Laparotomic Approach for Collecting Serial Hepatic Biopsies in Rats (Rattus norvegicus) and Mice (Mus musculus).

Researchers often consult with laboratory animal veterinarians for suggestions on how to improve their protocols. We assisted a researcher in performing serial liver biopsies in rats (Rattus norvegicus) to assess the transport of iron on a cellular level. We developed a novel collection approach that used laparotomy through a midline abdominal incision and disposable biopsy punches to obtain liver samples at 3 different times at various intervals.

Mouse mammary gland is refractory to the effects of ethanol after natural lactation.

Ethanol is a dietary factor that dose-dependently increases breast cancer risk in women. We previously have shown that ethanol increases mammary epithelial density through increased branching after dietary exposure during puberty in CD2/F1 mice. To extend these studies to parous mice in a breast cancer model, we used a transgenic mouse model of human parity-associated breast cancer, the FVB-MMTV-Her2/Neu mouse, which overexpresses wildtype EGFR2, resulting in constitutive activation of growth signaling in the mammary epithelium.