INFRAFRONTIER2020 Project – Trans-national Access call – July 2017
Derivation of germ-free mice (axenic service) call
Call information and application form
Context and aim of the call
INFRAFRONTIER is the European Research Infrastructure for phenotyping, archiving and distribution of model mammalian genomes. The INFRAFRONTIER Research Infrastructure provides access to first-class tools and data for biomedical research, and thereby contributes to improving the understanding of gene function in human health and disease using the mouse model. The core services of INFRAFRONTIER comprise the systemic phenotyping of mouse mutants in the participating mouse clinics, and the archiving and distribution of mouse mutant lines by the European Mouse Mutant Archive (EMMA) (www.infrafrontier.eu).
INFRAFRONTIER2020 project and microbiome research
One of the INFRAFRONTIER2020 project aims is to develop pilot platforms and services supporting microbiome research. A service to derive germ-free (axenic) mice is now provided by three infrastructures with a long standing expertise and track record in the derivation of axenic and gnotobiotic mice, namely the Gnoto / Axenic Facility of the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, the Karolinska Institutet Core Facility for Germ-free Research, and the CNRS Service Isotechnie of the PHENOMIN-TAAM infrastructure. The Karolinska Institutet has maintained a unique platform for the handling and derivation of gnotobiotic models kept under germ-free (GF) conditions since the 1960s. All infrastructures are partners and founding members of the ECGnoto network.
The participating INFRAFRONTIER infrastructures are among very few dedicated facilities in Europe who have the required equipment and expertise to generate germ-free and gnotobiotic mice. All infrastructures routinely offer their services to external users. The participating axenic- and gnotobiology platforms support research into host-microbiota interactions to study the role of the microbiome in both health and disease. This has been the subject of extensive research and established the involvement of the microbiome in metabolism, nutrition, physiology, and immune function and showed that mammalian microbiota play crucial roles in the pathogenesis of many diseases.
Access to the axenic service will be granted on the basis of scientific excellence and supports pilot projects for the derivation of-germ-free mice. Further breeding and characterisation of axenic mice or the development of gnotobiotic models can be offered on a fee-for-service or on a collaborative basis.
During the course of the INFRAFRONTIER2020 project a total of 2 Trans-national Access calls for the derivation of germ-free mice supporting a total of 10 projects will be published. The second call will be released in spring 2018.
More information and call application form: https://www.infrafrontier.eu/resources-and-services/axenic-service/infrafrontier-axenic-germ-free-service.
Proposal submission to proposals@infrafrontier.eu by August 31st 2017.
Proposal evaluation from September 1st to October 15th 2017.
The INFRAFRONTIER2020 project has received funding from the EU Research and Innovation programme Horizon 2020 (H2020-EU.1.4.1.1. Developing new world class research infrastructures)
