Director:

Assistant Professor of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine

Contact Information:

Name: Toshihiko Kawamori

Phone: 843-792-4171

E-Mail: kawamori@musc.edu

Location: Walton Research Building RM #310

Description:

The Animal Models Core consists of 4 facilities: Transgenic, Gene Targeting and Knockout, Xenograft, and Carcinogenesis. Transgenic and Gene Targeting facilities are essential genetic tools for studying mammalian gene functions in vivo, by testing the over-expression and loss-of-function mutations in animal development and in tumor susceptibility, respectively. In addition, Transgenic technology can be used in generating tissue-specific expression vehicles that can be utilized in creating conditional knockouts, either by Cre recombinase or by siRNA expression. Xenograft of human cancer cells or tissues into immune deficient mice is an indispensable step in correlating in vitro cell biology studies of cancer biology with tumorigenicity in vivo. The tumor grown in mice can also serve as a realistic test model for new therapeutics. For studying specific cancer types, the Carcinogenesis facility is able to generate several organ-specific cancers in rodents; they are invaluable tools for testing the function and therapeutic values of specific genes and therapies. The Cancer Animal Model Core combines the existing expertise of these four facilities to form a comprehensive service to assist cancer researchers at HCC.

Services:

The Carcinogenesis component of the Animal Model Core will provide the following services:

• Information about available animal carcinogenesis models for your experiments
• Consultation for both animal experimental protocol and procedures
• Technical support and expertise for animal procedures for cancer models (colon, tongue, and liver)
• Histological diagnosis of animals