities and application to reveal gene function in diseases”

• 7 April 2017, 12:30

Live at IMG    Guillaume Pavlovic,PHENOMIN-ICS, France
Title: “from genotype to phenotype”
 

April 3, 2017

http://www.img.cas.cz/2017/03/28290-2nd-programmable-nucleases-course-open-lectures/

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Integrated approach for bone pathology

ICS offers new capabilities for analysing bone dynamics including both in vivo and ex vivo analysis of trabecular and cortical bone structures by MicroCT.  This augments our current capacities of skeletal  examinations by TRAP histological stain, X-ray, DEXA scanning, and quantitative NMR.

Contact us for help in designing your experiments on bone dynamics!

Read more

March 28, 2017

http://www.ics-mci.fr/en/departments/phenotyping/metabolic-exploration/bone-metabolism/

INFRAFRONTIER open call "Disease model development and systemic phenotyping"

INFRAFRONTIER, the European Research Infrastructure for phenotyping and archiving of model mammalian genomes is opening a call to facilitate access for the wider biomedical research community to the unique infrastructure and scientific expertise of the INFRAFRONTIER mouse clinics. INFRAFRONTIER offers the testing of mouse mutant lines through a broad based primary phenotyping pipeline in all the major adult organ systems and most areas of major human disease. Access will be granted on the basis of scientific excellence and supports the development and in depth characterisation of new mouse models for investigating gene function and human pathophysiology. INFRAFRONTIER will provide open access to all newly developed disease models and phenotyping data.

More information and call application form:

https://www.infrafrontier.eu/resources-and-services/infrafrontier-open-calls/model-development-and-systemic-phenotyping-call

Proposal submission to proposals@infrafrontier.eu by 15 February 2017.

Proposal evaluation from 16 February to 31 March 2017.

Jan. 17, 2017

https://www.infrafrontier.eu/resources-and-services/infrafrontier-open-calls/model-development-and-systemic-phenotyping-call

PHENOMIN open call 'Mouse models and rare diseases'

The French Foundation for rare diseases (Fondation maladies rares) and the French National Infrastructure PHENOMIN are pleased to launch their 3rd joint call for the creation and exploration of mouse models for rare diseases.

The call for projects 'Mouse models and rare diseases' aims to give a significant boost to the development of mouse models, in order to:

• gain a better understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in rare diseases whose defective genes have been identified;
• test and validate therapeutic proofs of concept, at the pre-clinical in vivo level.

Indeed, producing these models meets a key objective in the development of a therapeutic strategy. After their initial in vitro testing, therapeutic proofs of concept must be tested in a living model that recapitulates as closely as possible both the phenotype and biological defects associated to the human disease. Such a model should provide appropriate data regarding the safety and the efficiency of the drug, thus evaluating its benefit/risk ratio, prior to conducting early phases of a therapeutic trial. PHENOMIN and the French Foundation for rare diseases combine their efforts in order to achieve these objectives through the joint call for proposals for the generation and characterization of mouse models, dedicated to rare diseases. This action is part of the objectives of PHENOMIN to develop mouse model resources that will be made available to the scientific community.

Submission deadline for proposals: February 9, 2017, 5:00 pm

On line submission: HERE.

http://fondation-maladiesrares.org/la-recherche/aide-au-financement/nos-appels-a-projet/

Dec. 20, 2016

http://www.phenomin.fr/calls/current-call/

Associated file

High-throughput discovery of novel developmental phenotypes

PHENOMIN’s scientists have collaborated with 17 different centers over the world to identify and decipher the function of genes that are essential for mammalian life. The recent Nature paper "High-throughput discovery of novel developmental phenotypes" describes the systematic high-throughput phenotyping screens used in the knock out mice and gives insight into a variety of gene function while a strong correlation was found between genes causing lethality in mice and genes causing diseases in humans, including cardiovascular defects, spina bifida, and metabolic disorders, among many others.

Sept. 26, 2016

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v537/n7621/full/nature19356.html

Upcoming trainings in Mouse Phenogenomics

ICS offers unique opportunities to benefit from its outstanding expertise in “in vivo genome editing” and “state of the art phenotyping” 

-CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing in vivo
-Primary phenotyping of mouse embryos 
-Mouse model for diseases: approaches for phenotyping 

Please have a look to the full list on our website 

Sept. 26, 2016

http://www.ics-mci.fr/en/services/training-courses

Does age matter?

 Laboratory Animals publish this month a paper summarising the findings of an NC3Rs expert working group who have been investigating the impact of rodent age on study outcomes. Some of the authors are involved on the INFRAFRONTIER infrastruture which is developing new platform and services for the research on ageing and age-related diseases

June 28, 2016

https://www.nc3rs.org.uk/news/does-age-matter

Associated file

INFRAFRONTIER is currently developing new pilot platforms and services for the research on ageing and age-related diseases.

Ageing research and more generally the study of the functional basis of human diseases profit enormously from the large-scale approaches and resources in mouse functional genomics: systematic targeted mutation of the mouse genome, systemic phenotyping in mouse clinics, and the archiving and distribution of the mouse resources in public repositories. INFRAFRONTIER, the European research infrastructure for the development, systemic phenotyping, archiving and distribution of mammalian models, offers access to sustainable mouse resources for biomedical research. INFRAFRONTIER promotes the global sharing of high-quality resources and data and thus contributes to data reproducibility and animal welfare. INFRAFRONTIER puts great effort into international standardisation and quality control and into technology development to improve and expand experimental protocols, reduce the use of animals in research and increase the reproducibility of results. In concert with the research community and the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium (IMPC), INFRAFRONTIER is currently developing new pilot platforms and services for the research on ageing and age-related diseases.

Have a look to the dedicated publication 

June 10, 2016

https://www.infrafrontier.eu/

Associated file

New platform for predictive modelling of cancer signalling: European Consortium 'CanPathPro' started

An international group of scientists from 6 countries bring together their expertise to develop a combined experimental and systems biology platform for predictive modelling of cancer signalling. The EU Horizon 2020 funded project, co-ordinated by Alacris Theranostics GmbH, Berlin, will run for 5 years with a budget of almost 11 million euros. 

PHENOMIN-ICS is involved in the project with respect to the generation of genetically modified mouse models.

