Collaborative Interactions Program

The Interventions Testing Program’s (ITP) Collaborative Interactions Program (CIP) was established to provide samples from ITP studies to advance aging research through collaborations with other scientists in the United States and in other countries. These samples are available free of charge (except, in some cases, for shipping charges).

Available Samples

Plasma and certain frozen tissues are available from mice sacrificed at 22 months of age in all treatment and control groups from Cohorts 2015 to the present. Fixed tissues (slides and blocks) from mice treated with acarbose (at 22 months and at end of life), 17 alpha-estradiol (at end of life), rapamycin (at 22 months and at end of life), and NDGA (at 22 months) are also available. For the current inventory, please see:

Fixed Tissues (Word, 46K)
Frozen Tissues (C2015) (Word, 29K)
Frozen Tissues (C2016) (Word, 27K)
Frozen Tissues (C2017) (Word, 61K)
Frozen Tissues (C2018) (Word, 29K)
Frozen Tissues (C2019) (Word, 32K)

The whole bodies of mice that die at the end of their lifespan in ITP cohorts are always fixed in formalin and can be an additional source of biospecimens for tests that are not affected by fixation.

How To Request Samples

To request samples, please email Dr. Jennifer Fox (jennifer.fox@nih.gov) a letter including the samples needed (from how many mice, which drugs, and from how many controls), the plans for using the samples, and the importance of conducting such studies. Include a biosketch or CV or other evidence to show that the requesting laboratory has the expertise to do the assays involved. Because the samples will be supplied in equal numbers from each of the three ITP sites, the number of mice requested should be a multiple of three (e.g., livers from nine control mice or livers from 12 control mice). Requests will be reviewed by the ITP Executive Committee and the decision will be communicated to the requester as soon as possible. Once approved, U.S. investigators will receive requested tissues in three separate shipments (one from each ITP site), and international investigators will receive requested tissues in one shipment. All samples will be labeled only with mouse IDs to allow studies to be carried out in a blinded manner. The key to unblind the samples will be provided after the data have been collected.

Publishing Data from CIP Samples

All findings generated from the use of CIP samples must be communicated to Dr. Jennifer Fox (jennifer.fox@nih.gov) and the ITP principal investigators (millerr@umich.edu, David.Harrison@jax.org, STRONG@uthscsa.edu, nadia.rosenthal@jax.org). Data must not be published prior to the publication of the ITP lifespan results, and all publications are expected to acknowledge the ITP as the source of the material by including the following language in the manuscript: “[Tissue/Plasma] from [insert name of agent(s)-treated UM-HET3 mice were obtained from the Collaborative Interactions Program of the Interventions Testing Program, funded by the National Institute on Aging.”