- BALB/c
BALB/c is an
albino strain of laboratorymouse from which a number of common substrains are derived. Now over 200generation s from their origin in New York in 1920, BALB/c mice are distributed globally, and among the most widely usedinbred strains used inanimal experimentation . cite web | title = BALB/c | work = Inbred Strains of Mice | publisher = Jackson Laboratory | url = http://www.informatics.jax.org/external/festing/mouse/docs/BALB.shtml | accessdate = 2007-04-16 ]History
The founding animals of the strain were obtained by Halsey J. Bagg of Memorial Hospital, New York, from a mouse dealer in
Ohio in 1913. From 1920, the progeny of the original colony were systematicallyinbred , sibling to sibling, for 26 generations over 15 years. During this time, the colony passed through the care of a number of scientists, including C.C. Little and E.C. MacDowell at theCarnegie Institution of Washington and H.J. Muller at theUniversity of Texas . Potter M. History of the BALB/c family, pp 1-5. In: The BALB/c Mouse: Genetics and Immunology, "Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology", Vol. 122. Springer-Verlag, NY. 1985.] By 1935 the animals were in the possession of Muller's student,George Davis Snell , who moved them to TheJackson Laboratory . This stock provided the basis of all the BALB/c substrains that are now in use around the world. cite web | title = A Brief History of the Two Substrains of BALB/c, BALB/cJ, and BALB/cByJ | work = Jax Mice Literature | publisher = Jackson Laboratory | url = http://jaxmice.jax.org/library/notes/443a.html | accessdate = 2007-04-16 ]Snell provided some animals from this stock to the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) to maintain. In 1961 D. W. Bailey used some of these to generate a substrain at theUniversity of California, San Francisco . In 1974, now 136 generations from the original breeding pair, these animals were returned to The Jackson Laboratory and were named "BALB/cByJ". On16 November ,2005 , The Jackson Laboratory reported this substrain had reached its 235th generation. cite web | title = BALB/cByJ | work = Jax Mice Data Sheet | publisher = Jackson Laboratory | url = http://jaxmice.jax.org/strain/001026_2.html | accessdate = 2007-04-16 ]Snell also provided a colleague, J. Paul Scott, with some BALB/c breeding stock in 1938 or 1939. When a fire destroyed the main Jackson Laboratory buildings in 1947, [cite web | title = The Jackson Laboratory Milestones: 1940 - 1949 | work = The Jackson Laboratory Timeline | publisher = Jackson Laboratory | url = http://www.jax.org/about/timeline/1940.html | accessdate = 2007-04-16 ] all of Snell's original breeding stock perished, but Scott's mice were in a different building and survived. Scott donated stock back, at generation 41, to repopulate the colony. The progeny of these are now termed "BALB/cJ" and, as of
14 December ,2006 , were 221 generations from the founding stock. cite web | title = BALB/cJ | work = Jax Mice Data Sheet | publisher = Jackson Laboratory | url = http://jaxmice.jax.org/strain/000651.html | accessdate = 2007-04-16 ] Other less popular substrains, such as "BALB/cWt", are maintained at the Jackson Laboratory, while the "BALB/cN" substrain is maintained by the NIH.Characteristics
BALB/c mice are useful for research into both cancer and immunology. According to Michael Festing's "Inbred Strains of Mice", BALB/c substrains are "particularly well known for the production of
plasmacytoma s on injection withmineral oil ," an important process for the production ofmonoclonal antibodies . They are also reported as having a "low mammary tumour incidence, but do develop other types of cancers in later life, most commonly reticular neoplasms, lung tumours, and renal tumours. Most substrains have a "long reproductive life-span" , are noted for displaying high levels of anxiety and for being relatively resistant to diet-inducedatherosclerosis , making them a useful model for cardiovascular research.There are noted differences between different BALB/c substrains, though these are thought to be due to
mutation rather than genetic contamination. Hilgers J., van Nie R., Ivanyi D., Hilkens J., Michalides R., de Moes J., Poort-Keesom R., Kroezen V., von Deimling O., Kominami R., and Holmes R. (1985) Genetic differences in BALB/c sublines. "Curr. Top. Microbiol. Immunol." 122, 19-30.] For example, male BALB/c mice are aggressive and will fight other males if housed together. However, the "BALB/Lac" substrain is much more docile. Southwick C. H. and Clark L. H. (1966) Aggressive behaviour and exploratory activity in fourteen mouse strains. "Am. Zool". 6, 559.] The "BALB/cWt" is also unusual in that 3% of progeny display truehermaphroditism . Eicher E. M., Beamer W. G., Washburn L. L., and Whitten W. K. (1980) A cytogenetic investigation of inherited true hermaphroditism in BALB/cWt mice. "Cytogenet. Cell Genet." 28, 104-115.]See also
*
Animal model
*Animal testing on rodents
*C57BL/6 External links
* [http://jaxmice.jax.org/newstrains/index.html Jackson Laboratory's mouse strains]
References
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