Read the press release here

June 7, 2016

http://www.canpathpro.eu/

Associated file

France 3 coverage on Pierre Chambon's team

France Television’s team conducted by Catherine Munsch filmed the research team of Pierre Chambon at IGBMC, on February 3th. Following the recent scientific publication, Inserm diffusion and various presses benefits, the regional branch of France 3 was interested in the research topic on circadian cycles and the setting time by eating. Indeed, shifting eating to the natural biological clock affects the physiological basic functions of the body and results in onset of various pathologies. Pierre Chambon’s team has decrypted the molecular mechanisms behind this phenomenon, associated with peripheral clocks shift. They were able to analyze in the mice all the biological consequences of a restricted diet the rest period as well as it has been reported in humans engaged in shift work schedules.

May 19, 2016

France 3 Alsace

Website

Charles River Europe and Phenomin-ICS Launch New Collaboration for Model Creation

This exciting partnership offers our European clients a complete integrated solution for mouse and rat models, from creation to validation. Our combined in vitro and in vivo expertise shapes a broad portfolio of design (ES cell, CRISPR/Cas9, random DNA insertion), breeding and associated services to create and maintain the most relevant models for your studies.Rely our industry-leading germ line transmission, strict quality controls, fast turnaround and dedicated project managers to help you successfully reach your goals.

Genetic Engineering Design Options

• ES Cell-Targeted Transgenesis
• CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing
• Random DNA Insertion

Associated Services

• Customised Breeding
• Embryology
• Cryopreservation

April 20, 2016

http://www.criver.com/products-services/basic-research/transgenic-colony-services/model-creation

Associated file

1st Prize of ComTech Photo contest

Members of PHENOMIN-ICS mouse supporting services won the 2016 ComTech photo contest.

The picture "SHIVA, God of animal facility" will be published in the AFSTAL magazine ! Congratulations !

Credits: Animal Facility/PHENOMIN-ICS

Feb. 29, 2016

PHENOMIN 6th call results

The National Infrastructure PHENOMIN is pleased to announce the results of its 6th Call: Generation and Characterization of CreERT2 cell specific promoter driven deleter mouse lines. The Scientific Committee has selected 13 projects amongst 34 submitted projects from 20 PI. Consequently, 9 additional CreERT2 mouse lines will be generated by PHENOMIN team and will be made available as soon as possible for the scientific community. 4 CreERT2 mouse models been already generated by the European EUCOMMTOOLS consortium, will be further characterized.

You will find the details of the selected models on: http://www.phenomin.fr/calls/current-call/#phenomin-6th-call-results

To get more information, contact mutagenesis@igbmc.fr

Feb. 4, 2016

http://www.phenomin.fr/calls/current-call/#phenomin-6th-call-results

IMPC-INFRAFRONTIER Strasbourg Meeting

Save the date!

Investigating mouse models for biological for research

The congress aims to promote the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium (IMPC) mouse lines, importance of mouse phenotyping & clinical and drug discovery collaboration, to present progresses performed by IMPC with regards CRISPR editing genome, rare diseases, microbiota and ageing pipeline, as well as illustration of examples of scientific projects about “Animal models for human diseases” and recent developments in mouse models phenotyping imaging.

We count on the attendance of 200 total participants every day including researchers of regional, national, European and international prominence and IMPC members and funders.

Jan. 26, 2016

Validate your cryopreserved line by direct blastocyst genotyping

Direct blastocyst genotyping is now available for your lines at PHENOMIN-ICS. Using this method instead of conventional post-implantation genotyping protocols leads to significant reductions in animal welfare concerns, processing time, technical requirements, and cost. For details, see the publication we coauthored in Transgenic Res (F. Scavizzi et al, 2015).

Jan. 25, 2016

http://www.phenomin.fr/

Associated file

La révolution de la génomique fonctionelle

Le génome humain, son fonctionnement, son impact sur les maladies sont étudiés depuis plus de 60 ans. Mais en dépit d'avancées spectaculaires, il est encore mal connu; de nombreux gènes restent sans fonction déterminée. Les approches de génomique fonctionnelle, ou phénogénomique, appliquées au modèle de la souris, pourraient bien changer la donne

Jan. 5, 2016

Biofutur

Website

Associated document

The IGBMC is doubly rewarded this year by the Talents of the CNRS (National Center for Science Research).

Evi Soutoglou, researcher in molecular biology at the IGBMC received the bronze medal and Philippe André,  in charge of the microinjection service of the “Institut Clinique de la souris” (PHENOMIN-ICS), the crystal medal

The CNRS Bronze Medal recognizes a researcher's first work, which makes that person a specialist with talent in a particular field. This medal is a way for the CNRS to encourage the researcher to continue work that has met with initial success and already produced fruitful results.

The Crystal prize, distinguishes every year of the engineers, the technicians and the administrative personals who by their creativity, their technical expertise and their innovative spirit contribute to the highly-rated of the researchers in the advance of the knowledges and the scientific discoveries.

The distinctions have been handed today, on Friday, November 20th, 2015, by Patrice Soullie, regional delegate of the CNRS and Frédéric Boccard, scientific assistant director of the Institute of the biological sciences of the CNRS (INSB) during a ceremony, in the presence of Catherine Florentz, vice-president of the University of Strasbourg, Big Marie-angel Luc, regional delegate of the Inserm Est, Bertrand Séraphin, director of the IGBMC and Yann Hérault, assistant director of the IGBMC and coordinator of the national infrastructure PHENOMIN.

Nov. 20, 2015

http://igbmc.fr/society/actualite/196/

Associated file

Telethon: mobilization of the researchers in biology!

Téléthon : Les chercheurs en biologie se mobilisent !

Comme chaque année, le Téléthon vise à récolter des fonds afin de financer la recherche sur les maladies génétiques rares comme les myopathies. L’Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC) dont certaines équipes de recherche sont partiellement financées grâce à ces fonds, participe depuis plusieurs années à cet événement en partenariat avec l’Ecole supérieure de biotechnologie de Strasbourg (ESBS).

