Akr j

The inbred mice strains C57BL/6J (strain # 000664), AKR/J (strain # 00064), and B6.Cg-Cav1^tm1Mls/J (strain # 007083) used in this study were purchased from the Jackson Laboratory (Bar Harbor, ME, USA). Approximately 8-week-old mice of these strains were used to establish timed pregnancies separately, as described previously [6 (link)]. The vaginal plug was observed to keep a record of the start of pregnancy (day 1). On days (d) 12, 15, and 17, the pregnant mice were euthanized, the fetuses were collected [15 (link)] and washed in sterile PBS, and the whole brain was dissected from each fetus [27 (link)].

Male 129S1/SvlmJ, 129S4/SvJaeJ, 129S8/SvEvNimrJ, A/J, AKR/J, BALB/cJ, BTBRT < +>ltpr3 < tf>/J, C3H/HeJ, C57BL/6J, CBA/J, DBA/1J, DBA/2J, FVB/NJ, LP/J, MA/MyJ, NZB/BINJ, SJL/J, SM/J, & SWR/J mice were obtained from Jackson Laboratory (Bar Harbor, ME). 129S2/SvPasCrl were obtained from Charles River (Wilmington, MA). Individual strain characteristics can be found on https://mice.jax.org/ and https://www.criver.com/ (129S2). These mice were part of a larger project examining the influence of genetic background on sensitivity to drugs of abuse. All mice were 10–15 weeks of age for behavioral testing and tissue collection (n = 9–13 per strain). All mice were group-housed [with the exception of SJL/J, which were single-housed due to excessive social aggression characteristic of this strain; (43 (link))] with a 12-h light/dark cycle and unlimited access to food and water. All behavioral testing occurred between 8:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. All procedures were conducted in accordance with the NIH Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and approved by the Penn State University IACUC Committee.

Female mice of six inbred strains (AKR/J, C3H/HeJ, A/J, C57BL/6J, 129S1/SvImJ, KK/HlJ) were purchased from the Jackson Laboratory (Bar Harbor, USA) and housed in the animal facility of the Meakins-Christie Laboratories. All mice were handled according to guidelines and regulations of the Canadian Council on Animal Care. Late stage radiation-induced phenotype values of pulmonary fibrosis score and time to respiratory distress, for these six strains, were taken from a previous report [22 (link)]. In that work mice received 18 Gy whole thorax irradiation and were euthanized upon presentation of respiratory distress which was defined as a loss of body weight exceeding 20%, accompanied by hunched posture, ruffled fur and visibly accelerated breathing. All mice euthanized due to presentation of distress symptoms had developed significant pneumonitis upon histological evaluation of lung tissue. The percent of the histological section covered with a fibrotic lesion was computed with imaging analysis as the fibrosis score of a mouse. The fibrosis scores used here are the average scores of mice from the same strain.