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Ms. Susan
Mayo, Uppsala University, Dept. Neuroscience, Uppsala,
Sweden (Completed 2005)
Oral Immunization of Chickens for the Refinement of Egg
Yolk Antibody Production: Implementation of the Four R’s
in Antibody Production
This project aims at developing effective oral immunization
techniques for chickens used in antibody production.
A significant proportion of laboratory animals are used
to produce antibodies, and this lab has worked for a
number of years on the development of completely non-invasive
production systems utilizing antibodies purified from
the eggs of immunized chickens. This final part of the
project which consists of good oral immunization regimes,
will eliminate all animal stress from the production
of antibodies and actually turn this use of animals
into an activity that can be carried out in any egg
producing farm facility. |
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Mr. Aaron
Haubner, University of Kentucky, Lexington. (Completed
2005)
Design
and discovery of novel subtype-selective nicotinic receptor
agonists and antagonists utilizing animal-free cell culture
and microplate technologies
This project will utilize cloned human cell lines
that express a variety of nicotinic receptors to pharmacologically
evaluate and determine the mechanism of potential drug
candidates. The goal is to establish experimental protocols,
which will eventually replace the use of animals in nicotinic
drug activities and mechanism screens, as well as improve
experimental assay precision and predictability. |
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Mr. Erik
Suuronen, University of Ottawa Eye Institute, Canada (Completed
2004)
Development
of an Innervated Functional Human Corneal Equivalent for
In-Vitro Testing
The University of Ottawa Eye Institute has already developed
a functional equivalent of a human cornea using human
cells. Mr. Suuronen’s project characterizes the
morphology and function of the corneal nerves and integrate
nerves into a cell model. The innervated model will be
useful in pain and toxicity testing as well as in research
on the role of nerves in wound healing. Currently, animals
are used in corneal research because healthy eye bank
corneas are used for transplantation, rather than research.
Thus far, the corneal model has shown appropriate nerve
morphology with cells that conduct action potentials (the
long distance signal that carries messages from the stimulus
for information processing) and contain neurotransmitters
(the chemicals needed to transmit the signal between nerve
cells). The innervated corneas showed a significantly
faster rate of wound closure compared to non-innervated
corneas. Finally, Mr. Suuronen and his colleagues have
successfully reconstructed an innervated cornea with a
surrounding innervated sclera, which contains blood-vessel-like
structures. |
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Valeri Farmer-Dougan,
Ph.D., Illinois State University (completed 2003)
The Zoo as a Natural
Learning Laboratory: Developing a Behavior Research and
Training Unit with ISU and Miller Park Zoo
This project uses the Miller Park Zoo as a learning laboratory
for undergraduates in psychology courses. Traditionally,
rats and other animals are used to teach the principles
of learning to undergraduates. The rats are kept in a
laboratory setting and usually killed at the end of the
learning project. This project eliminates the traditional
rat learning lab in ISU’s psychology department.
Students practice training and observation techniques
with zoo animals which in turn, provide environmental
enrichment for the animals. Further, students serve as
docents and educate the general public about animal behavior
and the use of animals in research.
During the Spring 2002 semester, there were five projects.
These projects covered behavioral enrichment of tamarins,
lemurs, pygmy marmosets, Malaysian sun bears, and a Sumatran
tiger. The IFER grant also supports ongoing projects including
environmental enrichment of red wolves, the measurement
of zoo visitor attitudes and knowledge about tortoises,
and non-invasive cognitive studies of Cotton-topped tamarins. |
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Stephanie
M. Dloniak, Michigan State University (completed 2002)
Evaluation or Hormonal Status, Parasite Load, and Behavioral
Correlates in Free-Ranging, Spotted Hyenas
Dloniak studies the behavioral endocrinology of free-ranging
spotted hyenas in the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya.
Social stress within a clan of hyenas may be sufficient
to decrease the reproductive success or survival of certain
individuals. Spotted hyenas may become increasingly dependent
on conservation efforts in the field and in captivity
so monitoring stress hormones will become a useful tool
for identifying environmental factors likely to cause
stress.