L’institut clinique de la Souris participera activement à l’Opération 2015 de sensibilisation dans les écoles. Du 23 novembre au 4 décembre, les chercheurs interviennent dans établissements scolaires afin d’expliquer aux élèves les maladies génétiques. Du primaire au lycée, pas moins d’une quinzaine de classes sont concernées dans la région et pas seulement sur Strasbourg.  Du génome au gène et à la thérapie génique, de nombreux aspects sont abordés grâce à une approche très pédagogique et adaptée aux différents publics.

Telethon: mobilization of the researchers in biology!

As every year, the Telethon aims at collecting funds to finance the scientific research on rare genetic diseases such as the myopathies. Since long time, the Institute of Genetics and Molecular and cellular Biology (IGBMC) in partnership with the College of biotechnology of Strasbourg (ESBS) from several research teams are partially financed thanks to these funds are involved, is involved in the manifestation.

The “Institut Clinique de la souris” will participate actively in the School’s Operation 2015. From November 23rd till December 4th, the researchers meet pupils to explain the genetic diseases. From the primary to the high school, about fifteen classes is concerned in the region and not only in the city of Strasbourg. From the genome to the gene, through the gene therapy, numerous aspects will be exposed thanks to an educational approach that will be adapted to the various public.

Nov. 19, 2015

http://www.afm-telethon.com/

Radio report :"the mouse and the men", RTS, CQFD scientific programme

Scientific radio report " The mouse and the men "

The mouse and the man have a common ancestor who lived there is 75 million years, that is why we share some 95 % of the genetic heritage of this rodent. It makes of the mouse a model of choice to study very numerous diseases. Researchers aim to understand the function of each of its genes.

Meeting with Yann Herault, from the Institut Clinique de la Souris

Par Stéphane Delétroz (Swiss radio television ,RTS) - In French Language

Nov. 5, 2015

http://www.rts.ch/la-1ere/programmes/cqfd/7184257-des-souris-et-des-hommes-03-11-2015.html

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ICS as a recognized host institution of the ICLAS sponsorship training programs

The ICLAS sponsorship training programs offer traineeship to most appropriate candidates on the basis of their application, to build traineeship programs with professionals and to find long term sponsors so that these actions remain overtime and help as many people as possible to get the training that they are unable to get without the technical/ scientific and financial help from ICLAS. 

Cristian Berce, DVM from Romania, had visit us in September. Its main topic of interest  is experimental hematology - more specifically animal models of Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Through the ICLAS 2015 Fellowship it obtained funding to visit one of the participating institutions. He choose the ICS, and come to learn about 2 major topics, with our Veterinarian I. Goncalves.

-       How to create mutant mice with our engineering service (theorical) and with our micro injection service (see ES cells injections, implantation of embryos in mice through surgical procedures, selection of chimeras…)

-       How to manage a breeding facility: usual procedures (cage changing, sexing mice, identification and genotyping samples), washing area, Animal welfare structure (new with the EU directive implementation), vet care (i.e. mice spontaneous pathology and mice phenotypes).

Read more

Sept. 18, 2015

http://iclas.org/

PHENOMIN: 6th call for proposal

PHENOMIN is pleased to announce the opening of its 6th call for proposal dedicated to generation and characterization of CreER^T2 cell specific promoter driven deleter mouse lines.

For more information and for project submission, please report to Current call page.

Read more

Sept. 1, 2015

http://www.phenomin.fr/calls/current-call/

Analysis of mammalian gene function through broad-based phenotypic screens across a consortium of mouse clinics

The function of the majority of genes in the mouse and human genomes remains unknown. The mouse embryonic stem cell knockout resource provides a basis for the characterization of relationships between genes and phenotypes. The EUMODIC consortium developed and validated robust methodologies for the broad-based phenotyping of knockouts through a pipeline comprising 20 disease-oriented platforms. This consortium developped new statistical methods for pipeline design and data analysis aimed at detecting reproducible phenotypes with high power.

Read more

July 28, 2015

http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ng.3360.html

European Animal Research Association (EARA)- L’Association Européenne de Recherche Animale (AERA)

The European Animal Research Association (EARA) is a communication and awareness organisation whose mission is to uphold the interests of biomedical research and healthcare development across Europe. 

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

L’Association Européenne de Recherche Animale (AERA) est une organisation de communication et de sensibilisation, dont la mission est de défendre les intérêts de la recherche biomédicale et le développement de la santé en Europe.

Read more

July 16, 2015

http://eara.eu/francais/

Mouse biobanks for scientific reproducibility, ethical and financial concerns

In a recent article, Lloyd and colleagues argue that the use of centralized mouse repositories are essential. Today, whereas ethical and financial concerns as well as scientific reproducibility are at the heart of the Science, only 12% of mouse models are available from repositories and 55% have been engineered more than once by different research teams, wasting animals, time and money (NIH/Jackson laboratory data). Furthermore repositories can help making the Science to move forward by ensure the quality and welfare of distributed animals and supply expertise to guide reliable studies.

For more detailed information, please consult the web site of Nature.

June 18, 2015

http://www.nature.com/news/reproducibility-use-mouse-biobanks-or-lose-them-1.17707?WT.mc_id=TWT_NatureNews

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New NIH policies for grants and funding

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is supporting scientists in the fundamental understanding and knowledge of living systems to perform successful applications towards human health. It has recently updated its policy regarding NIH-funded researches for applications submitted for the January 25, 2016 and beyond.

The new policy will promote on the reproducibility of research findings through increased scientific rigor and transparency in funding applications and will focus on 4 criteria: “i) the scientific premise of the proposed research, ii) rigorous experimental design for robust and unbiased results, iii) consideration of relevant biological variable and iv) authentication of key biological and/or chemical resources”.

As well as age and genetic background, sex and gender may play a role in health and disease processes and might be considered as critical to the interpretation, validation, and generalizability of research findings. The new policy of NIH application instructions will follow this consideration and is expecting that “sex as a biological variable will be factored into research design, analyses and reporting in vertebrate animal and human studies”.

For more information regarding NIH expectations, please consult: 

-Enhancing Reproducibility through Rigor and Transparency: published guide notice NOT-OD-15-103

-Consideration of Sex as a biological variable in NIH-funded research: published guide notice NOT-OD-15-102

June 18, 2015

http://grants.nih.gov/reproducibility/index.htm

Communication of the European Commission on the 3rd European Citizen's initiative "STOP Vivisection"

The European Commission has issued a communication regarding the European Citizens’ Initiative “Stop Vivisection” which aimed to repeal to current European Directive 2010/63/EU (see our news published on  March 31, 2015).

