Mouse Core Director:
Erik S. Musiek, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Neurology

The COBRAS Preclinical Core offers the following services:

  • Circadian activity rhythm analysis: Mouse activity can be monitored by infrared sensors in individual cages kept in a quiet, temperature and light-controlled environment. Data is collected under 12h:12h light:dark and constant dark conditions, and thorough circadian rhythm analysis is performed using ClockLab software. Specialized light:darkschedules (phase shift, non-24h, skeleton photoperiod) can also be arranged.
  • Sleep analysis: Non-invasive sleep monitoring is available using the SignalSolutions piezoelectric cage system.  This system provides detailed sleep parameter data without invasive EEG/EMG. Data analysis is performed by the core staff. If more detailed sleep analysis is needed, full EEG/EMG sleep studies can be carried out in collaboration with the IDDRC Sleep Core (Dr. Michael Wong).
  • Sleep/Circadian disruption: Mice can be subjected to sleep disruption using a moving bar method for extended periods of time, with concurrent piezoelectric sleep monitoring. Numerous light-induced circadian disruption/desynchronyprotocols are also available for long-term circadian disruption in mice.  These include repeated phase advances (“jetlag”), 10h:10h light:dark schedules, constant light, or custom schedules.
  • Clock gene deletion: COBRAS has a variety of clock gene deletion mouse lines available for breeding and experiments, and can generate tissue-specific Bmal1 deletion lines upon request. These mice allow inducible genetic disruption of the circadian clock, often in specific tissues/cells types.
  • Circadian timecourse tissue collection: Mouse tissue can be harvested from mouse cohorts kept under constant conditions at specific intervals around the clock, allowing analysis of circadian oscillations in physiologic/metabolomics/transcriptomic parameters.

In general, core services only require that mice are transferred to the core.  Our staff will carry out the experiment, analyze the actigraphy or sleep data, and return the mice and/or tissue to you. Please contact us to discuss standard packages or customized experiments.