RandoMice, a novel, user-friendly randomization tool in animal research

Abstract

Careful design of experiments using living organisms (e.g. mice) is of critical importance from both an ethical and a scientific standpoint. Randomization should, whenever possible, be an integral part of such experimental design to reduce bias thereby increasing its reliability and reproducibility. To keep the sample size as low as possible, one might take randomization one step further by controlling for baseline variations in the dependent variable(s) and/or certain known covariates. To give an example, in animal experiments aimed to study atherosclerosis development, one would want to control for baseline characteristics such as plasma triglyceride and total cholesterol levels and body weight. This can be done by first defining blocks to create balance among groups in terms of group size and baseline characteristics, followed by random assignment of the blocks to the various control and intervention groups. In the current study we developed a novel, user-friendly tool that allows users to easily randomize animals into blocks and identify random block divisions that are well-balanced based on given baseline characteristics, making randomization time-efficient and easy-to-use. Here, we present the resulting software tool that we have named RandoMice.

Validation of a small molecule inhibitor of PDE6D-RAS interaction with favorable anti-leukemic effects

“…6- to 8-week-old NOD.Cg-KitW-41J Tyr + Prkdcscid Il2rgtm1Wjl/ThomJ (NBSGW) mice (Jackson laboratories, Bar Harbor, ME) were injected with 5 × 10 5 luciferase expressing P12-ICHIKAWA cells treated. On day 6 post-transplant mice were randomized by weight and bioluminescent signal using Randomice [ 37 ]. Alzet osmotic pumps 2001 (1 µl per hour, 7 days) containing 500 mg/ml DW0254 or vehicle (50% DMSO, 15% Ethanol in water) were subcutaneously implanted in mice.…”

Platelets mediate trained immunity against bone and joint infections in a mouse model

“…A total of 100 mice were used. Block randomization was performed using RandoMice (version 1.0.9) 32 to randomly assign the mice into each group. Except for one of the authors, who prepared the platelets for transfusion (TG), all other researchers in this study were blinded to the group assignment information.…”

GCN2 eIF2 kinase promotes prostate cancer by maintaining amino acid homeostasis

“…#356237) were injected subcutaneously into the dorsal flank of mice. Once the tumors reached a palpable stage (∼50 – 100 mm 3 ), the animals were randomized to different treatment groups using RandoMice v1.1.5 [79]. The LuCaP-35 castration-resistant (LuCaP-35 CR) PCa PDX model [46, 80] was a generous gift from Dr. Timothy Ratliff (Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN).…”

“…#356237) were injected subcutaneously into the dorsal flank of mice. Once the tumors reached a palpable stage (∼50 – 100 mm 3 ), the animals were randomized to different treatment groups using RandoMice v1.1.5 [85]. The LuCaP-35 castration-resistant (LuCaP-35 CR) PCa PDX model [49, 86] was received from Dr. Eva Corey (University of Washington) and were maintained in male castrated NSG mice for all experiments to conserve castration-resistant status.…”

“…Levels of total and aminoacylated tRNA His were also carried out by qRT-PCR as previously described [82] using primers specific for the GTG-tRNA His isodecoder tRNA His -FW and tRNA His -REV (Supplementary Table 3). Once the tumors reached a palpable stage (~50 -100 mm 3 ), the animals were randomized to different treatment groups using RandoMice v1.1.5 [83]. The LuCaP-35 castration-resistant (LuCaP-35 CR) PCa PDX model [49,84] was received from Dr. Eva Corey (University of Washington) and were maintained in male castrated NSG mice for all experiments to conserve castration-resistant status.…”