Mice huddle for warmth.KATHLEEN KOKOLUS AND ELIZABETH REPASKYNational Research Council recommendations dictate that laboratory mice be housed at a constant temperature—between 20°C and 26°C—to reduce the need for frequent cage cleaning and to help ensure lab staff comfort. But though their body temperatures do not change, the temperature at which mice maintain homeostasis without expending energy to combat cold stress—their thermoneutral temperature—is closer to 30°C or 31°C. While most mice cope with mild cold stress fairly well, until now scientists had not explored the effects of being cold on mice with tumors.
Researchers from the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, have shown that mice housed at their thermoneutral temperature show reduced tumor formation and metastasis mediated by the adaptive immune system. Their work was published today (November 18) in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“It’s one of the things that’s under everybody’s nose, and nobody really thought about it much,” said Mark Dewhirst, a professor of radiation oncology and pathology at Duke University in North Carolina, who was not involved in the work. “Everybody thought that mice would be fine at room temperature, but nobody ever thought to look,” he continued. That the authors demonstrate “quite profound effects on antitumor immunity is really pretty remarkable,” Dewhirst added. “This is quite a tour ...
