Lifespan Variation Across Mouse Strains

Samples of spleen tissue were obtained from mice of six strains (A/J, NOD.B10Sn-H2^b/J, PWD/PhJ, 129S1/SvImJ, C57BL/6 J and WSB/EiJ), selected for having variable life expectancy (see Table 4 for details of lifespan, numbers of animals used in each category and their respective characteristics). Median lifespan was measured in a longitudinal study16 (link)47 (link) at Jackson Laboratory Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging. All tissues used in the present study were taken from male animals which were part of a cross sectional study being run at the same time, in the same mouse room as the longitudinal study mentioned above. All experiments were carried out in accordance with National Institutes of Health Laboratory Animal Care Guidelines and was approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee (ACUC) of The Jackson Laboratory. Details of mouse strains used and animal husbandry have been previously published17 (link). Spleen tissue was excised immediately after death, placed into RNA-later storage solution (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA) and snap-frozen in vapor phase liquid nitrogen for storage within 5 minutes of collection.