Researchers Study Metabolic Rate and Response to Obesity Analyzing MMPC Energy Expenditure Data

How did researchers use Mouse Metabolic Phenotyping Centers (MMPC) resources in understanding metabolic rate and response to obesity in laboratory mice? 

To understand the genetic and environmental factors that contribute to body weight regulation, scientists usually use mouse models in the laboratories to study metabolism. Utilizing datasets from the MMPC and the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium (IMPC), Dr. June Corrigan and colleagues analyzed approximately 10,000 wild-type mice from two large-scale experiments, and established a reference for the magnitude of metabolic changes by analyzing variation in 2329 knockout strains. They found that body composition such as muscle and fat amount, ambient temperature, and institutional site of experimentation are the cause of biggest influence on energy balance.  Based on the results, they suggested that it is crucial to report the factors such as room temperatures,  animal’s activity levels, and the body make-up of the mice in metabolism research. They also recommended further studies are needed to identify the unknown factors in different laboratories that result in mouse metabolism. The study provides insights for centralized repositories to enhance transparency, rigor and reproducibility in metabolic physiology experiments.

MMPC Datasets used in this study

Researchers used a longitudinal dataset as a primary training model. The data is from four MMPC Centers in the United States where male C57BL/6J mice were followed for 12 weeks on either a standard low-fat diet (LFD) or an obesogenic high-fat diet (HFD). Researchers then applied the model to a larger secondary dataset of 30,000 mice from the IMPC.

What is the resource(s) used: 

Mouse Metabolic Phenotyping Centers (MMPC, RRID:SCR_008997)

What are the Mouse Metabolic Phenotyping Centers (MMPC)?

The Mouse Metabolic Phenotyping Centers(MMPC) is a National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases-funded resource that advances biomedical research by providing analysis and experimental services to the scientific community. These include characterization of mouse metabolism, blood composition (including hormones), energy balance, eating and exercise, organ function and morphology, physiology and histology. Investigators using the MMPC services agree to release the data generated by the MMPC to the general public. The publicly released data generated by the clients of the MMPC is available using the data search services integrated into the MMPC website.  The data is freely available whereby MMPC users may freely build upon, enhance and reuse data for any purpose without restriction (see MMPC Data Use Policy).

Why is MMPC important to the scientific community?

The mission of MMPC is to provide investigators with standardized, high-quality phenotyping services for mouse models of diabetes, obesity, and their complications. Researchers are able to use new mouse models and tests developed by leading scientists in the fields and consult with the core and center directors to identify the best set of experiments. The data generated from these experiments belong to the researcher. After publication, MMPC archives the data and facilitates making sure that the data is interpretable, findable, accessible, and reusable. Through reusing these data generated by standard protocols, the scientific community can understand more about these complex disorders.

Interested in learning how to use MMPC?

MMPC step-by-step tutorials at dkNET Hypothesis Center:  

https://dknet.org/hypothesis-center/tutorials?facet=SCR_008997

Learn about MMPC data and services 

Check out this presentation video: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrJeuWwzHMY

44' 45" - Live demo: learn how to use MMPC data search 

MMPC presentation slides:

https://www.slideshare.net/dkNET/dknet-webinar-the-mouse-metabolic-phenotyping-centers-services-and-data-01242020

Learn more about how researchers used MMPC’s datasets to understanding metabolic rate and responses to obesity in laboratory mice

Check out this article published in eLife:

https://elifesciences.org/articles/53560 

References

Laughlin MR, Lloyd KC, Cline GW, Wasserman DH; Mouse Metabolic Phenotyping Centers Consortium. NIH Mouse Metabolic Phenotyping Centers: the power of centralized phenotyping. Mamm Genome. 2012 Oct;23(9-10):623-31. doi: 10.1007/s00335-012-9425-z. Epub 2012 Sep 1. PMID: 22940748; PMCID: PMC3738176.

Corrigan JK, Ramachandran D, He Y, Palmer CJ, Jurczak MJ, Chen R, Li B, Friedline RH, Kim JK, Ramsey JJ, Lantier L, McGuinness OP; Mouse Metabolic Phenotyping Center Energy Balance Working Group, Banks AS. A big-data approach to understanding metabolic rate and response to obesity in laboratory mice. Elife. 2020 May 1;9:e53560. doi: 10.7554/eLife.53560. PMID: 32356724; PMCID: PMC7274785.