Forms

Use the links below for quick access to our forms.

Fees

Costs for our services are listed here.

Transgenic services and surgeries

These prices are for internal investigators. External academic and industry clients should contact us for pricing.

Item Cost Notes
Cell line preservation
Embryo collection/harvesting E0.5-3.5 $150 per mouse
Embryo collection/harvesting E9.5-17.5 $75 per mouse
ES cell derivation Please contact us for pricing/availability per attempt
Mouse embryonic fibroblasts $750 per pregnant mouse, if genotype known
Mouse embryonic fibroblasts $1,000 per pregnant mouse, to generate two different lines
     
Chimera production
Aggregation Please contact us for pricing/availability  
Blasotcyst injection Please contact us for pricing/availability  
Crispr/Cas9 conditional model $9,750 Rady Faculty of Health Sciences primary appointments
Crispr/Cas9 conditional model $13,000 All others
Crispr/Cas9 knockout or knockin $4,875 Rady Faculty of Health Sciences primary appointments
Crispr/Cas9 knockout or knockin $6,500 All others
Pronuclear injection Please contact us for pricing/availability  
     
Cryopreservation and recovery
Ovary freezing $500 per attempt
Speed embryo cryopreservation and sperm freezing $1,800 per line
Speed embryo cryopreservation $1,500 per line
Sperm freezing $500 per attempt, with motility test
Traditional embryo cryopreservation $1,500 per attempt for up to three sessions. Additional charges may apply if more sessions are required to obtain suitable numbers of embryos for storage
     
Gene Targeting
Electroporation/selection $2,000 per attempt
Sequencing $15 per sample: DNA extraction, PCR, purification, sending for Sanger sequencing and analysis
Vector construction Please contact us for pricing/availability  
Microinjection $2,000 per attempt
     
Rederivation
Embryo rederivation with transfer into CD1 pseudo-pregnant female $750 per attempt
Sperm rederivation with in vitro fertilization followed by embryo transfer $1,750 per attempt
     
Storage
Ovary storage $300 per year, first line
Sperm storage $300 per year, first line
Additional line $50 per year
     
Other animal services
Necropsy $50 per mouse
Ovariectomy $75 per mouse
Vasectomy $75 per mouse
Genotyping $8 per sample: DNA extraction, single PCR and Polyacrylamide gel
Miscellaneous services $50 technician time rate per hour
Other services   Please contact us

 

Imaging

These prices are for internal investigators. External academic and industry clients should contact us for pricing.

  Academic Academic Industrial
Instrumentation CACITF operated (per hour) PI operated (per hour) CACITF operated (per hour)
IVIS Spectrum $125 $75 $250
Micro CT $125 $75 $250
PET-MRI $125 $75 $250
Micro PET $125 $75 $250
Ultrasound $125 $75 $250
SPECT-CT $125 $75 $250

Prices include supplies such as syringes, anesthetic etc. Fees do not include reagents such as fluorescence and bioluminescent probes, vascular contrast agents or radioisotopes.

Animal surgeries and procedures

Central Animal Core Imaging and Transgenic Facilities can facilitate a wide variety of surgical and non-surgical animal services for researchers working within our facilities.

Necropsy

Necropsies on mice are performed for a number of reasons, including harvesting of tissues for research, health surveillance and investigation of disease.

What we will do

Isoflurane anesthesia is induced, followed by tissue collection.

Tissues are then placed in fixative or frozen as required by the investigator. Standard tissues collected include brain, heart, liver, kidney, lungs, spleen, testes (or ovary/uterus), skeletal muscle, but other tissues may be requested by the investigator.

What you need to supply

  • Mouse to be necropsied

Special considerations

The mouse is sacrificed during this procedure.

Fees

Please see the fees section for details.

Non-invasive blood pressure measurement

The IITC MRBP tail cuff blood pressure measurement system offers a non-invasive way to to monitor the blood pressure of mice and rats.

What we will do

The MRBP system  consists of climate controlled restraint chambers in which up to six animals may be placed. The animals are fitted with a combined inflation-detection cuff at a user-selected ambient temperature (typically 32 Celcius or lower).

Blood pressure pulses are detected by a high sensitivity photoelectric sensor. Readings are monitored, recorded and stored automatically and can be exported into an Excel spreadsheet.  

What you need to supply

  • Up to six rats or mice 

Fees

Please see the fees section for details.

Ovariectomy

Performing an ovariectomy on a female mouse produces a sterile animal, allowing investigators to study hormones and their effects.

