LABORATORY MOUSE

Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Muridae
Genus: Mus
Scientific Name: Mus musculus

Introduction:
Mice have been domesticated for centuries, perhaps even for millennia, and have been used
in scientific research since the 1600s . However, development of the laboratory mouse as a
research model really began with experiments in genetics and cancer in the early 1900s.
Today, the laboratory mouse is recognized as the preeminent mammalian model for modern
genetic research. Mice are also used in a variety of other types of research, including cancer,
immunology, toxicology, metabolism, developmental biology, diabetes, obesity, aging, and
cardiovascular research. They are prized for many qualities, including their small size, short
generation time, limited life span, and ease of breeding within the laboratory. The fact that
they are genetically the best characterized of all mammals increases their value for all fields
of study.
Mice belong to the order Rodentia, and most of the mice used in research belong to the
genus Mus. Within that genus lies Mus musculus, with a number of subspecies described,
including Mus musculus domesticus (the common house mouse) and Mus musculus
musculus. Though laboratory mice originate from Mus musculus subspecies with a dash of
other Mus species, they are typically referred to as Mus musculus or simply as “laboratory
mice”.
Albino mice are the smallest laboratory animals that can be bred uniformly, are cheap and
easy to handle, and being very small are sensitive to small doses of a substance. Swiss albino
mouse is the most widely used strain for laboratory investigations.

Mouse as an Experimental Animal:

Mice are employed widely in acute toxicity studies. They are also used for the assay of
insulin and analgesics, the latter specially against chemically induced pain. General screening
of chemotherapeutic agents is undertaken in this species. They are also used for the assay of
insulin and analgesics, the latter specially against chemically induced pain. General screening
of chemotherapeutic agents is undertaken in this species. Specially bred mice are used for
the study of problems in genetics and in cancer research. Mice are most frequently used for
the testing of drugs for teratogenicity.

The development of nude mouse, a hairless genetic mutant that lacks a thymus, and thus
deficient in T lymphocytes, has been of fundamental interest in the field of tissue immunity
and transplantation research. They are less susceptible to cancer, the reason being that they
possess normal numbers of natural killer cells that kill both tumour cells and those infected
by viruses (Marx, 1980). Biege mice, on the other hand, which lack killer cells are unusually
susceptible to cancer.
Being very small and delicate the isolated tissues of mice are rarely used excepting vas
deferens and ileum.

Amongst all animals used in the laboratory experiments, mouse is considered as the most
widely used and readily available all over the world. Mouse stands as the animal of choice,
because of its tiny size, early sexual maturity/puberty, high rate of fertility, short gestation
period (time from conception to birth) as well as relatively higher position in the
evolutionary scale. They are preferred in the field of cancer research, reproductive biology,
diagnosis, study of drugs, screening, immunology, toxicology and genetic research.

Exterior features of Mouse (Wistar albino):

Body of the mouse is slender with smooth hair coat, long pointed snout, prominent brown
ears and long flat front sharp teeth. Average weight of an adult mouse is about 30g and
length is about 7.5 cm. Tail is hairless. The female mouse has 5 pairs of nipples. 3 pairs on
the thoracic region and 2 pairs on the abdominal region.
Anatomical peculiarities of Mouse:
Like other rodents, in mice, a single pair of upper incisors are present. Incisors are chisel
shaped dentitions, absent of enamel on their posterior surfaces and have persistently open
roots. They grow throughout life and are always bigger in size as compared to other
dentitions. An adaptation of the jaws enables the animal for gnawing. The grinding teeth
vary in number. To provide the necessary power for gnawing, jaw muscles are greatly
enlarged. Brain of the mouse is little, convoluted and the cerebellum is not covered by the
cerebral lobes. The Sternum of the mice has a long and narrow body. Skull bone is elongated
and narrow in front and broader and depressed behind. The nasal cavities are very large,
with complex air sinuses in their upper part. The orbit and temporal fossa are continuous. A
remarkable feature of the skull is the presence of many large openings corresponding to the
infraorbital foramen. Bones of the arm and forearm show considerable variation. In the
alimentary canal there is a large cecum.

