Principles and application of LIMS in mouse clinics

Abstract

Large-scale systemic mouse phenotyping, as performed by mouse clinics for more than a decade, requires thousands of mice from a multitude of different mutant lines to be bred, individually tracked and subjected to phenotyping procedures according to a standardised schedule. All these efforts are typically organised in overlapping projects, running in parallel. In terms of logistics, data capture, data analysis, result visualisation and reporting, new challenges have emerged from such projects. These challenges could hardly be met with traditional methods such as pen & paper colony management, spreadsheet-based data management and manual data analysis. Hence, different Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) have been developed in mouse clinics to facilitate or even enable mouse and data management in the described order of magnitude. This review shows that general principles of LIMS can be empirically deduced from LIMS used by different mouse clinics, although these have evolved differently. Supported by LIMS descriptions and lessons learned from seven mouse clinics, this review also shows that the unique LIMS environment in a particular facility strongly influences strategic LIMS decisions and LIMS development. As a major conclusion, this review states that there is no universal LIMS for the mouse research domain that fits all requirements. Still, empirically deduced general LIMS principles can serve as a master decision support template, which is provided as a hands-on tool for mouse research facilities looking for a LIMS.

Fig. 1

A business process model for mouse clinics. Shown as coloured boxes are operational processes that are performed in mouse clinics (described in text). A particular project is run through the processes from top to bottom, as indicated by arrows. Archiving may provide a loop, where a project can be continued later or an independent, derived project can start. Arrow-connected processes may be performed optionally in a mouse clinic or a mouse facility, allowing the application of the model to virtually any facility. Lateral processes accompany a particular project throughout sequential, arrow-connected processes, as indicated by the larger horizontal and vertical boxes. Different colours represent different process families (blue process management, red working with mice & samples, yellow data analysis, green finance & reporting)

Fig. 2

A classification of LIMS principles. For better overview, the figure illustrates the three major areas of LIMS principles (small boxes) and the respective properties that can be assigned to these areas (larger boxes). LIMS features and functions should support actual processes