Aged Rodent Tissue Bank
The NIA Aged Rodent Tissue Bank (ARTB) is a repository of tissue collected from mice and rats maintained in the NIA Aged Rodent Colonies. Biospecimens are collected, archived, and distributed under a contractual arrangement with the University of Washington, Seattle. The NIA supports the three R’s of research (Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement) through maximizing the use of existing banked samples from mice and rats and providing tissues for research on aging.
Tissues from the NIA ARTB are available at no cost to investigators at academic and nonprofit research institutions conducting studies on aging. Investigators at for-profit organizations are not eligible to receive tissues from the NIA ARTB unless they are funded through US federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.
Available tissue
The NIA ARTB collects biomaterials from rodents transferred from the NIA Aged Rodent Colonies. The colonies are barrier-maintained and specific pathogen-free (SPF). Rodents are shipped from the holding facilities to the ARTB location and are allowed to acclimatize for 5 (five) days after arrival.
- Species represented in the bank include:
- Mouse: C57BL/6JN (C57BL6), BALB/cByJNIA (BALBc), and BALBc x C57BL6 F1 (CB6 F1)
- Rat: Fisher F344-cdf (F344), and F344 x Brown Norway BN/crl F1 (FBN F1)
- Limited samples from retired colonies, including caloric restricted (CR) and control ad libitum (AL) mice and rats are available upon request
- Health information provided
- Standard Protocols and Procedures are available upon request.
Researchers can select frozen tissues, unstained slides from formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues, or tissue microarrays (TMAs). Learn more below.
Frozen Tissues
Fluid, tissues, and organs are flash-frozen and stored at –80°C. Standard biomaterials available include: serum, blood, brain, eyes, heart, muscle, lungs, liver and kidneys. Additional dissected tissues include small intestine, spleen, ovary or testes, pancreas, prostate, skin, white and brown adipose tissue, thymus and adrenal gland.
Unstained Slides
Unstained slides are available from tissues and organs in our collection which were fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin and embedded in paraffin blocks.
Tissue Microarrays (TMAs)
Sets of 12 tissues each from 4, 18, and 28 month old C57BL/6 mice were collected for use in constructing tissue microarrays. The 12 tissues include brain, heart, lung, liver, kidney, adrenal gland, spleen, pancreas, skin, testes, prostate and muscle. Tissues were fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin for 48 hours before being transferred to 1X PBS. All tissues were processed into paraffin blocks within 6 days post-fixation. An H&E slide was then made for each tissue for evaluation before extracting the cores used to construct the tissue microarrays.
More Information
Tumor disclaimer: Biomaterials listed as tumor tissue or frozen tissues listed as containing tumors are based on gross observation of tissue enlargement/masses and should be taken to mean that they are potential tumors (neoplasms) or contain potential tumor (neoplastic) tissue. No pathological analysis or testing has been done to verify tumor status. All potential tumors are identified on an animal’s vital statistics information sheet. If you do not wish to receive any tissues from an animal which had a potential tumor or any tissues which contain a potential tumor, please indicate this on the Request Form.
Special collections: Occasionally, the ARTB may be able to collect non-standard biospecimens and ages in addition to those routinely collected. For information, contact Dr. Tiziana Cogliati.
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How to request rodent tissue
To request biospecimens from the NIA ARTB, complete and email the Request Form below to NIATissues@mail.nih.gov. All information requested on the Request Form must be provided. Incomplete order forms will be returned.
Once you submit the Request Form, you will receive an email within 2 business days. If you do not receive an email, contact NIATissues@mail.nih.gov.
Note: If there is a problem with the biospecimen you receive, please contact NIATissues@mail.nih.gov within 24 hours of receipt. NIA will only replace orders if they were not filled correctly by the distribution center or if they were lost in shipping.
How to acknowledge the resource
The following language should be used for the required acknowledgment of this NIA resource in publications such as peer reviewed manuscripts, pre-publications (e.g. BioRXiv), conference abstracts, conference posters, and conference presentations that use materials from the NIA Aged Rodent Tissue Bank:
“This research was made possible in part using biomaterials from the NIA Aged Rodent Tissue Bank (Aged Rodent Tissue Bank | National Institute on Aging (nih.gov)) at the University of Washington, Seattle under contractual agreement with the National Institute on Aging (NIA).”
Please inform Tiziana Cogliati, Warren Ladiges ,and John Morton when you have a research paper published electronically or in press or when conference abstracts/posters/presentations are accepted.