Traditionally, stress hormones have been measured in blood
plasma, obtained by darting and capturing the hyenas,
causing further stress. Measuring stress hormones in feces
avoids the stress of capture, multiple samples can be
obtained from the same individual, and different types
of information can be acquired from each sample. In order
to get a comparable data set from blood samples, Dloniak
would have to dart 100 hyenas seven times each.
The project has three main goals: 1) to validate various
steroid hormone assays for use with spotted hyenas, 2)
to use these assays to evaluate hormonal status in the
hyenas in over seven years of archived fecal samples,
and 3) examine the relationship between hormonal status,
fecal parasite loads, and agonistic behavior. The research
will reveal how physiological factors interact to shape
mammalian behavior, and enhance wildlife conservationists’
understanding of carnivore behavior and endocrinology. |
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Ms. Bin (Niky)
Zhao, St. John’s University, Jamaica, NY (completed
2003)
Development
of a Human Kidney Cell Line Model for the Assessment of
Antiviral Drug Transport
This project will provide needed information on transport
capabilities of cultured human cells as well as determine
if, and by what mechanisms, antiviral drugs can be transported
in these cells. Pharmaceutical companies are currently
moving toward the use of human cells as models for research
and testing, but still use pig and opossum in-vitro cell
lines (16 animals per drug) because many human kidney
cell lines are unsuitable. Through the use of a recently
developed viable human cell-line, this project will eliminate
the use of animal cells for transport studies and possibly
replace monkeys in pre-clinical studies of kidney toxicity.
Ms. Zhao has presented her research results thus far at
the St. John’s University Student Research Day and
at the May 2002 meeting of the Mid-Atlantic chapter of
the Society of Toxicology (MASOT). |
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David Ucker,
Ph.D. University of Illinois at Chicago (completed 2003)
Dissection of the
Mechanism of Non-Inflammatory Clearance of Apoptotic Cells:
A Quantitative and Systematic In Vitro Approach
Cell death is critical in normal organismal development
and homeostasis, particularly for shaping and maintaining
appropriate cellular networks. The ability of a dying
cell to trigger elimination of dead cells without eliciting
an inflammatory response is likely the overriding biological
purpose of the physiological cell death process. The fundamental
question is how recognition without inflammatory response
is assured. Lukovic and her colleagues have developed
a novel in vitro system with which to study this issue.
Using clonal populations of human cell lines, Luckovic
studies the events that lead appropriate recognition and
clearance of dead cells.
Traditionally, inflammatory responses have been studied
using whole animal models. This approach is both untenable
and inappropriate scientifically for the analysis of responsiveness
on the single-cell level. Alternative strategies in vitro
have also relied on animals as the source of primary cell
populations but are encumbered by scientific limitation,
in particular, the heterogeneity of these cell populations
obscures potential cell-type specific differences in recognition
mechanisms, and variability between samples limits experimental
reliability.
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Catherine
Schuppli, The University of British Columbia, Canada (completed
2003)
Governance of
Experimental Animal Use in Canada: The Effectiveness in
Reaching Ethical Goals
Ms. Schuppli acts as the student member of the University
of British Columbia’s (UBC) Institutional Animal
Care and Use Committee (IACUC). Her project involved interviewing
members of UBC’s IACUC as well as members of three
other universities’ IACUC, one industry IACUC, and
members of the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC).
The interviews are semi-structured, guided by exploratory,
contrasting, and descriptive questions designed to elicit
information about participants’ experiences and
concerns related to being members of an IACUC, and to
assess the influence on decisions of granting agencies,
regulatory requirements and industry funding of research.
The goal is to identify the values, issues, and responsibilities
experienced and expressed by members of the IACUC and
CCAC. An analysis of key themes will be based on the understanding
that officially expressed goals, concerns and values that
are said to be important to laboratory animal ethics in
general, may not necessarily correspond to those stated
or implied by individual IACUC or CCAC members. An individual’s
goals and concerns as well as the underlying values, may
be shaped in part by their academic discipline or research
focus, their ethnic group or religious affiliation, or
with their political history with researchers or industry.
Understanding differing values and their relative weights
for individuals highlights the complexities of moral problems
and the varying avenues along which individuals may attempt
to make responsible decisions. Practical ethical analysis
provides a basis to come to a better understanding of
the responsibilities of IACUC and CCAC members.
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