Teklad lm 485 mouse rat sterilizable diet

All animal experiments were approved in advance by the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee and conformed to the NIH Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Female NZW and NZB/W mice were purchased from the Jackson Laboratory (Bar Harbor, ME) and housed in groups of four in our animal facility on a 12-hour light/dark cycle with ad libitum access to standard diet (Teklad LM-485 mouse/rat sterilizable diet, Envigo) and drinking water or water containing deferiprone (1 g/L; Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO; replaced twice per week).

Adult (6-week-old) female BALB/cJ mice were obtained from Jackson Laboratories (Bar Harbor, ME) or Charles River Laboratories (Wilmington, Massachusetts). Mice were housed in groups of five mice in high-temperature 31.2 cm × 23.5 cm × 15.2 cm polycarbonate cages with isolator lids (SJCRH) or in 38.2 cm × 19.4 cm × 13.0 cm solid-bottom polysulfone individually ventilated cages (UTHSC). Rooms used for housing mice were maintained on a 12:12 hr light:dark cycle at 22 ± 2°C with 50% humidity in the biosafety level two facility at SJCRH (Memphis, TN) or UTHSC (Memphis, TN). Prior to inclusion in the experiments, mice were allowed at least 7 days to acclimate to the animal facility such that they were 7 weeks old at the time of infection. Laboratory Autoclavable Rodent Diet (PMI Nutrition International, St. Louis, MO; SJCRH) or Teklad LM-485 Mouse/Rat Sterilizable Diet (Envigo, Indianapolis, IN; UTHSC) and autoclaved water were available ad libitum. All experiments were performed under an approved protocol and in accordance with the guidelines set forth by the Animal Care and Use Committee at SJCRH or UTHSC.