What we will do

We will perform the surgery and observe the mice during recovery for up to two weeks.

What you need to supply

Researchers must provide:

  • Female mouse to be ovariectomized

Special considerations

The investigator is responsible for all  housing costs.

Fees

Please see the fees section for details.

Vasectomy

Vasectomies are performed on male mice to produce sterile males.

What we will do

The vas deferens is cut or cauterized such that reconnection is unlikely. Following surgery, males should be allowed a recovery period of two weeks, during which the surgical clips are removed.

Vasectomized males are test-mated with two females to confirm the success of the vasectomy. Pregnancy is normally apparent within two weeks. If not visible after this time, the male is considered suitable for use.

What you need to supply

Investigators must provide:

• Male mouse to be vasectomized
• Two female mice for test breeding

Special considerations

The facility will perform the surgery, but the costs of the two female mice for breeding, and the boarding costs of the male and female mice are the responsibility of the investigator.

Fees

Please see the fees section for details.

Transgenic services

We provide comprehensive transgenic services for mice to support research by University of Manitoba investigators and external clients.

Cell line generation and preservation

Producing a new mouse model takes significant resources. Protect your investment by generating cell lines for in vitro studies or as the basis for further genetic modification.

Generation of mouse embryonic stem cells

Mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) are an important tool for the investigation of pluripotency and lineage analysis.

Deriving mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) from genetic models provides an important tool for the analysis of the effect of a genetic change on development. It can also provide a tool for additional genetic manipulation.

What we will do

Embryos will be collected from the model of interest at E3.5, and at E4.5, epiblasts will be collected from late stage blastocysts and transferred to culture.

Each embryo will be treated separately and a small portion of successfully derived lines will be provided to the investigator for genotyping.

Up to 4 ES cell lines will be expanded and three vials of each will be frozen and supplied to the investigator.

What you need to supply

  • Three female mouse for breeding (and the mutant breeder male).
  • Demonstration that an assay is in place for genotyping.

Special considerations

The investigator will need to perform the genotyping within 24 hours of receiving samples.

Fees

Please see the fees section for details.

Mouse embryonic fibroblasts

Creating Mouse Embryonic Fibroblasts (MEFs) allows investigators to establish a primary culture from genetically modified animals.

What we will do

MEFs are generated from E13.5 or E14.5 dcp (day post-coitum) embryos. Cells may be obtained from an earlier stage of development if homozygosity of a line is lethal before E13.5, although the yield of fibroblasts will be reduced.

MEFs are then expanded and frozen in liquid nitrogen indefinitely for future use.

Known genotypes

If the embryos are of known genotype (i.e. both parents are homozygous at the locus of interest), we will extract MEFs from up to three embryos, culture and harvest the cells. Up to five aliquots of 3 x 106 per cryo-vial will be frozen. A “thaw test” will be performed before transferring the cells to the requestor.

Unknown genotypes

If the embryos are of unknown genotype (i.e. parents are heterozygous), we will extract MEFs from up to 10 embryos. The requester will be asked to genotype a small sample from each embryo within 24 hours, and we will continue to culture up to three embryos of each desired genotype.

What you need to supply

  • Female mouse/mice
  • Male breeder from which to establish a MEF cell line

Special considerations

The animals used for this procedure will be assigned to the facility transgenic protocol, so investigators do not need to write a protocol for this procedure or to cover these animal numbers.

Fees

Please see the fees section for details.

Embryo collection

Harvesting of embryos can be performed for a variety of applications.

What we will do

Embryos will be collected from the timed-pregnant mice and treated as requested by the investigator. The embryos can be collected at different stages from timed-pregnant female mice.

What you need to supply

  • Female mice for generating timed-pregnancies
  • Solutions and instructions for embryo processing
  • An animal protocol for the timed pregnant females

Special considerations

Investigators should be aware that the number of embryos present in a timed pregnant mouse is highly variable.

Fees

Please see the fees section for details.

Cryopreservation and recovery

Cryopreservation is a cost-effective way to preserve rare or unique mouse strains. It can also help protect against losses due to disease outbreaks in animal facilities.

Embryo freezing

Embryo freezing allows investigators to permanently store mouse lines.

The investigator should be aware that the number of embryos that can be collected from these methods varies significantly among strains. Although the facility attempts to store at least 100 embryos per line, this cannot be guaranteed.

Fees

Please see the fees section for details.

