# The Mutant Mouse Resource and Research Center at the University of Missouri - Applied Research Section 2

> **NIH NIH U42** · UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA · 2022 · $46,043

## Abstract

Applied Research section 2 – Project Summary
Following identification of associations between characteristics of a complex gut microbiota (GM) and
resistance or susceptibility to disease, investigators frequently attempt to evaluate the causality of those
associations by transferring the GM between resistant and susceptible animals. There are several ways to do
so including embryo transfer of GM recipients into pseudopregnant GM donors, cross-fostering of neonatal GM
recipients to nursing GM donors, simply co-housing animals, or experimentally administering a slurry prepared
from donor feces to germ-free or antibiotic-treated GM recipients (fecal microbiota transfer, FMT). Whether
successful or not in transferring the phenotype, few studies closely examine or report the efficiency of GM
transfer from donor to recipient, and very few studies directly compare more than one method of GM transfer.
Moreover, differences in the microbial diversity within donor and recipient GMs are known to influence the
success of GM transfer. Thus the long-term objectives of Applied Research section 2 (Specific Aim 1) are
to compare the efficiency of GM transfer using the aforementioned methods and well-controlled and thoroughly
characterized GM recipients and donors harboring low and high-diversity GM profiles. Specific Aim 1 is to test
the efficiency of GM transfer using embryo transfer, cross-fostering, co-housing, and FMT, in reciprocal
transfers between low-diversity GM donors and high-diversity recipients and vice versa, and to determine
whether the degree of GM transfer is associated with the degree to which the phenotype is also transferred.
Furthermore, while feces represents a non-invasive sample allowing for longitudinal sampling of individual
mice, it is well-recognized that feces reflects only the lower gastrointestinal tract (GIT). Many physiological
processes and disease mechanisms are dependent on the GM present in the upper GIT, necessitating multiple
terminal cohorts of mice for longitudinal studies as non-invasive ante mortem sampling of the upper GIT is not
currently possible. With that in mind, the long-term objective of Applied Research section 2 (Specific Aim
2) is to develop and validate a system of non-invasively sampling the upper GIT for downstream sequencing
methods. Working with a team of biomaterials engineers, Specific Aim 2 to develop a polymeric/metallic
particle-based system capable of collecting bacterial cells selectively from the upper GIT following oral gavage,
and then being retrieved and isolated from feces for downstream molecular analyses. The development of
such a system would advance the three ‘R’s of comparative medicine by reducing the required number of mice
for longitudinal studies examining the upper GIT. Moreover, these methods would revolutionize human
medicine and would be imminently patentable and likely to lead to subsequent funding via multiple
mechanisms. Collectively, the Aims of Applied Research section 2 will...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10360486
- **Project number:** 5U42OD010918-23
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Aaron Ericsson
- **Activity code:** U42 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $46,043
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2000-05-01 → 2025-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10360486

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10360486, The Mutant Mouse Resource and Research Center at the University of Missouri - Applied Research Section 2 (5U42OD010918-23). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10360486. Licensed CC0.

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