Mouse Appearance Observation Experiment
Mouse Appearance Observation Experiment
A large number of tissues and organs with potential abnormalities can be detected by careful observational description of the appearance. Therefore, a uniform and systematic description of morphological abnormalities should be used as much as possible to increase the comparability of the results. For the external morphology of mice, the generalized order of observation is general description; fur; head; limbs; abdomen.
Operation method
Mouse Appearance Observation Experiment
Materials and Instruments
Material: Mice Move The basic procedure of the mouse appearance observation experiment can be divided into the following steps: (1) Gross description The gross description of the appearance of mice includes the measurement of body weight, body length and tail length to determine whether there is any body abnormality such as short, overfat, overthin, etc. Meanwhile, the arching of their backs is observed to describe the presence of rickets. Also present may be lumps or edema in different locations. By observing mice at rest and naturally active, abnormalities that may be detected include: abnormal breathing, such as asthma; excessive shaking or tremor of the head; unusual quietness or restlessness; change in gait during running; tail dragging or tail bucking; spinning or backward movement; (2) The skin of a furred mouse consists of the areas not covered by fur, such as the auricles, perinasal area, palms of the limbs, and tail, with the remainder of the skin being furred. Possible abnormalities of the fur include: total or partial scarcity of hair; total or partial complete loss of hair partial change in hair or skin color; standing hair; hair contamination (e.g., excessive oil secretion, etc.); hardening of the skin; thinning of the skin; and whiskers that are too long, short, or curved. Abnormal shedding of fur is usually associated with metabolic and immune system disorders. Abnormal wounds of the skin indicate that the mice have fighting characteristics, and ulceration or tail ulceration may also be related to the feeding environment and microbial infection; (3) Head Abnormalities of the head and facial features are present in many mutant strains. Abnormalities in the head are generally head size abnormalities, such as small head size, short head size, cerebral edema, and unilateral enlargement, etc. Because the head morphology of mice from different strains varies, the differences should be obvious when comparing with control mice. Typical abnormalities of the five senses, except for the eyes, include excessive drooling, hypersalivation, long teeth, change in dentin color, large nose size, runny nose, small ears, and change in ear hair morphology. There are more cases of altered eye characteristics, such as absent eyes, small eyes, eye confusion, eyelid inflammation, pupil deviation, pupils too large or too small, tearing, and unilateral or bilateral eye protrusion; (4) Extremities Observations of the extremities focus on the length, position, and morphology of the limbs, the number, morphology, and size of the toes, and the number of toe pads. Possible abnormalities usually include: short limbs, displaced joints, bent limbs, increased or decreased number of toes in the hind limbs or extremities, too short, too fat or too long toes, and decreased number of toe pads. Abnormal limb morphology is usually associated with abnormal embryonic limb development or skeletal system development; (5) Abdomen Comparison of the size of the abdomen with control mice may reveal an abnormally enlarged abdomen, and gentle pressure on the abdomen of the mice may be felt as an underlying mass or a problem that does not immediately rebound due to ascites. Observation of the appearance of the genitalia may also yield information about their size and morphology. Caveat (1) It should be noted that the standardized values of the assay indicators are different for mice of different ages and strain backgrounds, so for mutant mice of pure background, mice of the same strain background, age and sex, and breeding conditions are required as controls;(2) For non-pure background mice, the values of the detected indexes may differ greatly within the group, and it is necessary to use mice of the same litter and sex as a control； （3） At the same time, the quantitative index needs to be tested by a sufficient number of mice to ensure the reliability of the differences, and generally more than 5 pairs of mice are needed to determine a stable abnormal phenotypic characteristics. For more product details, please visit Aladdin Scientific website.