"Humanizing" mouse environments: Humidity, diurnal cycles and thermoneutrality

Area of Science:

• Physiology
• Animal Models
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Thermoneutral housing enhances the accuracy and robustness of mouse models for disease research.
• Standard housing conditions may not accurately reflect human physiological conditions, impacting research translatability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To discuss physiological changes in mice housed at thermoneutrality.
• To review methods for measuring thermogenesis and lipid metabolism.
• To investigate the impact of environmental cues like relative humidity and temperature cycling on mouse physiology and disease models.

Main Methods:

• Review of thermoneutral housing effects on mouse physiology.
• Analysis of systemic thermogenesis and lipid mobilization techniques.
• Characterization of circulating lipidome in thermoneutral mice.
• Evaluation of a "humanized" environmental cycling protocol.

Main Results:

• Relative humidity acts as a sensory cue, influencing susceptibility to obesity.
• A "humanized" environmental cycling protocol suppresses adaptation to cool exposure, affecting adipose-associated lipid storage.
• Mice at thermoneutrality show depletion of specific HDL-associated phospholipids, including those with linoleic and arachidonic acids.

Conclusions:

• Adjusting housing temperatures and controlling environmental factors like humidity can improve mouse model translatability.
• Alterations in lipid profiles at thermoneutrality may explain differences in disease progression.
• Further research is needed to understand the full implications of thermoneutral housing on disease modeling.