Rederivation from fresh/frozen embryos

What we will do

Prepare medium for thawing of the embryos based on the protocol supplied by the site that froze the embryos.

Thawed embryos will be transferred to pseudopregnant females.

The mice will be monitored until delivery and samples from the offspring will be provided at weaning to the investigator for genotyping

Pups with the desired genotype will be transferred to the investigator’s protocol.

What you need to supply

  • Frozen embryos or female/male mice to use to generate embryos
  • Confirmation of the availability of an assay to genotype the offspring
  • An animal protocol to accept the offspring

Special considerations

The facility cannot guarantee the success of an embryo transfer. If the investigator is ordering embryos from an external source, assuring that a control embryo vial is provided by the vendor can increase the likelihood of success. The control embryos will be used to optimize conditions.

Fees

Please see the fees section for details.

Ovary freezing

Ovary freezing allows investigators to permanently store mouse lines. It also allows investigators to “rescue” transgenic lines that are difficult to propagate.

What we will do

When the ovaries are collected, they are cut in half and either frozen in a cryovial or transferred to a histocompatible female.

If the ovary is transferred to another female, the mouse will be transferred to the investigator for testing the viability of the transferred ovary.

The animal protocol for the mice and procedure, as well as testing of the ovary viability, is covered by the Central Animal Care breeding protocol until successful transmission of the genetic alteration of interest is demonstrated.

At that time, the investigator will need to obtain an approved animal protocol.

What you need to supply

  • Female mice at four to eight weeks of age from which to generate the ovaries.
  • Female mice for implanting the ovaries (histocompatible female mice).

Storage

The frozen ovaries can be transferred to the investigator for storage or stored in the facility.

Special considerations

  • Female donor mice will be sacrificed.
  • The facility cannot guarantee the success of the ovary transplantation. 
  • Investigators are responsible for all housing costs.

Fees

Please see the fees section for details.

Sperm freezing

Sperm freezing allows investigators to permanently store mouse lines.

What we will do

Sperm is collected from male mice demonstrated to be fertile. Sperm will be collected and frozen in aliquots of 150 ul x 6 cryovials. One vial will be thawed and the sperm motility tested.

What you need to supply

  • Two proven-fertile male mice.

Storage

The frozen sperm may be transferred to the investigator for storage or stored in the Facility (in two different storage places).

Special considerations

The male mouse is sacrificed for the collection of sperm.

Fees

Please see the fees section for details.

Rederivation from fresh/frozen sperm

What we will do

Prepare medium for thawing of the sperm based on the protocol supplied by the provider.

Fresh or frozen mouse sperm will be used for in vitro fertilization of mouse oocytes collected from superovulated female mice. Fertilized oocytes will be transferred to pseudopregnant females.

The mice will be monitored until delivery and samples from the offspring will be provided at weaning to the investigator for genotyping. Pups with the desired genotype will be transferred to the investigator’s protocol.

What you need to supply

  • Frozen sperm or male mice that are proven to be fertile (for sperm collection)
  • Confirmation of the availability of an assay to genotype the offspring
  • An animal protocol to accept the offspring

Special considerations

The facility cannot guarantee the success of an in vitro fertilization. If the investigator is ordering sperm from an external source, assuring that a control sperm sample is provided by the vendor is important to increase the likelihood of success. This control sperm sample will be used to optimize the procedure.

Fees

Please see the fees section for details.

Mouse model generation

CRISPR/Cas9 is now the method of choice for the generation of most mouse models. Our facility has successfully used CRISPR/Cas9 to generate knock-in, knock-out and conditional (i.e. floxed) mouse alleles. 

Aggregation

Diploid embryo/ES cell aggregation can generate a mouse chimeric for a genetic alteration of interest.

What we will do

Genetically modified mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) are aggregated with diploid CD1 embryos to generate chimeric mice. The ES cell line will be expanded and the cells will be aggregated with a minimum of 150 CD1 embryos.

The aggregated embryos will be transferred into CD1 pseudo-pregnant females.

Offspring will be monitored for chimeras. At weaning, chimeras can either be transferred to the investigator’s protocol for testing of germ line transmission or maintained for up to two weeks at the investigator’s expense.

What you need to supply

  • The ES cell line with evidence of mycoplasma testing (chromosome counting is also recommended)
  • Evidence that a screening procedure has been planned to identify the transgene
  • An animal protocol is required for the transfer of the founding mice

Special considerations

Please note that the facility cannot guarantee germline transmission of different mouse ES cells and chimeras.

