Cardiovascular Research Core
The Cardiovascular Research Core (CRC) facility, affiliated with RRC and Cardiovascular Research Center, is located within the Biological Resources Laboratory and NMRL B10-B24 (835 S. Wolcott Ave, M/C 937, Chicago, IL 60612). It is a pay-for-service entity that provides advanced surgical and functional assessment services to create and evaluate rodent models of cardiovascular and pulmonary vascular disease. The CRC generates various animal models of pulmonary hypertension, heart failure, myocardial infarction, and other cardiac and pulmonary vascular diseases. By providing training, project consulting, and expert surgical and experimental set-up services, the Core aims to assist scientists and principal investigators in acquiring high-quality and reproducible results for grant applications and manuscripts.
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All of our services can be core-assisted, and echocardiography and electrocardiography can be self-directed. To initiate any new service (or Animal Use Protocol or RRC account) please contact us. You can also see what parameters we offer for each functional assessment service by clicking its name above.
All of our services are available for UIC faculty as well as external users. We would be happy to consult with you to plan an experiment, implement one of our rodent models of cardiovascular disease or assist you in developing an animal use protocol and/or grant application.
Please note that both core-assisted and self-directed studies at the CRC are contingent upon prior approval of a PI’s Animal Use Protocol by the Institutional Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC).
Please visit our RRC website to find out more about our services, the state-of-the-art equipment we utilize, our fee structures and user policies. To initiate a core-assisted service, please fill out and return a request for services form.
NOTE: All work conducted within the CRC, whether core-assisted or unassisted, is contingent upon prior approval of the PI’s Animal Use Protocol by the University’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee
To schedule instrument time, please visit iLab
Surgical Services
1) Myocardial infarction (MI) and reperfusion
2) Trans Aortic Constriction (TAC) Pressure overload model
3) Middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCA) Ischemic stroke model
4) Pulmonary vascular permeability assay in mice
5) Isolated perfused mouse lung model to measure permeability
6) Bariatric surgery in mice
7) Mouse lung angiography/vascular casting
8) Cecal ligation puncture model of sepsis
Functional Assessment Services
1) High-frequency, high-resolution echocardiography using Vevo
2100
2) in vivo hemodynamics using Millar systems
3) IVIS bioluminescence imaging system
4) CODA blood pressure monitoring system
5) Morphometry; pulmonary vascular remodeling
6) ECG recordings
7) Assist in rodent instrumentation and anesthesia for MRI and PET-CT) Scanning
Training Services
1) Rodent echocardiography imaging and echo image analysis
2) IVIS
3) Rodent intubation, retroorbital and tail vein injections
4) Rodent catheter placement for injections and blood pressure
measurement
5) Hypoxia and hyperoxia chamber calibration
Other Services
1) Rodent models of pulmonary hypertension (HPH, MCT, SuHx)
2) Bone marrow transplant
3) Rodent primary cell isolation (mouse PASMC, PAEC and lung fibroblasts)
4) Assist with generation of cell-type specific and conditional
knockout mouse breeding and genotyping
5) Maintain BRL hypoxia and hyperoxia chambers