In brief this initiative has been rejected by the EC and no changes would be applied to the actual legislation. In fact, despite the EC recognizes the concerns expressed by the proponents of this initiative, the Directive has been confirmed to be the best compromise between animal welfare enhancement and biomedical researches requiring animal experimentations.

For more information, please consult the European Commission conclusion on http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/lab_animals/pdf/vivisection/en.pdf

June 3, 2015

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-5094_fr.htm?locale=en

Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments (ARRIVE) guidelines

The Animal Research Reporting of In Vivo Experiments (ARRIVE) guidelines were developed to address the lack of reproducibility in biomedical animal studies and improve the communication of research findings. While intended to guide the preparation of peer-reviewed manuscripts, the principles of transparent reporting are also fundamental for in vivo databases. Here, we describe the benefits and challenges of applying the guidelines for the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium (IMPC), whose goal is to produce and phenotype 20,000 knockout mouse strains in a reproducible manner across ten research centres. In addition to ensuring the transparency and reproducibility of the IMPC, the solutions to the challenges of applying the ARRIVE guidelines in the context of IMPC will provide a resource to help guide similar initiatives in the future.

Read more

May 25, 2015

http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1002151

Associated file

PHENOMIN join the BASEL DECLARATION SOCIETY

PHENOMIN join the BASEL DECLARATION SOCIETY “to bring the scientific community together to further advance the implementation of ethical principles such as the 3Rs whenever animals are being used and to call for more trust, transparency and communication on the sensitive topic of animals in research”

http://www.basel-declaration.org/

May 15, 2015

http://www.basel-declaration.org/

Our genes and our health- What about the cardiovascular diseases?

After the success of the event “Take your heart in hand”, organized in October, 2014 within the framework of the Day of the science, the ICS-PHENOMIN invites the public in a scientific coffee dedicated to the cardiovascular diseases. A particularly sensitive theme in the North and the East of France.  

It will also overview of the situation at our European neighbors of the Upper Rhine, thanks to the results of the researches founded by the European program INTERREG and in which the IGBMC is actively involved.

Read more

Discussion between experts and the public : in front of  the risks associated to cardiovascular diseases, is he useful or done necessary to organize a preventive screening? What is the nature of the genetic factors in the cardiovascular diseases?

To know more about it: save the date! Meeting in Strasbourg, on 2015 May 29th!

- the morning 8:30 in the "Café de l'opéra"

- the evening 17:00 in the "Kléber" bookshop 

 

Projet INTERREG Offensive sciences "Cardiogènes"

April 30, 2015

http://www.ics-mci.fr/en/collaborations/interreg-iv-rhin-superieur/

Associated file

Résultats du 2ème appel à projets « Modèles murins et maladies rares »- Results for the 2th call « Murine Models and Rare Disease »

Résultats du 2ème appel à projets « Modèles murins et maladies rares »

La "Fondation maladies rares", en partenariat avec l’infrastructure nationale PHENOMIN, soutient des projets de recherche dédiés au développement et à l’étude de modèles murins dans le champ des maladies rares.

L’appel à projets ‘modèles murins et maladies rares’ a pour objectif

• de donner une impulsion significative à la création et à l’étude de modèles murins de maladies rares
• d’élucider les mécanismes physiopathologiques sous-jacents et de développer de nouvelles stratégies thérapeutiques.

Ce 2ième appel à projets est consacré à la création et la caractérisation de modèles murins de maladies rares - Knock-Out constitutifs (KO) / conditionnels (cKO), Knock-In (KI) et souris transgéniques -

13 projets lauréats ont été sélectionnés par le comité scientifique.

Félicitations aux lauréats ! 

Results for the 2th call « Murine Models and Rare Disease »

The "Fondation maladies rares", in partnership with the national infrastructure PHENOMIN, supports research projects dedicated to the development and to the study of murins models in the field of the rare diseases.   

This call for projects aims to give a significant boost to the development of mouse models, in order to :

• gain a better understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in rare diseases whose defective genes have been identified
• test and validate therapeutic proofs of concept, at the pre-clinical in vivo level

This 2nd joined call supported the creation and the characterization of murins models of rare diseases: Knock-Out constitutive (KO)/ conditional (cKO), Knock-In (KI) and transgenic mice-. 

The ad hoc Scientific Committee has supported 13 research projects. 

Congratulations to the laureates !

April 28, 2015

Associated file

STOP the European Citizens' Initiative on Vivisection

The European Citizens' Initiative "Stop Vivisection" calls on the European Commission to repeal the European Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes and to prohibit all research using animals in Europe.

This Directive has been shaped by consultation with animal welfare groups, scientists and animal technologists to ensure that necessary research involving animals can continue while requiring enhanced animal welfare standards. Since its application, the Directive led to the development of an ethical thought and to the enhancement of animal welfare in order to perform animal research in conditions that meet harm-benefice balance.

Good animal care and good science go hand in hand

Repealing this Directive would represent a major step backwards both for animal welfare in EU and for European leading role in advancing human and animal health. For reminder, the Directive allows the use of animals in research where the potential medial, veterinary and scientific benefits are compelling and there is no other viable alternative method.
We call the European Parliament and Commission to reaffirm their commitment to the Directive, essential to allow animal use for Research in a controlled and legislated environment.

For more information about Directive repealing consequences, please consult:

• Statement supporting European Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes
• The League of European Research Universities (LERU) supports the Directive 210/63/EU

March 31, 2015

Les élèves de 5ième du collège Stockfeld préparent le concours C génial 2015

Dans le cadre de leur projet de classe sur l’énergie , les élèves de la classe de 5ème 6 du

collège Stockfeld se sont rendus le 10 mars 2015, à Ilkirch à l’IGBMC, et plus exactement au sein de l'une des plateformes de services aux chercheurs, l’Institut Clinique de la Souris (ICS) pour explorer le coeur, la "pompe électrique" de notre organisme. 