Fees

Please see the fees section for details.

Blastocyst injection

Blastocyst injection of genetically altered mouse ES cells is used to generate chimeric mice carrying the genetic alteration(s).

What we will do

ES cells will be expanded for microinjection and injected into 20-30 albino B6 blastocysts. They will then be transferred into two to three CD1 pseudo-pregnant females.

Offspring will be monitored for chimeras and at weaning, transferred to the investigator for testing of germ line transmission. They can also be maintained for up to two weeks at the investigator’s expense.

What you need to supply

  • The ES cell line with evidence of mycoplasma testing (chromosome counting is also recommended)
  • Evidence that a screening procedure has been planned to identify the transgene
  • An animal protocol is required as soon as there is evidence that germline transmission has been obtained

Special considerations

Please note that the facility cannot guarantee germline transmission of different mouse ES cells and chimeras.

Fees

Please see the fees section for details.

CRISPR/Cas9

CRISPR/Cas9 allows precise edits to be made in order to create knock-out, knock-in or conditional mouse models.

What we will do

After meeting with the investigator, a design for the model will be created.

Once the design has been approved by the investigator, the reagents (guide RNA and ss Donor if applicable) will be ordered.

The editing efficiency of the reagents will be tested in zygotes prepared by in vitro fertilization. If editing efficiency is acceptable, zygotes will be electorporated and transferred to pseudopregnant female mice.

After weaning, the founders will be transferred to the investigator's protocol or maintained for up to two weeks at the investigator's expense.

What you need to supply

Female and male mice will need to be provided if the gene edits are to be made on a mutant background. The facility will supply wild type C57BL6 or CD1 mice.

Special considerations

The investigator must prepare an animal protocol to receive the founder mice. The facility cannot guarantee that the targeted gene will be successfully altered or transmitted in the germ line.

Fees

Please see the fees section for details.

Gene targeting

Gene targeting vectors or expression vectors can be introduced into ES cells by electroporation and selected for subsequent screening and aggregation.

Most gene targeting is now done using CRISPR/Cas9. For specialized models that require vector construction please contact us directly to discuss the approach and pricing.

What we will do

We will meet with the investigator to determine the scope of the project. Then, strategy and workflow will be planned individually for each project.

What you need to supply

The role of the facility and investigator will  be optimized for each project.

Special considerations

This approach is no longer used routinely by our facility as this approach has been largely replaced by CRISPR/Cas9 mediated modification of mouse genes.

Fees

Please see the fees section for details.

Pronuclear injection

Pronuclear injection allows for the introduction of DNA or RNA for expression in the genome.

What we will do

Pronuclear injection is commonly used to inject genetic material directly into the nucleus of a fertilized oocyte. Fertilized eggs are collected at E0.5 when they are a single cell. Linearized DNA, RNA and/or protein, as appropriate, is injected into one of the pronuclei. The injected oocytes are then transferred into a pseudo pregnant mouse.

We will inject the DNA into a minimum of minimum of 150 oocytes and implant them back into female mice.

Founders (minimum of three) will be monitored. At three weeks, tail biopsies will be obtained and provided to the investigator for genotyping.

After weaning, the founders will be transferred to the investigator for testing germline transmission.

Before you begin

Before contacting us, please have the following in place:

  • Justification to generate the model
  • An animal protocol to receive the founder mice
  • A genotyping assay for the transgene 

What you need to supply

  • DNA for injection. Please consult the facility for a protocol for preparation of the DNA for injection. If required, the facility can prepare, quantify, and digest the construct, and prepare the insert for injection.
  • Three ug DNA at 100 ng/ul. We will dilute this in injection buffer to a concentration of 50 ng/ul. 
  • A picture verifying the quality, quantity and complete digestion of the DNA to be injected.

Special considerations

Please note that the facility cannot guarantee that the transgene will be expressed or transmitted in the germ line.

Fees

Please see the fees section for details.

Citing UM transgenic services 

Citing the services you received acknowledges the contributions of the transgenic services, central animal core (CAC) staff and resources for animal studies performed at UM facilities.

You can use the methods or acknowledgments section in your poster, meeting presentations and published work.

When significant intellectual contributions have been made by the UM transgenic service team and CAC staff, please follow the accepted scientific practice for publication. When appropriate, the recognition of UM team members as co-authors is appreciated.

The tabs below list publications that involve the use of transgenic services or CAC staff from the UM. For a complete publications list (ranging from 2023 to 2003) please submit a request to transgenicservice@umanitoba.ca.

