# National Gnotobiotic Resource Center

> **NIH NIH P40** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 2024 · $776,328

## Abstract

Environmental factors modify genetic susceptibility to many chronic diseases. Resident microbiota profoundly
influence physiologic responses in multiple organs and are linked to many inflammatory (IBD, NASH,
atherosclerosis, MS), metabolic (obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, osteoporosis, hypertension),
neoplastic (colon, pancreatic cancer) and behavioral (depression, autism) disorders, and responses to
treatments (immunotherapies, biologic therapies). Altered microbiota (dysbiosis) and metabolites associated
with these conditions and the Human Microbiome Project make this research a worldwide priority. However,
functional consequences and the primary vs. secondary nature of these compositional changes and the role of
individual bacterial species and combinations are poorly understood. Gnotobiotic animal models address
causality and mechanisms of these host-microbe interactions. The National Gnotobiotic Rodent Resource
Center (NGRRC) provides an essential resource for local and national multidisciplinary investigators to explore
these key functional relationships. The NGRRC provides germ-free (GF, sterile) wild type and genetically-
engineered gnotobiotic mice that are not available to most investigators due to the specialized technical
expertise and stringent husbandry necessary for their creation, breeding and study beyond the resources and
expertise of most NIH grantees. Our resource allows investigators to examine physiologic and pathogenic
differences in GF and gnotobiotic (selectively colonized) vs. conventionally raised mice, functional relevance of
bacterial genes and individual and defined groups of microbes to explore host/microbe, microbe/microbe and
dietary/microbe interactions. Maintaining gnotobiotic animals is extremely labor intensive, expensive and
requires considerable training to maintain sterility. Goal: Support broadly based gnotobiotic research by local
and national NIH-funded investigators with reliable, cost-effective and easily accessed resources. Aims: 1.
Provide GF and gnotobiotic WT and mutant mice, their tissues and cells to NIH-funded investigators. 2.
Derive additional GF genetically engineered mouse strains. 3. Support pilot studies for new
investigators to generate preliminary data for NIH grant applications. 4. Train personnel to develop
murine gnotobiotic facilities in other institutions. 5. Optimize fecal transfer techniques, using pooled
complex human fecal microbial communities from healthy donors and patients with several high
profile Western diseases and validate in vivo outcomes to create protocols and a repository to achieve
highly reproducible results for our users in their gnotobiotic studies. (Research Component). We
provide a unique, cost effective and essential resource for a large, multidisciplinary group of NIH-funded
investigators to study physiologic and pathophysiologic functions of normal and dysbiotic resident microbiota,
alone or in aggregate, with particular emphasis on gene/ environment...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10936330
- **Project number:** 2P40OD010995-21
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **Principal Investigator:** Ryan B Sartor
- **Activity code:** P40 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $776,328
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2003-07-01 → 2029-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10936330

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10936330, National Gnotobiotic Resource Center (2P40OD010995-21). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10936330. Licensed CC0.

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