The clinical chemistry analyser AU 400 has a thoroughput of up to 800 tests per hour and an on board capacity of 41 different analytes in parallel. The reagents are barcoded, liquid stable and ready to use. With a sample volume as low as 2µl and reaction volumes down to 150µl the system guarantees cost efficiency even in cases of limited sample material.

The blood counter (scil Vet ABC) requires a sample volume of 12µl EDTA blood with results available after 90 seconds. Red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets are measured by electrical impedance, hemoglobin by spectrophotometry.

The Amelung KC 4 A Micro Coagulation Analyser is a semi-automated mechanical clot detection system which measures the time from the addition of the start reagent to the onset of fibrinogenesis in the cuvette. The additions of both sample and reagents are manual. Time measurement of the clotting endpoint is automated.

Mice physiologically excrete large amounts of low molecular weight proteins in the urine (Major urinary proteins, MUPs). Therefore simple quantitative methods are not sufficient to detect pathological proteinuria in mice. Urinary protein electrophoresis using 4-20% gradient Tris-HCL-Polyacrylamide gels and the Bio-Rad Mini Protean II system is a semiquantitative method to distinguish between physiological proteinuria (MUPs and traces of albumin and other low molecular weight proteins), tubular reabsorption defects (increased amounts of low molecular weight proteins – between albumin and MUPs) and glomerular membrane defects (increased amounts of albumin, and possibly also high molecular weight proteins like globulins)

The ABL5 blood gas analyser (Radiometer GmbH, Copenhagen ) facilitates the analysis of pH, pO₂ and pCO₂ in only 85µl freshly collected whole mouse blood samples.

IGF-I concentrations are determined by ELISA, while Western ligand blot analysis of serum (Figure: Mörth et al., 2007) or tissue protein extracts is used to measure the abundance of insulin-like growth factor-binding proteins, which are important modulators of IGF actions (for review, see Schneider et al., 2000; Wolf et al., 2005). The samples are electrophoresed under nondenaturating conditions and blotted to nitrocellulose membranes. These are incubated with radiolabelled IGF1 or IGF2 and exposed to X-ray films or phosphoimager screens for detection of bound ligand. The individual IGFBPs (1-6) can be identified by their specific molecular weights and by subsequent Western blotting using specific antibodies.

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