Physiological features:
Hearing and vocalization
Mice have a substantially narrower hearing range than humans. Typical of rodents, mice
hear sounds of high frequency better than humans do. Many commonly used inbred strains
have age-related high-frequency hearing loss. Ultrasonic vocalizations are believed to be
used to facilitate or inhibit social interactions, alert to predator presence, express alarm or
anxiety, and change if animals are in pain.
Visual system
Mouse retinas contain rods (light/dark sensing) and two types of cones (colour sensing).
Their cones have peak sensitivity at 360 nm (ultraviolet) and 508 nm (green) . They cannot
see the colour red, which is why so much mouse cage furniture is red; humans can see
through it, but it is opaque to mice. Many strains of mice are blind from weaning on, due to
the fixation of a retinal degeneration allele in the initial population. Many more albino
strains lose sight rapidly due to vision damage from lights. Mice are nearsighted when
compared with humans, but are three to five times more sensitive to motion in their visual
field.
Gastrointestinal system

The alimentary canal is similar to other mammals (except ruminants) and consists of the
esophagus, stomach, duodenum, jejunum, ileum, cecum, colon, and rectum. The large
cecum is where the mouse digests a great deal of the plant matter it ingests. The stomach is
divided into cardiac (nonglandular) and pyloric (glandular) sections. The nonglandular
portion is lined by squamous epithelium. The mouse cannot vomit. The mouse does not
have an appendix.
Urogenital system
The right kidney is normally anterior to the left kidney. In males, the inguinal canal remains
open, and the testes may be retracted into the abdominal cavity. Males typically have an os
penis, a small bone over the urethra near the tip of the penis. Preputial glands are paired
structures that lie subcutaneously near the tip of the prepuce. Occasionally, these glands
become inflamed and will present as a small mass alongside the prepuce. Males have
several accessory reproductive glands located within the abdomen, including the prostate,
the seminal vesicles, and the coagulating glands. Secretions from these glands comprise the
copulation plug, deposited in the vagina by the male after mating. In females, the
reproductive tract includes two uterine horns that combine to form the median corpus. The
clitoral glands lie subcutaneously just lateral to the opening of the urethra. As with the
preputial glands, the clitoral glands will occasionally become inflamed. Males are
distinguished from females by the scrotal sac containing the testes and by a longer
anogenital distance. The placenta of the mouse is haemochorial. The urine is normally clear,
yellow, and quite concentrated (up to 4.3 osmol/kg) (Silverstein 1961). Urine specific gravity
typically is in the region of 1.040 and can approach 1.080. Mouse urine specifc gravity
exceeds the limits of some dipstick and refractometer measurements, and so Veterinary
refractometers with range up to 1.080 are more useful. Large amounts of protein are
normally excreted in the urine of mice, including uromucoid, alpha and beta globulins, and
major urinary protein, the primary mouse pheromone carrier and allergen. The pH of normal
mouse urine is approximately 5.0. Maternal immunoglobulin is transferred to the pups
across the placenta and across the intestinal epithelium from colostrum and milk for 16 days
after parturition.

Respiratory system
The mouse has one lung lobe on the left side and four lobes (cranial, middle, caudal, and
accessory) on the right.

Housing of Mouse:
Normally in Animal House, mice are housed in cages of shoebox type made of plastic,
galvanized iron, anodized aluminium or stainless steel and the floor of such cages may have
either screen bottom or solid. The screen bottom cages are always suspended and the solid
bottom cages may either be suspended or standing on a rack. In case of screen bottom, the
diameter of the wire and mesh size should be appropriate to afford maximum comfort to the
living animal housed in it. A floor mesh with a grid size of 3×3 openings per inch being made
of 18-gauge wire is ideal for housing mice. A tray is placed at the bottom of the cage when
screen bottom cages are used, for the purpose of collecting urine and faeces. For solid
bottom cages an appropriate bedding is provided, to absorb urine and moisture from faeces.
It also aids comfort to the animal. Rice husk is widely used for this purpose. Size of the cage
of animals should commensurate with the age and number of animals to be housed in the
cage and the minimum floor dimensions of the cage should be as per an adult mouse. The
minimum height of the cage should be 12.7 cm. Housing in a cage in groups for weaning of
adult females is possible. But housing of adult males in groups will create bitter fighting in a
cage.

Requirement of external environment for Mouse:

The temperature of the mouse housing room may be maintained in the range of 20-25°C.
Optimum temperature for a mouse is 23 ± 1°C. Relative humidity should be between 45-
55%. Lighting and darkness are divided in an equal number of hours which should be
provided in the room for optimal growth and reproduction. Intensity of light in the animal
room should be between 350-400 lux, 1 m above the level of the floor. Mice are very
sensitive to noise, particularly in the midst of higher frequencies of human auditory range
and beyond it. Hence, a noisy atmosphere has to be eliminated for the healthy living of
mice.

