Transform your research with mice in the UF Pepper Center Systems Physiology and Multi-omics Core.
We provide unique pre-clinical resources to help you perform translationally relevant physiological assessments of your mice. This Core offers the expertise to support your multi-omics research design and bioinformatic analyses to help extract meaningful interpretations.
Advanced Resources
At the University of Florida, we have light-controlled cabinets within Animal Care Services so that you can arrange a light schedule that works for the mice and your research group. We have two options for mouse activity: either infra-red activity monitors to track mouse movement, or wheel cages to track mouse physical activity. Novel automated feeding hoppers help to monitor and control the timing and amount of feeding.
All of our resources capture data in real time, and the mice can be housed for longitudinal studies. We have EchoMRI equipment for rodent body composition analysis, and 16 modular TSE Phenomaster cages that allow researchers to carry out metabolic monitoring in mice using indirect calorimetry.
These resources provide robust time-series data sets. With support from our expert staff, we can help you extract the information you need from these datasets for many different aging and mobility research questions.
Common Questions
You can address many questions with data from these resources:
- Compare running activity in differently aged mice: do your mice exhibit aging-like patterns such as shorter bouts? Do they show delays in the time at which they get active?
- Are you interested in the potential for time-restricted feeding or intermittent fasting? We can help you set up your study to mimic some of the approaches that are now being applied in clinical populations.
- Do you think your mouse model has an altered resting metabolic rate? Or maybe there is impaired metabolic flexibility? Our TSE cages will let you address those important questions.
Multi-omics and More
Are you interested in adding different types of omics approaches to your research? Our staff members have significant wet lab expertise to help with the design of genomic and transcriptomic experiments.
Through Core 5, we have the bioinformatics expertise for genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics datasets to help navigate these large datasets for your research. This Core mainly offers consultation and data support services.
Services & Equipment
These services are available to support new investigators, early-stage investigators and current investigators in aging.
Core services include the following resources for mouse systems physiology:
- Mouse cage activity recordings.
- Automated, computer‐controlled feeding hoppers to monitor and/or control temporal feeding.
- Mouse running wheels for voluntary exercise or treadmills for controlled exercise
- Mouse or rat body composition analysis
- Mouse cages for metabolic analysis including resting metabolic rate, oxygen consumption and RER measures.
- Non‐invasive analysis of mouse sleep parameters.
- Mouse cages for sleep deprivation studies.
- Statistical support for circadian data analysis.
- Support for the sample preparation, experimental design and guidance for analysis of multi‐omics data.
Learn more about these resources here.
Resources & Equipment
- Light controlled mouse housing.
- Infrared motion detectors for 24/7 activity recording.
- Wheel cages for voluntary exercise.
- Automated, computer-controlled feeding hoppers.
- TSE Phenomaster metabolic cages.
- Sleep fragmentation chambers.
- Treadmills (Mouse)
- Echo MRI rodent body composition analyzer (NMR-MRI-based technology)
Core Leadership
Karyn Esser
Miguel A Gutierrez Monreal
Please contact us with any specific concerns or requests.