Center for Biomedical Research Resources
Introduction
The advancement of biomedical knowledge and the development of improved means for the protection of the health and wellbeing of humans require experimentation on animals. The animal experiments performed at Juntendo University School of Medicine are all conducted in adherence with the tenet of replacement, reduction and refinement in compliance with the applicable national laws and regulations and the institutional guidelines on animal experimentation. All the experimental protocols involving animals are reviewed by the institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC). Investigators are not allowed to perform experiments on animals without obtaining approval of the protocol by IACUC.
The Center for Biomedical Research Resources (CBRR) consists of three divisions: Division of Biomedical Research Resources, Division of Experimental Surgery and Biomedical Resources, and Division of Genome Research. Each approved to perform recombinant DNA experimentation in CBRR.
In the Division of Biomedical Research Resources (BRR), there are four mouse rooms, two rat rooms, one guinea pig room, one rabbit room, and also two procedure rooms, one washing/sterilizing room, one staff room, etc. The total surface area is approximately 650 m2. The animal housing area was greatly renovated, receiving the aid from the “Atopy (Allergy) Research Center” project in 1999. Although laboratory animals are kept in the microbiologically controlled housing area, the microbiological control is not as strict as barrier facilities, therefore laboratory animals for general use are kept in BRR.
In the Division of Experimental Surgery and Biomedical Resources (ESBR), large animals such as swine are reared as well as small animals such as mice, rats and rabbits. The total surface area is approximately 500 m2. ESBR was greatly renovated, receiving the aid from the “Research Institute for Diseases of Old Ages” project in 2002. Besides animal housing areas, there are operating rooms, an X-ray room equipped with a cine-angiography system, a room for assay equipment, a washing/sterilizing room, etc. The staff is available to assist investigators performing experiments.
The Division of Genome Research (GR) is located at two different areas: GR#1 in the Atopy (Allergy) Research Center and GR#2 in the Research Institute for Diseases of Old Ages. GR#1 was established as one of the divisions of the Atopy (Allergy) Research Center in 1998, whose surface area is approximately 280 m2; GR#2 was established as one of the divisions of the Research Institute for Diseases of Old Ages in 2002, whose surface area is approximately 200 m2. In GR#1 there are four mouse rooms, two procedure rooms, one embryo manipulating room, one washing/sterilizing room, etc. In GR#2 there are five mouse rooms, one rat room, one procedure room, one washing/sterilizing room, etc. In GR, SPF animals are kept in barrier facilities under the strict microbiological control. The users/experimenters are required to wash and disinfect hands, and to wear sterilized garments, gloves, socks, etc. to enter the animal housing area. At the entrance to the animal housing area, there is an air shower. All the materials are introduced into the animal housing area through an autoclave or passing boxes. In GR various kinds of genetically modified (GM) animals including transgenic/knockout mice, immunocompromised mice, etc. are kept. Transgenic and chimeric mice are produced, using DNA constructs and embryonic stem (ES) cells, respectively, provided by investigators. Embryos and spermatozoa from GM mice and rats are also cryopreserved in GR.
The director of the Center for Biomedical Research Resources is Prof. Eiki Kominami (Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry), the chief of the Division of Biomedical Research Resources is Prof. Toshiki Kamano (Department of Coloproctological Surgery), the chief of the Division of Experimental Surgery and Biomedical Resources is Prof. Isao Nagaoka (Department of Host Defense and Biochemical Research), the chief of the Division of Genome Research#1 is Associate Prof. Takatoshi Kuhara (Atopy Research Center), and the manager of the Division of Genome Research#2 is Dr. Norihiro Tada (Atopy Research Center). The number of staff at the Center for Biomedical Research Resources includes nine people: six full-time staff and three in commission.
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