Nutritional requirements of mice:

Laboratory mice are fed with a commercially available pellet diet or diet formulated in the
animal facilities. By use of a variety of cereals, pulses, seeds etc, an ideal diet can be
formulated as per the need of the researcher. In order to ensure proper growth and
reproduction, mice should be fed on a stock diet containing 16-25% protein, 4-6% fat and
45-55% carbohydrates, in addition to major vitamins in definite proportions and essential
minerals in specific quantities. The diet should be tasty to the animal and also easily
formulated and stored conveniently. Adult mice normally consume 4-5 g of diet per day.
Consumption of daily diet of animals varies depending on the physiological status of the
animal and the environmental temperature. Food consumption increases considerably in the
pregnancy and lactating stage of animals. Clear water should be provided to the animal for
drinking ad libitum. An adult mouse drinks about 6 ml of water per day.

Handling of mice:
Mice by nature are very timid socially and nocturnal and escape prone rodents. They can be
picked up by holding at the base of the tail, however no rodents should be caught by the of
tail, as it causes severe pain to the animal. For the purpose of experimentation, mouse is
lifted by the tail, placed on a rough toe-gripping surface, grasp on the scruff of the neck by
thumb and fore fingers, the animal is then inverted and the tail is held between the little
finger and palm.

Breeding of Mouse:
Mouse is a prolific breeder. Puberty occurs at the age of 4-6 weeks. Mating is done when the
animals are around 45-60 days old. Mice bred too early or too late causes reduction of
fertility. 60 days old male Mouse weighs around 35g and female around 30g. Gestation
period is between 19-21 days and the number of young ones that are born at a time are
between 6-12 litters estrous cycle of mouse. Mouse is habituated to a recurring estrous cycle
of 4days duration. At the interval of 4 days, female is housed in dose association with males.
Single female housed away from the males do not cycles tends to be longer in them. In case
of large group of females being housed together, they tend to go into an estrous and don’t
cycle and these females become pseudo- regrate and is known as lee- bod effect. But such
group of females when accommodated with a male begin to cycle and come into estrous or
heat ager about 72hrs exposure to the male. This phase is known as the Whijen effect.
According to the call types found in the vaginal smear, it is estimated that estrous cycle of
mouse is divided into 5 stages:
Pro-estrous, early estrous, late estrous, met-estrous and diestrous.
Being influenced by heat or estrous, female is most receptive to a male and mating would
take place if any male is present with her in the same cage. But estrous cycle does not take
place when mouse is pregnant or lactating. However, immediately ager delivery the female
learns to estrous and this stage of estrous is known as postpartum estrous. One male mouse
is caged with 2-6 females while applying polygamous or harem method. Females with
pregnancy are housed in a separate cage. Ager the weaning of young, the female is arranged
to associate with a male for subsequent mating. By this system more young ones are
weaned per litre and they are healthier than those raised by post postpartum makings.
Successful mating in mice can be determined by the detection of sperm in the vaginal smear
or by the presence of copulatory plug in the vagina. Mouse introduced for mating should be
examined every day in the morning for presence of copulatory plug.
Pregnancy can be detected by palpating the animal around 8-10 days of gestation. Daily
weighing will also reveal an increased rate of weight gain by about 13 days of gestation. A
new born pup weighs about 1g. Just at the point of birth, the young ones are hairless and
their eyes and ears remain completely closed. Hair on the body begins to grow ager about 3
days of birth and within about 10 days, hair coat is fully covered. Eyes and ears open at the
age of 12- 13 days. At the age of 14-16 days pups start to eat solid food and they are
separated from the mother when they are 21 days old. At this age, they weigh around 10-
14g life span of a mouse ranges from 1 ½ -2 ½ years.

Common Diseases of Mouse:

Any element of extra stress on the animal’s metabolism may create to pre dispose them to
disease. Poor or low nutrition, when over- crossing, lack of hygiene, insufficient ventilation,
rough handling and exposure to mice suffering from infectious diseases will all lead to an
outbreak of disease in a colony. A healthy mouse will be active with smooth and glossy hair
coat and an ill mouse will be inactive and will have a rough hair coat. It will have no
eagerness for food and will lose weight rapidly. Symptoms like conjunctivitis, diarrhoea,
accelerated respiration, wheezing, swelling on the tail, enlarged feet etc. Are indicative of
existence of some diseases in mice. Mice are sensitive to both, streptomycin and
chloroform. Mice organ die if streptomycin is infected even in low concentration. Many in
bred strains of mice are sensitive to chloroform vapours and may die following accidental
exposure.

REFERENCES

Fundamentals of Experimental Pharmacology, M. N Ghosh, Sixth Edition, Chapter 1, Page 4-

11

Practical Manual of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Bikash Medhi and Ajay Prakash,
Part I Page 6- 13

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7150119/ (PubMed Central)

Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, S.B. Dhadde, Chapter 3, Pg 15-21

The laboratory Mouse, Mark A. Suckow, Sara A. Hashway and Kathleen R. Pritchett-Corning
Third Edition