La visite  a eu pour objectif de :

•Rencontrer des chercheurs et techniciens (ouverture au monde de la recherche)

•D’approcher l’étude électrique du coeur (Electrocardiogramme, échographie)

•Monter des lames de coeur avec du matériel sophistiqué (microtome, microscopes)

•Aborder la recherche sur les maladies cardio-vasculaires et leur prévention.

March 31, 2015

http://www.sciencesalecole.org/concours-nationaux/c-genial-2015

Associated file

IMPC article in 'International Innovation'

An interview with the chair of the IMPC, Professor Steve Brown, has been published in the science magazine International Innovation, a global dissemination resource that provides insight and analysis on current scientific research trends. In the article, he explains the consortium's achievements to date, our intentions for the future, and why it will be an unparalleled resource for research into mouse genetics and human disease. 

March 16, 2015

http://www.mousephenotype.org/news/impc-article-international-innovation

STOP the European Citizens' Initiative on Vivisection

The League of European Research Universities (LERU) joins The Wellcome Trust in supporting European Directive 2010/63/EU and in calling upon the European Parliament and the Commission to reject the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) “Stop Vivisection” which was submitted yesterday.

The ECI “Stop Vivisection”, which aims to prohibit the use of all animals in research, is based on flawed arguments, and if allowed to progress, could lead to the annulment of the 2010 EU Directive regulating the use of animals in research. This would be disastrous for Europe's research, as it would result in all such research being moved to other continents and putting Europe out of business in developing treatments for all kinds of diseases.

Read more

March 4, 2015

http://www.leru.org/index.php/public/news/stop-the-european-citizens-initiative-on-vivisection-1/

Associated file

CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing

After successful validation of the CRISPR-Cas9 technology through a number of pilot projects, PHENOMIN offers the generation of knock-out models though direct injection into fertilized mouse oocytes of CRISPR sgRNA and Cas9 mRNA. This approach allows to obtain mouse models in shorter timelines and with reduced costs compared to gene targeting by homologous recombination in ES cells.
Visit our dedicated webpage to find more detail about our offers.

Jan. 28, 2015

http://www.ics-mci.fr/en/services/genetic-engineering-offer/crispr-cas9/

2nd Joint Call Fondation Maladies Rares - PHENOMIN

The "Fondation Maladies Rares" and the National Infrastructure PHENOMIN (ICS, TAAM, CIPHE) are pleased to announce the launch of the 2^nd call for joint research projects: "Mouse models and rare diseases".

This call for projects 'Mouse models and rare diseases' aims to give a significant boost to the development of mouse models, in order to :

• gain a better understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in rare diseases whose defective genes have been identified
• test and validate therapeutic proofs of concept, at the pre-clinical in vivo level

Read more

Nov. 28, 2014

http://www.phenomin.fr/calls/fmr-2nd/

Associated file

The campaign for a European Year for Rare Diseases 2019

FR

L’institut clinique de la souris soutient la campagne pour une année européenne des maladies rares en 2019.

http://www.eurordis.org/eyrd2019.

En 2019, nous fêterons les 20 ans de l’adoption du Règlement de l’UE sur les médicaments orphelins et les 10 ans de la Communication de la Commission et de la Recommandation du Conseil sur les maladies rares. L’Année européenne constituera pour la population et les élus un message fort, portant la voix des 30 millions d’Européens atteints d’une malade rare. Ce sera une occasion extraordinaire de sensibiliser plus encore l’opinion et d’encourager les chercheurs à concentrer leurs efforts sur ces maladies rares, souvent inconnues, invalidantes voire létales.

EN

The mouse clinical institut supports the campaign for a European Year for Rare Diseases 2019.

http://www.eurordis.org/eyrd2019.

In 2019, EURORDIS (European Organisation for Rare Diseases) will celebrate the 20 year anniversary of the adoption of the EU Regulation on Orphan Medicinal Products and the 10 year anniversary of the Commission Communication and Council Recommendation on rare diseases. The European Year will send a strong public and political message on behalf of the 30 million Europeans who suffer from a rare disease and will raise awareness and encourage researchers to focus on these rare, mostly unknown, seriously debilitating and often life-threatening diseases

Oct. 7, 2014

http://www.eurordis.org/eyrd2019

July 2014: Dual certification NF X50-900 and ISO 9001:2008

All of the fee-for-service and research and development activities of the Mouse Clinical Institute have been certified under the new French Standard NF X50-900 and the International Standard ISO 9001:2008 in the following areas:

 - Genetic engineering for the generation of mouse models

 - Custom management and experienced breeding of mouse lines

 - Comprehensive, high-throughput and integrative phenotypic analysis of mouse models

Sept. 26, 2014

http://www.ics-mci.fr/en/about-ics/quality-policy/

A New Mouse Model for Costello Syndrome generated at ICS with new insights for the understanding of this Rare Disease

Costello Syndrome (CS) is a rare genetic disorder (less than 300 cases reported worldwide) that affects various functions of the body. Delayed physical developments as well as intellectual disabilities are the most distinguishing characteristics of this condition. A child with Costello Syndrome is difficult to diagnose, many signs are not noticeable before the child starts to develop….
With the support of the French Costello Syndrome Association, the iCS generated a new mouse model displaying many of the CS features. Future studies are now in progress to better understand the pathophysiology of this rare disease and to evaluate drugs dedicated to the reduction of the disease associated symptoms. This successful collaboration will have a significant impact in our understanding of the CS disease. Scientific data were recently presented at scientific meetings (Assises de génétique, European Human Genetics Conference (ESHG) and stimulated interest by the scientific community.

Aug. 8, 2014

http://afs-costello-cfc.asso.fr/

Free of charge INFRAFRONTIER mouse phenotyping service for European researchers

The EC FP7 funded INFRAFRONTIER-I3 project (2013 – 2016) supports European researchers with a free of charge mouse phenotyping service. A total of 22 mouse mutant lines can be characterised through a broad based primary phenotyping pipeline in all the major adult organ systems and most areas of major human disease.

