SDOP-DB: a comparative standardized-protocol database for mouse phenotypic analyses

Principles and application of LIMS in mouse clinics

Large-scale systemic mouse phenotyping, as performed by mouse clinics for more than a decade, requires thousands of mice from a multitude of different mutant lines to be bred, individually tracked and subjected to phenotyping procedures according to a standardised schedule. All these efforts are typically organised in overlapping projects, running in parallel. In terms of logistics, data capture, data analysis, result visualisation and reporting, new challenges have emerged from such projects. These challenges could hardly be met with traditional methods such as pen & paper colony management, spreadsheet-based data management and manual data analysis. Hence, different Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) have been developed in mouse clinics to facilitate or even enable mouse and data management in the described order of magnitude. This review shows that general principles of LIMS can be empirically deduced from LIMS used by different mouse clinics, although these have evolved differently. Supported by LIMS descriptions and lessons learned from seven mouse clinics, this review also shows that the unique LIMS environment in a particular facility strongly influences strategic LIMS decisions and LIMS development. As a major conclusion, this review states that there is no universal LIMS for the mouse research domain that fits all requirements. Still, empirically deduced general LIMS principles can serve as a master decision support template, which is provided as a hands-on tool for mouse research facilities looking for a LIMS.

Accessing data from the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium: state of the art and future plans

The International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium (IMPC) (http://www.mousephenotype.org) will reveal the pleiotropic functions of every gene in the mouse genome and uncover the wider role of genetic loci within diverse biological systems. Comprehensive informatics solutions are vital to ensuring that this vast array of data is captured in a standardised manner and made accessible to the scientific community for interrogation and analysis. Here we review the existing EuroPhenome and WTSI phenotype informatics systems and the IKMC portal, and present plans for extending these systems and lessons learned to the development of a robust IMPC informatics infrastructure.