[Centers for experimental animal pathology still occupy a small but valuable niche in translational medicine-time for change?]

Abstract

Since CRISPR/Cas systems can be easily used to establish new genetically engineered mouse models, application of these models in the translational research field to explore predictive and therapeutic approaches for human diseases is rising.Integrative centers for experimental animal pathology, such as the CMCP in Heidelberg and the CEP in Munich, link the veterinary and human pathology discipline and contribute substantially to meaningful study results by combining the technical, research, and diagnostic expertise for phenotyping, evaluating, and interpretating complex animal models in the context of human pathology. They provide high-quality tissue processing in a broad spectrum of standard and specialized tissue-based technologies. The histopathology platform enables animal model evaluation including phenotyping, scoring, and detecting species-specific "background lesions." By providing essential prerequisites for high-quality, reproducible, and sustainable research in translational medicine, facilities for experimental animal pathology optimally fulfill the requirements for publications in top-class professional journals, contribute to the implementation of the 3R principle for animal welfare, and help to reduce costs in the preclinical research.The importance of animal models reflecting human diseases will increase in the future but the requirements for high-quality tissue processing and comparative pathology/morphological phenotyping cannot be met by single facilities in a niche position. To cover the existing gap and expected rising demand in the German and European translational research landscape, further facilities for experimental animal pathology that are integrated in the human pathology environment should be established.