Information on  the  INFRAFRONTIER-I3 phenotyping service:
https://www.infrafrontier.eu/resources-and-services/free-charge-transnational-access-services/infrafrontier-i3-ta-mouse-0  
The I3 Mouse Phenotyping TA Application form can be downloaded at the following address: https://www.infrafrontier.eu/resources-and-services/free-charge-transnational-access-services/application-pages
Send your proposal to info@infrafrontier.eu by June 30th 2014

Read more

June 5, 2014

https://www.infrafrontier.eu/resources-and-services/free-charge-transnational-access-services/application-pages

Associated file

INFRAFRONTIER IMPC Repository Workshop - May 2014

Following scentific discussions during the workshop, Nature published an article in the Editorials session about the benefit to have repositories that guard the health and the genetic quality of the deposited mice and then explained the importance of the IMPC consortium in which the French national PHENOMIN infrastructure is involved.

Read more

May 27, 2014

http://www.nature.com/news/still-much-to-learn-about-mice-1.15256

Associated file

INFRAFRONTIER-I3 project / Free of charge MOUSE PRODUCTION SERVICE / 3rd call

The EC FP7 funded INFRAFRONTIER-I3 project supports European customers with a free of charge mouse production service. A total of 30 KO mouse models will be produced by this service and will be made available to the wider community via EMMA.

The third call supporting the production of 10 KO models is now open.

Application forms can be downloaded from https://www.infrafrontier.eu/resources-and-services/free-charge-transnational-access-services/infrafrontier-i3-ta-mouse.

Send your proposal to info@infrafrontier.eu by May 15th 2014

Read more

April 15, 2014

The Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) has created a unique archive of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) derived from validated genetically engineered mouse models (GEMM) of cancer

NKI GEMM-ESC archive

The Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) has created a unique archive of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) derived from validated genetically engineered mouse models (GEMM) of cancer. These GEMM-ESCs, with often multiple modified alleles, form the basis for further genetic engineering either by Flp-recombinase mediated integration, gene targeting or Crispr/Cas9 to allow for the evaluation of altered target gene expression in a spontaneous tumor model.

Read more

The culture and manipulation of GEMM-ESC clones is performed entirely under feeder- and serum-free conditions using the defined N2B27 medium with LIF and the two inhibitors (2i), CHIR99021 and PD0325901, as originally described by the group of Austin Smith, Cambridge, UK. Once the desired genetic alteration is introduced in a GEMM-ESC clone, chimeric mice can be produced using the classic ESC injection protocols that are routinely applied in transgenic facilities. Interestingly, the chimeric mice can be directly used to monitor tumor development as they contain the same genetic alterations as the original GEMM including the altered target gene expression. This GEMM-ESC approach allows for rapid and scalable target gene validation in vivo.

Currently the GEMM-ESC archive contains three models; one for small cell lung cancer (SCLC), one for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and a model or malignant mesothelioma. In the near future, this archive will be expanded with mouse models for breast cancer and other malignancies. Additional information on these models and the GEMM-ESCs approach in general can be found at:

Reference:
EMBO Mol Med. 2014 Jan 8. Rapid target gene validation in complex cancer mouse models using re-derived embryonic stem cells. Huijbers IJ, Bin Ali R, Pritchard C, Cozijnsen M, Kwon MC, Proost N, Song JY, de Vries H, Badhai J, Sutherland K, Krimpenfort P, Michalak EM, Jonkers J, Berns A.

The NKI GEMM-ESC archive is housed at the Mouse Clinic for Cancer and Aging (MCCA) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. GEMM-ESCs clones are sent under a Material Transfer Agreement (MTA). Shipping costs are for the receiving party and a 500 EUR handling fee is charged per clone.

Feb. 28, 2014

https://www.infrafrontier.eu/resources-and-services/access-emma-mouse-resources/nki-gemm-esc-archive

Free of charge INFRAFRONTIER mouse phenotyping service for European researchers

The EC FP7 funded INFRAFRONTIER-I3 project (2013 – 2016) supports European researchers with a free of charge mouse phenotyping service. A total of 22 mouse mutant lines can be characterised through a broad based primary phenotyping pipeline in all the major adult organ systems and most areas of major human disease.

The service provided consists of a comprehensive first line phenotyping of a mutant line with appropriate control. Possible starting materials are targeted ES cells (Sanger Institute), breeding pairs or frozen embryos depending on centre-specific requirements as described on page 6 of the application document. In case of the Sanger Institute, lines of interest can be nominated from the Sanger ES cell collection from which then a KO mouse line will be produced and phenotyped. The available Sanger ES cells for this service are available for download on the INFRAFRONTIER website at https://www.infrafrontier.eu/resources-and-services/free-charge-transnational-access-services/application-pages

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Cost: The access to the INFRAFRONTIER-I3 resources allocated to this work package is free of charge. However, the shipment cost of the starting material (breeding pairs or frozen embryos) to the respective mouse clinic must be covered by the customers

Eligibility: Applications for the INFRAFRONTIER-I3 TA can be submitted from customers based in eligible countries, namely:

EU Member States: Austria (AT), Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), Cyprus (CY), Czech Republic (CZ), Denmark (DK), Estonia (EE), Finland (FI), France (FR), Germany (DE), Greece (GR), Hungary (HU), Ireland (IE), Italy (IT), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), Malta (MT), Netherlands (NL), Poland (PO), Portugal (PT), Romania (RO), Slovakia (SK), Slovenia (SI), Spain (ES), Sweden (SE), United Kingdom (GB).

Associated Countries: Albania (AL), Bosnia and Herzegovina (BA), Croatia (HR), Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MK), Faroe Islands (FO), Iceland (IS), Israel (IL), Liechtenstein (LI), Republic of Moldova (MD), Montenegro (ME), Norway (NO), Serbia (RS), Switzerland (CH), Turkey (TR).

Application: Service requests for the second call of the INFRAFRONTIER-I3 mouse phenotyping service can be made via a dedicated application form available at https://www.infrafrontier.eu/resources-and-services/free-charge-transnational-access-services/application-pages
Applications for the Transnational Access activity must be accompanied by a short description of the project involving the mouse mutant being phenotyped by the INFRAFRONTIER-I3 TA service. Applications may be submitted in response to a total of 2 calls.

