About the JAX-NMF

 

What are we?

The Jackson Laboratory Neuroscience Mutagenesis Facility (JAX-NMF) is funded by the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute of Drug Abuse, National Institute of Mental Health and several other NIH institutes under the RFA MH-99-007. The JAX-NMF is planned as a progressive scientific resource that each year will provide 20-30 novel mutant murine models useful for the study of important human neurological disorders. Valuable models will be identified using an extensive phenotype-driven approach that targets a broad range of recessive neurological phenotypes and characterizes them sufficiently to attract further detailed study.

Phenotypic Scope of the JAX-NMF

Screen

Target Areas

Motor function
Cerebellar function
cell migration and degeneration		 Neuromuscular disease
Seizure threshold Idiopathic epilepsy, resistance to anti-epileptic drugs, modifier screens
Hearing impairment Non-syndromic hearing loss, delayed-onset deafness
Vision Retinal degeneration, progressive vision impairment

Who are we?

The JAX-NMF was conceived and planned over the course of 18 months by a core group of JAX scientists with expertise in the genetics of a variety of neurological disorders.

JAX-NMF Scientific Staff include: Dr. W. Frankel (PI), Dr. K.L. Seburn (Project Manager) and co-investigators Drs. S. Ackerman, R. Bronson, C. Bult, G. Churchill, G. Cox, M. Davisson, J. T. Eppig, S. John, V. Letts, K. Johnson, L. Mobraaten, J. Naggert, P. Nishina, T. O'Brien, J. Schimenti, J. Willott (adjunct) and Q. Zheng.

JAX scientists expanded the breadth of expertise by establishing subcontracts with investigators at the University of Pennsylvania (W. Berrettini, M. Bucan, R. Lenox), Monell Chemical Senses Center (A. Bachmanov, M. Tordoff, C. Wysocki), and University of Vermont (W. Falls) and consultations with investigators at Jules Stein Institute-UCLA (S. Nusinowitz), University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (G. Wenger), University of S. Florida (J. Willott), University of Utah (S. White) and University of Washington (B. Tempel).

Where are we?

The JAX-NMF program is designed to be "under one roof" with production, screening and primary characterization carried out at The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine (USA). Procedures will take place in a state-of-the-art animal and phenotyping facility constructed for this purpose. Identified novel mutant strains will be established, preserved and made available to an NIH-designated distributor for delivery to interested investigators.