MCCA2.0

Infrastructure and User Services 

The increasing aging population leads to a rapid rise in cancer incidence and other aging-related disorders, which constitute the main health(care) problems in developed countries world-wide. To accelerate cancer and aging research and contribute to healthy aging, a Models to Combat Cancer and Aging consortium (MCCA2.0) was established by the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI), UMC Groningen (UMCG), Erasmus MC (EMC) and Utrecht University (UU).

MCCA2.0 encompasses five facilities:

1. A transgenic facility for on-demand generation of novel genetically engineered mouse models of human cancer and aging syndromes (NKI)
2. A mouse cancer clinic for preclinical evaluation of novel anti-cancer therapies in advanced mouse models of human cancer (NKI, UMCG)
3. An aging intervention and phenotyping facility for nutritional intervention studies and advanced phenotyping of mouse models for (accelerated) aging (EMC, UMCG)
4. A pathology facility for morphological and molecular analysis of murine disease models (NKI, UU)
5. A facility for advanced imaging studies in murine disease models (EMC, NKI)

Together, the MCCA2.0 facilities form a large-scale infrastructure that is unique in Europe. MCCA2.0 gives researchers from academia and industry access to a full compendium of advanced preclinical in vivo services that are not available at individual universities and institutions. Thus, MCCA2.0 delivers invaluable contributions to early detection of cancer, new anti-cancer and anti-aging therapies, and insights into the factors that cause and contribute to cancer and aging-related disorders. MCCA2.0 also enhances the predictivity and reproducibility of preclinical studies and the generation of data that is findable and accessible to the scientific community.

Examples/description of the type of research

MCCA2.0 facilitates fundamental and preclinical research in the fields of cancer and aging.

Cancer has become the first cause of death in the Netherlands and 1 out of 2 people in the Netherlands will be confronted with cancer in their life. Improved early detection and new treatment strategies have increased the cure rate of a number of cancers. Still, many cancers are detected after the disease has metastasized. For these, the cure rates have not yet increased substantially. It is therefore imperative to better understand the molecular basis of cancer in order to develop more effective therapies.

Aging represents the progressive functional decline and increased mortality risk. Aging is associated with tremendous loss in personal wellbeing. It is the most important risk factor for a litany of chronic diseases, including diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, neurological and cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, arthritis, immunosenescence, frailty and sarcopenia.

Both fields are closely intertwined as processes critical to cancer, such as DNA damage, stem cell self-renewal and cellular senescence, are also key factors in aging. In addition, cancer as well as aging research are critically dependent on preclinical in vivo models to unravel the complex underlying mechanisms, understand disease progression, and develop new prevention and intervention strategies.

MCCA2.0 provides state-of-the-art research infrastructure and services to academic researchers and industrial partners in the fields of cancer and aging research. It provides services to (i) develop new murine models for cancer and aging, (ii) perform in-depth phenotyping of murine disease models, and (iii) perform preclinical intervention and imaging studies in these models.

How to access the infrastructure?

The MCCA2.0 facilities provide full service, and the vast majority of requested services are done by dedicated technicians. The default access mechanism for the MCCA2.0 facilities is therefore virtual access (90%). Certain imaging studies are done by the users themselves. In those cases, the access mechanism is physical access (10%).