Selection procedure: Service requests from eligible customers for free of charge access to this INFRAFRONTIER-I3 TA service will be subject to a review procedure which will be initiated after calls for TA applications are closed. All applications will be treated with strict confidentiality. The review will be based on short descriptions of the projects involving the mouse mutants that will be phenotyped by the TA service. Members of the external INFRAFRONTIER Evaluation Committee will assess service requests supported by the TA activity. Selection criteria are 1) availability of mouse mutant line 2) scientific merit, 3) soundness of submitted proposal, and 4) access of applicants to phenotyping facilities. The panel will ensure that free access is granted to those users who have not previously benefited from this scheme. Only one access unit will be granted to a principal investigator per call. Applicants will be informed on the outcome of the evaluation w ithin 4 weeks after the end of the call for which the TA application was submitted.

Information on INFRAFRONTIER-I3 phenotyping service https://www.infrafrontier.eu/resources-and-services/free-charge-transnational-access-services/infrafrontier-i3-ta-mouse-0

Download the application form via https://www.infrafrontier.eu/resources-and-services/free-charge-transnational-access-services/application-pages. Send your proposal to info@infrafrontier.eu by March 15th 2014

Feb. 18, 2014

https://www.infrafrontier.eu/resources-and-services/free-charge-transnational-access-services/application-pages

Genetic tools engineered by the "Institut Clinique de la Souris" (ICS) contribute to unravel the heterogeneous architecture of the dermis and mechanisms underlying wound healing.

UK Research teams, including the "Wellcome Trust Centre for Stem Cells Research" had worked to understand mechanisms that explain the remarkable functional diversity of the fibroblasts constituting the skin.
 
Transplantation assays in mice combined with several conditional genetic engineering tools were used for functional and lineage tracing experiments. For example the researchers used the CRE-ERT2 mouse model validated at the ICS, in which Cre function is controlled by the promoter of Atypical Notch ligand Delta-like homologue1 (Dlk1) under Tamoxifen activation, a skin fibroblast marker, to carry out temporal and tissue specific inactivation of key genes involved in skin fibroblast diversity.

By this way, they unravelled the mechanisms of cellular fate during developmental growth of dermal skin, and especially investigated how fibroblast of the upper and lower dermal lineages contribute to the wound healing in adult skin.

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Scientific summary:
 
Fibroblasts are the major mesenchymal cell type in connective tissue and deposit the collagen and elastic fibres of the extracellular matrix (ECM).

In the original paper the authors demonstrate that the fibroblasts of skin connective tissue arise from two distinct lineages:
- One forms the upper dermis, including the dermal papilla that regulates hair growth and controls pilo-erection.
- The other forms the lower dermis, including the reticular fibroblasts that synthesise the bulk of the fibrillar ECM, and the pre-adipocytes and adipocytes of the hypodermis.
The upper lineage is required for hair follicle formation. In wounded adult skin, the initial wave of dermal repair is mediated by the lower lineage and upper dermal fibroblasts are recruited only during re-epithelialisation. Epidermal beta catenin activation stimulates expansion of the upper dermal lineage, rendering wounds permissive for hair follicle formation.

Their findings explain why wounding is linked to formation of ECM-rich scar tissue that lacks hair follicles2-4. They also form a platform for discovering fibroblast lineages in other tissues and for examining fibroblast changes in ageing and disease (i.e, tumour formation).

Dec. 12, 2013

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v504/n7479/full/nature12783.html

PHENOMIN: Launch of 3rd Call

The French National Infrastructure PHENOMIN (ICS, TAAM, CIPHE) is pleased to announce the launch of the 3rd call to establish and characterize mouse models- conditional Knock-Out (cKO).
Through its partnership with the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium (IMPC), PHENOMIN has generated 150 new mouse models for the French scientific community. Over the next 3 years, PHENOMIN will produce more than 100 additional knock-out lines phenotyped according to the IMPC broad-based pipeline.
The submission form and conditions for eligibility are available on the PHENOMIN website : http://www.phenomin.fr/calls/request_form/.
Research projects must be submitted no later than January 21^st, 2014.

Dec. 5, 2013

http://www.phenomin.fr/calls/

INFRAFRONTIER-I3 project / Free of charge MOUSE PRODUCTION SERVICE / 2nd call

The EC FP7 funded INFRAFRONTIER-I3 project supports European customers with a free of charge mouse production service. A total of 30 KO mouse models will be produced by this service and will be made available to the wider community via EMMA.
The second call supporting the production of 10 KO models is now open.
Application forms can be downloaded from https://www.infrafrontier.eu/resources-and-services/free-charge-transnational-access-services/infrafrontier-i3-ta-mouse
Send your proposal to info@infrafrontier.eu by 31^st December 2013

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Dec. 3, 2013

https://www.infrafrontier.eu/

NF EN ISO 9001:2008 Certification

The ICS has been approved by Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance to the following Quality Management System Standards NF EN ISO 9001:2008. The certification guarantees the requirements international standard of the quality system management for the delivery activities of services and research and development activities in the areas of behavior and cognition, metabolism and biochemistry, cardiology and respiratory and anatomical histology.

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NF EN ISO 9001:2008 certification reflects the ICS’s aim to provide customers with research services consistent with their regulatory and ethical requirements.

"This certification is fully in the Declaration of Commitment Management to help improve the quality of services offered to research. It will guarantee a consistent and transparent organization, our commitments, and our will to improve our services with adequate documentation, a good traceability and greater reliability deliverables. It crowns a collaborative effort led by all employees of the ICS."

Sept. 5, 2013

Associated file

A comparative phenotypic and genomic analysis of C57BL/6J and C57BL/6N mouse strains

Differences in the physiology, the blood biochemistry and the behavior were observed notably between the currently most widely used inbred C57BL/6J and C57BL/6N mouse substrains. Using the EMPReSSslim phenotyping pipeline, allowing a broad based assessment of diverse biological systems, the ICS contributed to decipher the different phenotypes between the two lines that were replicated across multiple mouse clinics. Secondary phenotyping assessments were performed to explore additional biological functions and to characterize further phenotypic differences identified in the primary assessment. The significant changes reinforced the impact of the genetic background to various phenotypic analysis, even using nearly divergent substrains. Fixed mutations and structural genomic variations were found potentially linked to the phenotypic changes observed. This publication highlights the interest of European and International efforts, carried out for over 10 years, in which ICS is actively involved, that aim to functionally annotate the mammalian genome for the scientific community.

