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  • Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health
  • Research
  • Technology platforms
  • Biological services
  • Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health
  • Research
  • Technology platforms
    • Bioimaging
    • Bioinformatics and computation
    • Biological services
    • Biomolecular analysis
    • Clinical and preclinical imaging
    • Electron microscopy
    • Flow cytometry
    • Genome editing
    • Genomic technologies
    • Histology
    • Mass spectrometry

Biological services

World-class facilities supporting cutting-edge in vivo experimentation

The Biological Service Facility (BSF) comprises state-of-the-art facilities to investigate the fundamental biology that underpins health and disease in both man and animals.

We provide housing and care for a multitude of species of experimental animals. These include rodents (mice, rats, gerbils, Rhabdomys and guinea pigs), fish, amphibians, and small ungulates.

Animal care and experimental support is provided by a team of over thirty dedicated, highly skilled technical staff in association with veterinary support.

The BSF also offers in-house expertise and advice to enable and facilitate world-class research from inception through experimental design to study completion.

We can provide access to the facilities and the support of our expertise to external researchers.

 

More information about The University’s approach and ethical conduct can be found on our pages on research involving animals.

On this page:

  • How we work
  • Applications
  • Technologies and equipment
  • External access
  • Publications and outputs
  • Contact us
  • Other technology platforms

How we work

Supporting your animal research project

We provide facilities, equipment, advice, care and technical support for all aspects of research studies involving animals.

Our approach

We aim to engage with all researchers from the outset of their animal research experience. This begins with licence applications and continues with guidance, support and any required training.

We bring a ‘can do’ philosophy coupled with a strong culture of care.

A mouse in a cardboard tube.

Projects

We recognise there is an importance and need for study on a variety of animal species. This is reflected in the breadth of species we accommodate and the in-house expertise we provide.

This means projects are varied in size, scope and ambition. Yet they all inform on how physiological systems operate, how they change during the life course and disease, and how they can facilitate the development of new therapies when they fail.

A member of staff feeding a sheep.

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Applications

Wide, in-depth experience of studying physiology, health and disease

Areas of study for the facility include:

  • immune function: deficiency, autoimmune disease, immunity to infection, allergy and asthma;
  • inflammation and fibrosis;
  • infection: viral, bacterial, fungal and parasitic;
  • cancer and therapies;
  • neurosciences: dementias, vision, stroke, and behaviour;
  • cardiovascular disease and hypertension;
  • metabolic disease and obesity, feeding and nutrition;
  • circadian biology;
  • stem cells;
  • musculoskeletal disease;
  • renal biology;
  • organismal development;
  • wound healing.

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Technologies and equipment

Multiple in vivo technologies

The BSF accommodates multiple in vivo technologies to facilitate the diverse array of in vivo research we undertake.

These technologies include:

Fully equipped surgical suites for large and small animals, with additional technical/surgical support.

The University of Manchester Axenic and Gnotobiotic facility has C57BL/6 and Rag 1 KO germ-free mice, that were procured from the University of Bern, Switzerland. We provide support with germ free and gnotobiotic mouse models, with expertise in the generation and long-term maintenance of mono-colonised and/or minimally diverse microbiota gnotobiotic mice.

Within a germ-free environment, we can also provide experimental and technical support for the use of infectious agents (both single and multicellular pathogenic models). The facility includes double-tier breeding isolators and smaller box isolators available for experimental use in addition to a Tecniplast iso-cage system.

Linked in vivo imaging facilities, including: MRI, PET/CT, SPECT/CT, fluorescent bioluminescence optical imaging, ultrasound, OCT imaging and 2-photon intra vital microscopy.

Metabolic assessment including calorimetery, feeding monitoring, body composition analysis.

Cardiovascular assessment including conscious and unconscious ECG, non-invasive and invasive blood pressure assessment, laser Doppler and speckle blood flow assessment.

Behavioural assessment suites with multiple novel object recognition assessment methodologies, maze and open field assessments, operant boxes, circadian activity control and assessment.

Specialist methodologies, including optogenetic modulation, whole body and area irradiation, vision assessment methodologies, lung function assessment.

These facilities benefit from our close links with the Genome Editing technology platform.

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External access

Academic and industrial partners

Both academic and industrial partners outside of the University interact with many of our animal focussed researchers through collaborations, with appropriate licensing arrangements in place.

Our ongoing research determines our capacity to take on external work, but we have a large facility with a proactive and positive approach to external partners.

