I have a CONFESSION to make🤫. I had NO IDEA what is Balb/c mice and why it’s so damn popular in antibody research! So naturally, I had to do some DIGGING: 🔬 The Balb/c mouse strain is a widely used model in biomedical research, particularly in antibody discovery and immunology studies. 🐭 🔬 Developed in the 1920s by Clarence Cook Little and Carl E. Allen at the Jackson Laboratory, Balb/c mice were originally bred for cancer research. 🧬 🔬 The name "Balb/c" for this mouse strain originates from the two original strains it was derived from: "B" for the Balb/c strain and "C" representing its specific substrain. 🐭 “Alb” actually stands for Albino - due to mutation that results in the absence of melanin, leading to their characteristic albino appearance with white fur, pink eyes, and unpigmented skin. Because of that, this is helpful for: 🔍 VISUALIZATION: The lack of pigmentation in Balb/c mice makes it easier to visualize and track certain physiological changes, such as tumor growth or skin-related studies. 🧬 GENETIC BACKGROUND: The albino phenotype is part of the overall genetic background of Balb/c mice, which includes their well-characterized immune system and reproducibility in experiments. ❌ CROSSBREEDING: Because of their albino trait, Balb/c mice are often used in genetic studies and crossbreeding experiments to introduce specific genetic modifications or to study inheritance patterns. 🔬 In antibody discovery, Balb/c mice are often used to generate HYBRIDOMAS, which are immortalized cell lines capable of producing monoclonal antibodies. 💉 🔬 In addition, Balb/c mice are frequently utilized in pharmacokinetic (PK) studies due to their well-characterized genetic background, immune system characteristics such as the TH2 response, and availability from commercial suppliers, ensuring standardization and reliability in research outcomes. 🔬 Overall, Balb/c mice continue to play a crucial role in advancing our understanding of immunology and in developing novel antibody-based therapies. 💊 Do you use Balb/c mice and what experiments are they a part of? #antibodies #biotech #research #mice #antibodytherapeutics
Ooh as someone who hasn't been in a wet lab for 10+years I've always been intrigued by the purpose of the different strains! 🐁 What are other popular mice strains in antibody research?
What a great summary!! Thank you!
Balb/c mice demonstrate elevated immunogenicity, resulting in strong immune responses, making them preferable for antibody generation projects. It's essential to choose suitably adjusted myeloma cells for the hybridoma generation process.
Performed a great deal of subcutaneous dorsal infections on Balb/c mice during my Master’s - testing cinnamaldehyde’s ability to combat S. aureus biofilms. Also got to perform bioluminescence imaging on these mice to track the bacterial burden of the infections. This was my first in vivo experience with these little guys.
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8moMy MSc work was in allergy, and I used to perform my experiments in both BALB/c and C57/BL6 mice in parallel. Since BALB/c's are Th2-skewed and C57s Th1, it was a nice way to make sure that our results in response to allergen challenge were real and not an artifact of the Th2 bias.