# National Gnotobiotic Resource Center

> **NIH NIH P40** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 2024 · $556,690

## 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 apply compulsive sterile technique, with sterility monitored by a series of
quality control steps. 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. 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/
environmental interactions in genetically altered mice (transgenic, knockout or spontaneously mutated) with
altered physiology and disease phenotypes.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10936331
- **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:** $556,690
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2003-07-01 → 2029-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10936331

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10936331, National Gnotobiotic Resource Center (2P40OD010995-21). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10936331. Licensed CC0.

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