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A panel of optimized primers and positive-control DNAs for PCR detection of common biological contaminants in mouse cell lines and tissue samples

Abstract

PCR-based testing for infectious agents in mouse cell lines and tissues has recently been developed as an alternative to the traditional MAP test. One drawback to currently available PCR-based assays is the lack of appropriate positive controls for PCR detection of the infectious agents. When negative samples are the norm and positive controls are absent, it is very difficult to feel confident detecting infectious agents. To alleviate this problem, the authors developed a panel of primers and positive-control DNA plasmids that enable rapid testing of biological samples, such as cell lines, tissues, or animal sera, for presence of the infectious agents most damaging to mouse colonies.

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Figure 1: Co-amplification PCR of test and control primers with CJ7 ES cell DNA samples and control infectious agent plasmid DNAs.
Figure 2: Example of the sensitivity of the assay to potentially detect infectious agents.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Professor Alain Blanchard from the University of Bordeaux for the kind gift of Mycoplasma pulmonis DNA.

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Correspondence to T. Neil Dear.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Ayral, AM., Clarkson, S., Cheeseman, M. et al. A panel of optimized primers and positive-control DNAs for PCR detection of common biological contaminants in mouse cell lines and tissue samples. Lab Anim 35, 31–36 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/laban0906-31

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