Sept. 3, 2013

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23902802

Results of Call for joint research projects "Murine models and rare diseases"

The "Fondation Maladies Rares" and the National Infrastructure PHENOMIN are pleased to announce the results of the Call for Proposals 2013 for joint research projects "Murine models and rare diseases". The ad hoc Scientific Committee ("Fondation Maladies Rares" – PHENOMIN) has selected 20 projects amongst 60 submitted projects.

Congratulations to the laureates!

July 8, 2013

http://www.phenomin.fr/calls/fmr/

AgedBrainSYSBIO

AgedBrainSYSBIO is a European Research Network co-funded by the European Commission within its FP7 Cooperation Programme. The AgedBrainSYSBIO consortium is coordinated by the French National Institute for health and medical research (Inserm, Prof. Michel Simonneau) and brings together an scientists with internationally recognized expertise in systems biology of the synapse and four small to medium size enterprises (SMEs) with a leading role in the project to assure the innovation potential and translation of project results to clinical application. ICS is an active participant of this consortium.

March 14, 2013

http://www.agedbrainsysbio.eu/

Call of proposal Fondation Maladies Rares / PHENOMIN

The Foundation for rare diseases and the National Infrastructure PHENOMIN (ICS TAAM, CIPHE) are pleased to announce the launch the call for joint research projects, "Murine models and rare diseases."

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This call for proposals aims to establish and characterize mouse models: conditional Knock-Out (cKO), Knock-In (KI) and transgenic (TG) in the field of rare diseases. These knockout mice, together with the wealth of associated data, will serve as a valuable, freely available, resource for French researchers investigating gene function and human pathophysiology.

Jan. 31, 2013

http://www.phenomin.fr/call-fondation-maladies-rares/

Associated file

First INFRAFRONTIER-I3 project Transnational Access call for mouse production published

FP7 funded INFRAFRONTIER-I3 project (2013-2016) supports eligible customers with a free of charge mouse production service implemented as a Transnational Access (TA) activity providing a total of 30 access units. The access unit is defined by the production of a minimum of two heterozygous mice carrying the targeted gene allele of choice from the corresponding validated gene-targeted ES cell clone(s).

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March 7, 2013

http://www.infrafrontier.eu/news2011.php

Associated file

BALB/cN ES cell line for germline transmission

The ICS has established and validated its proprietary BALB/cN ES line. This ES will be very useful to develop genetically engineered mouse model for research into immunology and also cancer.

Sept. 5, 2012

Biomarkers and Vascular Diseases Symposium

The four partners of the INTERREG program supported by the "Offensive Science", namely Winfried März(MannHeim) , Heiko Runz (Heidelberg), Francois Spitz (Heidelberg) and Yann Hérault (Illkirch) with their collaborators, will pave the way to new discovery in cardiovascular diseases.

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The symposium "Biomarkers in Vascular Disease" which will be held on January 18th and hosted by the Mannheim Institute of Public Health and be held in the lecture hall "Alte Brauerei" of the Medical Faculty Mannheim of the University of Heidelberg. The meeting will have two aims. First, as in previous meetings, active (and new) LURIC researchers shall have a platform to present and discuss their projects with each other. Second, we wish to present those results that might have immediate practical implications to healthcare.

Jan. 14, 2013

Associated file

ICS Symposium

The Mouse Model for basic and biomedical research. For its 10th anniversary the Mouse Clinical Institute has the pleasure to invite you to the 1st symposium of French National Infrastructure PHENOMIN.

Aug. 10, 2012

http://icssymp-jun2012.sciencesconf.org/

Sept projets transfrontaliers d’excellence obtiennent un financement dans le cadre de l’Offensive Sciences de la Région Métropolitaine du Rhin Supérieur.

The Offensive Sciences, unique initiative in Europe, allows for the first time to support excellent cross-border research projects thanks to the cofinancing granted by States of Bade-Wurtemberg and of Rhineland-Palatinate, the Region Alsace and of the European Union. 7 projects prize-winners - representing a 10 million euro total budget - were selected by an international jury, among 36 proposals of project. The selected projects reflect the wealth and the diversity of the research activities led in the Upper Rhine. They are characterized by their innovative character and their high scientific value. The Institute “Clinique de la Souris” introduced in 2012 the project entitled “genetic mechanisms of the cardiovascular diseases” thanks to the effective cross-border partnership with the clinicians F.Spitz and W Maerz. Since the beginning, the institute was able to double effort within its platform of clinical characterization and this allowed the detection of cardiovascular pathologies in new genetically engineered mouse model.

July 4, 2012

Communiqué de presse L'Offensive Sciences

Website

PHENOMIN: 1st nomination

PHENOMIN is very glad to announce the results of the 1st call for Expressions of Interest for utilizing mouse model resource.
249 genes were nominated by 85 French PI.

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Using two selection criterias (value of the scientific project and availability of at least 3 clones with conditional potential in the ES mutant cells resources (IKMC)), we were able to select 140 genes which will enter the process of mouse model production and phenotyping.

May 15, 2012

http://www.phenomin.fr/impc/first_nomination/

Infrafrontier Memorandum of Understanding signed by five countries

With the signatures of the Czech Republic last week and France this week, the Infrafrontier Memorandum of Understanding has now been signed by five European member states. The document had already been signed by Germany, Greece and Finland.

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In the Memorandum of Understanding, the signatories express their intent to implement the pan-European Infrafrontier Research Infrastructure. This includes the establishment of a legal entity for the coordination of the pan-European activities of the research infrastructure, and the financial support of the national facilities contributing to the research infrastructures. The establishment of the Infrafrontier Legal Entity is currently being prepared in the Infrafrontier Inter-Ministry Working Group. This group contains representatives of ministries and major funding bodies from Germany, France, Czech Republic, Greece, Finland, Spain, Sweden, Italy, and from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). It is active since October 2010. More than 135 Million Euros have already been committed for the construction, upgrading and operation of the national facilities contributing to the pan-European Infrafrontier Research Infrastructure in Germany, France, Czech Republic, Greece, Finland, Austria, Spain and Italy.

May 8, 2012

http://www.infrafrontier.eu/