Can I store the samples in our lab liquid nitrogen freezer?
We do not normally allow labs to store their own samples. Unlike tissue culture cells, preimplantation embryos are few in number and highly sensitive to small changes in temperature, such that even briefly pulling canisters to find tubes can irreparably damage embryos.
How many mice are expected from each group of 25 embryos?
We expect that each group of 25 embryos will
yield 10 live born mice. Thus, 200 cryopreserved embryos should provide more
than sufficient backup for a strain or mutant. However, if cryopreserved
embryos will be the only source of this strain or mutant in the world, we
recommend freezing two or three times as many.
How many mice are required to get 225 healthy embryos?
Ten to twenty-five plugged, superovulated females are required, depending on the genetic background. A robust, highly fertile outbred strain like CD1 might be frozen in one session from 12 females and six stud males. Typical inbred strains might be cryopreserved in two sessions, mating two sets of 12 superovulated females to 6 stud males. Fewer mice and reduced fecundity will require a larger number of freeze sessions.
The stud males must be older than 2 months
of age, and less than a year old. Males should be housed individually for
two weeks prior to mating. If it has been some time since they have mated
or if it is their first time, put a female in their cage 2 weeks before
mating for cryopreservation, and then remove the female one week later.
Females should be 6 to 10 weeks old. We will
provede hormones to the investigator to superovulate the females.
Superovulation is the forcing of ovulation through timed injection of hormones, allowing us to synchronize and
schedule matings. Superovulation also can lead to greater numbers of eggs
in some strains.
What level of confidence can be placed in the frozen samples?
We chose the parameters that we did with the belief
that the typical need of investigators would be for backup of strains or mutants
that are available elsewhere. If your intention is to cryopreserve as the sole
source of a mutant or strain, we recommend that you cryopreserve twice. Alternatively, you can donate your strain to a public repository and distributor like The Jackson Laboratory or the Mutant Mouse Resource & Research Centers (MMRRC).