Animals and experimental design: Treatment of
SOD1G93A mice
We used the hybrid strain of SOD1G93A mouse as an ALS
model (B6SJL-Tg[SOD1-G93A]1Gur). Non-transgenic wild-type (WT)
littermates were used as controls. The animals used were from colonies
that had been bred in different animal facilities for years, as
specified below. The transgenic offspring was identified by polymerase
chain reaction (PCR) amplification of DNA extracted from the tail, to
identify hemizygous transgenic mice and WT. The colony was maintained
under stander conditions (food and water ad libitum, room temperature of
22 ± 2 °C and 12:12-h light–dark cycle) at the Animal Service of the
UAB and at the animal facilities in Centro de Investigación Biomédica de
Aragón University of Zaragoza. Mice were handled in accordance with the
guidelines of the European Union Council (Directive 2010/63/EU) and
Spanish regulations (RD53/2013) on the use of laboratory animals. All
experimental procedures were approved by the Ethics Committee of the
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (CEEAH-UAB: 2969 and 4273) and by the
Ethic Committee for Animal Experiments from the University of Zaragoza
(PI45/18, PI15/21, PI51/21, PI02/23). Humane endpoint criterium in the
survival studies was considered when animals lost the righting reflex
for longer than 30 s.