Operational and Billing Policies - Transgenic Mouse/ESC Shared Resource

Mission and oversight

The Transgenic Mouse/ESC Shared Resource exists to support the generation of genetically-altered mice and ESCs by Vanderbilt investigators, and operates under the oversight of the Vanderbilt Center for Stem Cell Biology. Services are provided to investigators outside Vanderbilt only as resources allow. Any disagreements with the operational policies of this Resource should be directed to these entities.

Fee-for-service disclaimer

This Resource operates on a fee-for-service basis to support various Principal Investigator (PI)-initiated projects. The responsibility for the overall design of experiments that depend on this Resource rests with the PI. In instances when a PI requires information, guidance and advice that extends beyond the simple performance of these services, then this information must be obtained through a scientific collaboration, either with a third party or from one of the Directors.

Priorities

Priority is given to Vanderbilt Investigators who are members of one or more of the Research Centers that provide financial or other tangible support for this facility. This includes the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, the Vanderbilt Diabetes Center, the Center for Molecular Neuroscience and the Center for Stem Cell Biology. Use by investigators who are not a member of one or more of these centers will be accommodated to the extent possible. In the event that demand for services exceeds the capacity to deliver them, the Managing Co-Director will determine a schedule that is maximally efficient. Experiments will not be scheduled prior to receiving the appropriate completed service forms, and review and approval by the oversight committee.

Email communications

All email correspondence and substantive verbal discussions will occur between the Managing Co-Director of this Resource and the PI for whom the service is being performed. Postdoctoral fellows, students and staff, while they may be highly involved in the project, will not be allowed to make key decisions on behalf of the PI.

Letters of support

Requests by PIs for letters that describe the success and prices of routine services should be directed to the Managing Co-Director. Collaborations between users of this resource and the Scientific Co-Directors, since they are not a routine fee-for-service activity, are considered to be a private matter. The Scientific Co-Directors are not obliged to provide letters of collaboration but may choose to do so if a project is judged to be of mutual interest.

Guarantee

The outcome of any given experiment is not guaranteed. The staff of this Resource has years of experience and routinely perform the services offered with success. However, variability can be due to the nature of the materials originating from Investigator.s laboratories, biological variability of the mice, or sometimes simply bad luck. Thus, experiments do not always provide the desired results. In this is case, one of the Co-Directors of the Shared Resource will meet with the investigator to discuss whether to proceed with the experiment and what changes may be necessary. The Resource will not be obliged to provide service when the PI fails to provide materials or results that are of judged to be of insufficient quality. Any deviation from the routine fee scheduled will be reviewed and approved by the oversight committee.

IACUC Approval

The investigator must provide current approval and protocol number for housing of mice by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). Charges incurred for housing mice is the responsibility of the PI. The PI is responsible for providing correct nomenclature for naming the mice generated by this Resource. The PI is also responsible for having an approved IACUC protocol for any terminal procedures such as the harvesting of embryos.

Confidentiality

The Transgenic Mouse/ESC Shared Resource will perform all experiments in a confidential manner. The general nature of the construct may be described in grant applications and other reports that describe the overall progress of this resource. The DNA sequence of targeting vectors and transgenes will become publicly accessible after publication of the mice or ESCs. The PI will be responsible for the distribution all mice and ESCs. Correctly targeted mESCs that give germline transmission will be retained by this Shared Resource for five years after which they may either be destroyed, or placed in a repository.

Documentation

The PI is responsible for the accurate and complete documentation of all DNAs provided to this Resource. DNA sequences for all transgenes and targeting vectors must be provided in a GenBank (.gb) format that includes annotation of all key features of the transgene or vector. Experiments will not be performed if either the digital or physical documentation of a required material is judged to be inadequate. This material will be entered into a database and will be treated as confidential information as previously described.

Acknowledgments

Use of this Resource should be acknowledged in all publications. The Cancer Center Support Grant (CA68485), the Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center (DK20593), and/or the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development (HD15052) should be cited unless prohibited by the editorial policy of the journal.

Technology Transfer

The VCSCB, through its oversight and management of the Transgenic Mouse/ESC Shared Resource, has invested intellectual effort into many if not all of the services offered. Thus, the VCSCB shall seek to receive an appropriate share of the funds arising from the licensing of either mice or ESCs generated through the use of this resource.

Reporting follow-up Results

Interim results of the analysis of ESC clones and/or mice obtained from this Resource must be reported back to resource personnel as promptly as possible. Failure to provide this information in a timely manner may result in the inadvertent loss of transgenic founder animals, deterioration of unexpanded ESCs, or additional mouse cage charges.

Billing of Vanderbilt Investigators

The Core Ordering & Reporting Enterprise System (CORES) will be used for all billing. If the service includes a project initiation fee it will be processed through CORES during the month when the service is scheduled to be initiated. The remainder of the project fee will be processed through CORES upon completion of the service. Cryopreservation storage fees are billed annually in April.

Billing of External Investigators

PIs from outside Vanderbilt will be billed in full during the month that the experiments are scheduled to begin. An invoice will be sent to the investigator by email using CORES. Payment must be received before animals will be shipped. All external PIs will be subject to a 21% institutional surcharge. The PI will also be billed all mouse cage per diem charges and any other costs related to the experiment being performed, such shipment of the mice.

Prepayments

Prepayments in advance of the actual use of this Shared Resource are not allowed.

Non-standard experiments

Any deviations from the routine fee schedule must be reviewed and approved by the Oversight Committee.

Failed Experiments

The Transgenic Mouse/ESC Shared Resource will repeat specific experiments as necessary to achieve the deliverables that have been specified for each service type. However, any additional service beyond that specified for each service type must be approved by the Oversight Committee of this Resource and will usually require an additional charge.

Tailing and Ear Punching

1. At 3 weeks of age, mice will be ear punched and tailed by the Transgenic Core staff.
2. The Transgenic Core staff will e-mail the contact person for the project and the investigator to let them know when the tail samples are ready for pick-up.
3. Within the following 3 weeks, the investigator must let the Transgenic Core staff know which animals are positive for the gene of interest.
4. At 6 weeks of age, a non-transgenic littermate in each cage housing a transgenic animal will be used for a terminal serology bleed by the DAC staff. If a non-transgenic littermate is not available for genotyping purposes, a survival serology bleed will be done on a transgenic founder in each cage.
5. At 7 weeks of age, pending approval of the serology results by the DAC staff, the transgenic founders will be moved to the investigator's room for housing and mating.

Retailing

1. The investigator should contact the Transgenic Core to confirm which animals need to be retailed and should list a reason as to why there was a failure to genotype.
2. The Transgenic Core staff will contact the DAC to get approval for the retailing procedure and complete a plan for which mice need to be retailed.
3. Once approved, the Transgenic Core staff will retail the appropriate animals and the investigator will be notified when the samples are ready to be picked up.
4. The investigator is responsible for a $50.00 fee per cage for retailing.
5. If the investigator cannot confirm which animals are correctly genotyped within three weeks of the animals being retailed, the animals will be sacrificed.
6. If the investigator can correctly identify transgenic animals after retailing, a non-transgenic animal in each cage will be used for serology purposes. Once serology results have been approved by the DAC staff, the transgenic animals will be moved out to the investigator.

Last revised: March 12, 2009