If you would like to submit references of publications or patents in which the services of UM transgenic facilities were used to generate models used in the published studies, please email transgenicservice@umanitoba.ca — Pubmed IDs are sufficient.

US Patents on mouse models

1. Various uses of obesity-linked cancer models. Canada. US Patent # 62/234,336.
2. Mito-Ob: A transgenic mouse model for obesity. Canada. US20150026833 A1.

2023

Wu X, Simard LR, Ding H. Generation of Conditional Knockout Alleles for PRUNE-1. Cells. 2023 Feb 6;12(4):524. doi: 10.3390/cells12040524. PMID: 36831191; PMCID: PMC9954577.
2022

Bassi G, Mishra S. Prohibitin-1 plays a regulatory role in Leydig cell steroidogenesis. iScience. 2022 Mar 28;25(4):104165. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104165. PMID: 35434552; PMCID: PMC9010647.

Xu YXZ, Ande SR, Ikeogu NM, Zhou K, Uzonna JE, Mishra S. Prohibitin plays a role in the functional plasticity of macrophages. Mol Immunol. 2022 Apr;144:152-165. doi: 10.1016/j.molimm.2022.02.014. Epub 2022 Feb 24. PMID: 35219912.

2019

Xu YXZ, Bassi G, Mishra S. Prohibitin: a prime candidate for a pleiotropic effector that mediates sex differences in obesity, insulin resistance, and metabolic dysregulation. Biol Sex Differ. 2019 May 22;10(1):25. doi: 10.1186/s13293-019-0239-5. PMID: 31118075; PMCID: PMC6530082.

Mishra S, Nyomba BG. Prohibitin: A hypothetical target for sex-based new therapeutics for metabolic and immune diseases. Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2019 Feb;244(2):157-170. doi: 10.1177/1535370219828362. Epub 2019 Feb 4. PMID: 30717609; PMCID: PMC6405819.
 

2018

Xu YXZ, Mishra S. Obesity-Linked Cancers: Current Knowledge, Challenges and Limitations in Mechanistic Studies and Rodent Models. Cancers (Basel). 2018 Dec 18;10(12):523. doi: 10.3390/cancers10120523. PMID: 30567335; PMCID: PMC6316427.

Xu YXZ, Ande SR, Mishra S. Gonadectomy in Mito-Ob mice revealed a sex-dimorphic relationship between prohibitin and sex steroids in adipose tissue biology and glucose homeostasis. Biol Sex Differ. 2018 Aug 29;9(1):37. doi: 10.1186/s13293-018-0196-4. PMID: 30157935; PMCID: PMC6114179.
 

Imaging

Through our unit, advanced imaging systems are available to support academic, preclinical and industrial research involving in vivo studies of small animals and ex vivo studies of materials (mineralized biomaterials, grafts, implants, composites etc.). Where possible, we provide data acquisition and analysis training using our instrumentation.

Video recording

Overview

CACITF offers video recording services for both animal- and non-animal related research. This service provides the opportunity to record your work for instructional purposes or as material for video journals.

Equipment

Our equipment includes:

The ATEM switching unit allows up to four devices (cameras, laptops etc) to be connected via HDMI input ports. Video can be output to a display monitor, an external hard drive and live streamed (via Skype, Zoom, Teams or directly via internet connection). All four inputs plus the output are displayed on the output monitor. The input to be output to video is selected simply by pushing a button, as is adding switching transition effects and saving video.

Booking

Any investigator based at the University of Manitoba may request access to this service using our request form. 

Please note that video recording of any research involving animals must first be approved by the University of Manitoba Animal Care Committee via an amendment. Once your amendment is approved, enquiries/requests can be submitted online.

Request video recording services

 

Fees

CACITF offers video recording services at $250 per half-day or $500 for a full day. 

If you do not need assistance, equipment may be used at $50 per half-day or $100 for a full day.

Training and reservations

Image training and account request form

All imaging equipment users must have received appropriate training and have  an account to be able to reserve equipment. To arrange training and obtain a reservation account please complete the training and account request form.

Training and account request form

Reservations

Trained investigators can use our booking form to reserve equipment.

Make a reservation

You may also be looking for

Contact us

Central Animal Core Imaging and Transgenic Facilities
23 Basic Medical Sciences Building
745 Bannatyne Avenue
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB R3E 0J9 Canada

Transgenic services: transgenicservice@umanitoba.ca

Imaging services: SAMICF@umanitoba.ca