Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
In this article, the authors identify LanCL1 as a major male germ cell-specific antioxidant gene. Using different mouse models, they show that LanCL1 deficiency results in spermatozoal oxidative damage and impaired male fertility, while LanCL1 transgene expression protects mice against high-fat-diet-induced oxidative damage and subfertility.
In this article, Henry et al. examine how the geometry, size, opacity and depth of test chambers influence common behavioral responses in Artemia franciscana.
Survey data from 1,187 US biomedical researchers using vertebrate animals reveal diverse perspectives within the animal research community on issues of reproducibility and rigor, attrition rates in drug development, research oversight, and public engagement.
In this article, the authors characterize a new swine model of invasive pneumococcal pneumonia in mechanically ventilated pigs to mimic clinical conditions of critically ill patients.
Enchytraeus crypticus is a soil-dwelling annelid worm that has been used over the past two decades as an ecotoxicology model. Here, Mónica Amorim and colleagues present the first genome for E. crypticus. The authors identify a number of expanded gene families, including several involved with innate immunity.
In this article, the authors compared 24-h spontaneous locomotor activity in three different mouse strains (two inbred strains and one outbred strain) over a period of 2 months by using an automated recording home-cage device. Analysis of different metrics revealed strain-specific spontaneous locomotor patterns.
Long et al. examined the gut microbiome of C57BL/6 mice from two production sites of three different vendors upon receipt, and as the mice adapted to the new vivarium at the University of Connecticut Health Center. Bacterial proportional abundance varied among mice from each vendor, and mice from all vendors exhibited changes in microbial profiles over time. These findings support the need to consider the microbiome as a potential source of variation in mouse studies.
In this article, the authors evaluate the suitability and effectiveness of their micropipette-guided drug administration method as an alternative and non-invasive administration strategy for clozapine-N-oxide in chemogenetic studies using designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs.
Preece, Alghadban et al. explore the use of naturally sterile hybrids as an alternative to vasectomized males for the production of pseudopregnant female mice for embryo transfer. Sterile hybrids can contribute to the refinement of the procedure by avoiding a surgical intervention associated with pain and discomfort.
Poon, Y-Y et al. re-visit the effects of isoflurane on cardiovascular functions by measuring temporal changes in blood pressure, heart rate, cardiac performance, baroreflex-mediated sympathetic vasomotor tone, cardiac vagal baroreflex, functional connectivity within baroreflex neural circuits, carotid or cerebral blood flow, respiratory rate and blood gas in mice exposed to 1.5% (vol/vol) isoflurane.
Here, the authors present a new fear-conditioning paradigm in zebrafish using a robotic platform composed of three zebrafish replicas as a fear-eliciting stimulus.
Continuous motion monitoring sensitively predicts terminal endpoint in a mouse model of ovarian cancer; the use of motion metrics could reduce animal suffering and be valuable for drug efficacy testing.
In rats, forced running wheel exercise activates an adaptation of the antioxidant system response in skeletal muscle at speeds <16 m/min, whereas it induces oxidative stress at higher speeds in muscle, liver and serum.
In this study, Åhlgren and Voikar demonstrate that C57BL/6N and C57BL/6J mice from different vendors show substantial behavioral differences, although they are derived from the same strain. These results suggest that different mouse strains and substrains should be included in experiments to address the lack of reproducibility.