Release of the Netherlands Cancer Institute’s GEMM-ESC archive via the EMMA repository

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.

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

Departments

iCS provides researchers with large scale creative abilities of genetic modification and functional analysis in mice. ICS provides and develops open services to the entire scientific community, genetic engineering in mice, zootechny, and standardized functional analysis while ensuring ethics and welfare of animals. The user’s community is composed of more than 300 french, european, public or private labs and pharmaceutical groups.

iCS consists in 3 highly interactive departments : Genetic Engineering and Model Validation, Mouse Supporting and Phenotyping which generate and characterize more than 200 genetically modified mice per year.

Resources & Technologies

The ICS has a dedicated team to manage its information system whose main goal is to create new mouse tools for the community. The team has developed modern, web-based applications to capture process and analyse all relevant data of the ICS. These databases covers major activities (genetic engineering, animal facility, phenotyping), as well as transversal fields such as quality control.

Public resources: 

• MousePat
• NR Zoo
• CreER^T2 Zoo
• EUCOMM Lines
  
• PHENOMIN Lines

Ethics and animal welfare

The ICS cares about animal welfare. We have decided to respect, as sensitive beings, animals we are working with. Our scientific results totally rely on animals, that's why ICS' teams are involved in ethics and welfare. Every day, we do respect, as sensitive beings, animals we are working with.
In 1959, Russel & Burtch have developed the famous 3Rs concept (Replace, Reduce, Refine) in order to protect animals used for scientific purposes. During our projects, we respect this concept. But it is not enough to develop an ethical thinking. Thus, we also improve our procedures in order to obtain a balance between the benefit for science and the animal well-being.

Collaborations

ICS plays a central role in large-scale infrastructures, both on a national level with CELPHEDIA and on a European level through the European Infrastructure Programme InfraFrontier I3.

Likewise, ICS is a major player in various European funded programs oriented towards mouse genetics such as EUCOMM, EUMODIC, EMMA, GENCODYS, AgedBrainSYSBIO and INTERREG. By joining the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium, ICS contributes to decipher mammalian gene functions in order to better understand human physiology and disease.

About ICS

The Institut Clinique de la Souris - ICS (Mouse Clinical Insitute - MCI) is a research infrastructure of excellence for translational research and functional genomics.

Founded in 2002 by Pierre Chambon, operated by Inserm, CNRS and the University of Strasbourg and supervised by GIE-CERBM, it provides a comprehensive set of specialised services to academic and industrial users and is a major player in the European post-genomics era programs. The close interaction with the IGBMC strongly contributes to the development and design of new techniques and functional assays.