If you are interested in accessing the facilities please contact: 

Dr Maria Kamper, BSF Director.
Email: maria.kamper@manchester.ac.uk

A rat on top of a plastic house.

Established processes

We have long-standing collaborations with multiple industrial contract research organisations, pharmaceutical companies and other regional academic establishments, especially in the North West.

All work is fully documented and performed under relevant contractual agreements. We are always keen to talk to interested parties who wish to explore the possibilities of animal-based research utilising the infrastructure and expertise together with the broad range of species and varied techniques available within the BSF in Manchester.

Zebrafish.

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Publications and outputs

Underpinning research in a wide variety of disciplines

The BSF supports research in a wide variety of biological and biomedical disciplines, leading to outputs in prominent academic journals.

Here are some of the highlights.

Nature Immunology, 2019.

Macrophages found in the lung play important roles in protecting against infection and respiratory allergies. We have discovered that the lung environment profoundly influences the capacity of the lung to mount immune responses through altered cell metabolism, in particular using glucose as an energy source. Importantly, once lung macrophages were removed from the lung environment they showed a completely different response profile highlighting the importance of using in vivo systems to define immune function.

  • DOI: 10.1038/s41590-019-0352-y

F1000Research, 2018.

We used genetic and chemically induced Zebrafish models of intracerebral haemorrhage to assess their usefulness in the study of stroke. We found remarkable similarities to key features of human stoke, and identified the migration of macrophages to the site of injury. The capacity to image the movement of these cells in real time using transgenic Zebrafish, opens up new possibilities for understanding the mechanisms underlying stroke and should prove a very useful model for pre-clinical work going forward. 

  • DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.16473.2

eLife, 2020.

We identified a subset of neurons that respond to GDF15, a cytokine whose overexpression in pathological states is linked to dramatic weight loss. Cisplatin, a common cancer chemotherapeutic agent, was shown to induce GDF15 release and activate these neurons, causing a reduction in food intake and body weight, mirroring the side effects experienced by cancer patients. However, pre-treatment with a monoclonal antibody specific for the GDF15 receptor abolished these effects, suggesting that neutralising antibodies or antagonists may provide a co-treatment opportunity for patients undergoing chemotherapy.

  • DOI: 10.7554/eLife.55164

Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA, 2021.

Using a diurnal rodent species, Rhabdomys pumilio, we show that increasing the intensity of daytime light enhances the reproducibility and robustness of behavioral and physiological rhythms, and increases the amplitude of circadian rhythms in electrical activity in the central brain pacemaker. These findings reveal an impact of light on circadian amplitude and highlight the potential importance of daytime light exposure for circadian health.

  • DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2100094118

Circulation Research, 2021.

Using an integrative whole animal and cellular approach, we have investigated the impact of PDE5 inhibition in a drug-induced sheep arrhythmia model. We found that sildenafil dramatically reduced the incidence and delayed the occurrence of afterdepolarizations, premature ventricular complexes, and Torsades de Pointes in vivo, and these effects were attributable to a PKG-dependent effect on Ca2+ waves and involved a reduction in SR Ca2+ content.

  • DOI: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.121.318473

Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA, 2018.

The Xenopus tropicalis tadpole skin is a powerful model system to study mucosal epithelia, which are often limited in mammalian systems due to their internal location. We have characterized the major structural component of the X. tropicalis barrier and shown that it is a mucin glycoprotein with similar sequence, domain organization, and structural properties to human gel-forming mucins, and protects against microbial infection.  Our findings therefore characterize an accessible and tractable model system to define mucus barrier function and host–microbe interactions.

  • DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1713539115

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Contact us

Get in touch

For further information or to inquire about using our facility, contact:

Dr Maria Kamper, BSF Director

Email: maria.kamper@manchester.ac.uk

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Technology platforms

Technology platforms

We have a pioneering environment and facilities for research, innovation and technology development.

Technology platforms main page

Molecular

  • Biomolecular analysis
  • Electron microscopy
  • Genomic technologies
  • Mass spectrometry

Cellular

  • Bioimaging
  • Flow cytometry
  • Genome editing

Organismal

  • Biological services
  • Clinical and pre-clinical imaging
  • Fly Facility
  • Histology
  • Manchester Clinical Research Facility (MCRF)

Cross facility support

  • Bioinformatics and computation

Contact us

  • +44 (0) 161 306 6000
  • Contact details

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The University of Manchester
Oxford Rd
Manchester
M13 9PL
UK

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