Cerebricon - Preclinical CNS Contract Research Organization (CRO)

Cerebricon is the world’s premier contract research organization (CRO) in the area of specialized and focused preclinical models for CNS and PNS. Cerebricon preclinical models include models for neurology, psychiatry, biomarkers and biomedical imaging.

All models are performed in Cerebricon’s proprietal laboratories by its permanent staff of scientists and technicians. Cerebricon’s preclinical platform includes in vivo small animal models, in vitro cell culture models, behavioural laboratories, small animal imaging (MRI) services, radiolabelling and SPECT as well as histology and immunohistochemistry services.

Preclinical in vivo models

Cerebricon’s fully validated preclinical models include preclinical surgical models and mouse transgenic models for neurology:

• Alzheimer’s disease models (AD)
• Cognitive impairment models
• Huntington’s disease models (HD)
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis models (ALS)
• Schizophrenia models
• Stroke models (tMCAO, MCAO and global ischemia)
• Stroke prevention studies
• Parkinson’s disease models (PD)
• Multiple sclerosis models (MS)
• Spinal cord injury (SCI)
• Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
• Migraine models

All routes of administration have been validated for ip, sc, po, im, iv, ic, intrathecal, intranasal, osmotic minipumps, diets and drinking water.

Preclinical behavioural, functional and cognitive models

Either alone or in conjunction with the above in vivo assays, Cerebricon’s staff of behavioural scientists and technicians has fully validated preclinical behavioural models for neurology and psychiatry. Cerebricon has preclinical models for cognition, preclinical models for function and preclinical models for behaviour for naïve rats and mice, and aged rats and aged mice. Cerebricon also has transgenic disease models and surgical and chemically induced preclinical models.

Tests for cognition:

• Contextual fear conditioning (CFC)
• Two choice swim test
• Morris water maze (MWM)
• Passive avoidance
• Active avoidance
• Y-maze
• T-maze
• Novel object recognition test (NOR)

Sensory motor tests:

• Neuroscore
• Open field
• Rotarod
• Beam walking
• Grip strength
• Cage climbing
• Inclined plane
• Rotation
• Montoya’s staircase
• BBB open field locomotor function
• Reflex tests

Anxiety and depression:

• Forced swim test
• Tail suspension test
• Open field test
• Passive and active avoidance
• Prepulse inhibition of startle (PPI)
• Social interaction of food

Behavioural phenotyping:

• Functional observation battery
• Other selected tests

Preclinical imaging and radiolabelling services

Cerebricon has its own 7.0 Tesla small animal MRI. Cerebricon uses this to employ the following techniques for the preclinical study of compounds aimed at CNS and PNS diseases and also biomarkers:

• T2
• T2*
• Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)
• Arterial spin labelling (ASL) for cerebral blood flow
• Functional MRI (fMRI)
• Perfusion (bolus tracking)
• Pharmacological MRI (phMRI)
• Leukocyte infiltration MRI (contrast label imaging)
• Ex vivo MRI
• NMR spectroscopy
• Customized MRI

Cerebricon also employs SPECT scanning and routinely carries out radiolabelling for client compounds.

Preclinical in vitro models

Cerebricon’s in vitro laboratories perform rodent primary cell culture models and provide high throughput screening of compounds for neurotoxicity, neuroprotection and neurite outgrowth (NOG). In addition, more comprehensive and concentrated studies of compound mechanism of action are regularly performed in our in vitro laboratories.

• Mixed cortical, hippocampal, midbrain and spinal cord cultures
• Pure cultures of hippocampal neurons, cortical astrocytes and cortical microglia
• Pure cultures of striatal neurons
• Neurite outgrowth assays: naïve cortical neurons, MAP-2, number, length and branching of neurites, analysis of neuronal number, NGF as reference

Cultures can be exposed to glutamate, NMDA, kainate, oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD), H2O2, Aß (beta amyloid), LPS, KCL and 6-OHDA.

Cerebricon also has in-house histology and immunohistochemistry services.