Biocontainment Laboratory—University of Missouri Regional Laboratory for Infectious Disease Research (LIDR)

The University of Missouri Laboratory for Infectious Disease Research (LIDR) is one of the NIAID-supported Biocontainment Laboratories. LIDR facilitates research by University of Missouri faculty and collaborators to develop novel vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics against emerging infectious diseases and other biothreats. Dedicated aerobiology, arthropod, and immunology/imaging suites, along with an ABSL-3 vivarium, procedure rooms, and auxiliary labs, provide researchers the necessary state-of-the-art equipment and secure space to conduct cutting-edge translational research. In 2025, LIDR will bring online an ABSL-3Ag facility to permit safe study of Risk Group 3 agents using larger animals including swine. The facility, constructed to the highest state and federal safety standards, and central location make LIDR a crucial resource in our nation’s effort to protect public health.

Main Areas of Focus

• To advance innovative research for preventing and treating diseases caused by high consequence biological agents.
• To further collaborative research with other academic and industry partners.
• To increase research capacity and educational programs for the safe handling of high-consequence biological agents.
• To train and prepare the next generation of infectious disease scientists.
• To serve as a regional and national resource in the event of a biological agent release or infectious disease outbreak.

Who Can Use This Resource

• Investigators in academia, not-for-profit organizations, industry, and government studying biodefense and emerging infectious diseases may request the use of biocontainment laboratories.

How To Get Started

• Please contact LIDR directly for further information.

Support Services

Laboratory and Analytical Support

Aerobiology Services

Customized aerosol delivery services for infectious agents and test articles using a nose-only inhalation exposure system inside a Class III biological safety cabinet (BSL-3) connected directly from the aerobiology suite to the vivarium via an interlocked pass-through chamber:

• Aerosol characterization including dose targeting and determination.
• Inoculation preparation and challenge experiments.
• Nose-only inhalation exposure.
• Pathogen and small animal model development.
• Vaccine and therapeutic efficacy validation.

Animal Infection and Monitoring Services

• Consultation and experiment design expertise
• Challenge available by several routes of infection including nose-only aerosol inhalation, intranasal, oral gavage, or injection
• Anticipated additional services
  • Challenge from pathogen-carrying arthropods
• Health monitoring of challenged animals
• Vaccine or therapeutic efficacy evaluation
• Necropsy and tissue processing support
• In vivo imaging (mouse and rat only) with Spectral Instruments LagoX, including bioluminescent, fluorescent, and x-ray modalities
• Clinical chemistry assays

Immunology Services

Immune response evaluation services for fixed or viable samples from BSL-1, -2, and -3 laboratories by flow cytometry, cell sorting, multiplex protein and nucleic acid analysis, automated fluorescent microscopy complete with environmental control, and tissue culture bioassays:

• Consultation and experiment design assistance.
• Fluorescence, brightfield/color brightfield, and phase contrast microscopy.
• Six-way bulk or single-cell sorting onto slides or multi-well plates.
• Long-term, live-cell imaging.
• Quantitative and time-lapse cellular response analysis
• Vaccine or infection immune response analyses.
• Multiplex immunoassays for over 100 cytokine, chemokine, and growth factor targets
• Other- ELISA and ELISpot.

Bacteriology and Virology Services

• Antimicrobial/Antiviral susceptibility testing.
• Bacterial preparation and characterization.
• Viral preparation and characterization.
• Recombinant approaches.
• Nucleic acid isolation for sequencing and RTqPCR.
• Pathology- necropsy; gross pathology; post-mortem tissue burden analyses; histopathology; immunohistochemistry; liver, renal, and serum clinical chemistries
• Vector Biology- arthropod containment level 3 (ACL-3) for vector infection and maintenance; tissue dissection; virus detection
• Vivarium- animal evaluations and health monitoring; breeding; housing; procedure assistance; safety and operations training

Ability To Accommodate cGLP or cGMP Studies?

Currently, no. Planning to establish during 2025, exploiting GLP and GMP facilities elsewhere on MU campus.

Tools

Animal Capabilities, Including Species and Containment Level(s)

• Mouse (ABSL-1, ABSL-2, ABSL-3)
• Rat (ABSL-1, ABSL-2, ABSL-3)
• Hamster (ABSL-1, ABSL-2, ABSL-3)
• Rabbit (ABSL-1, ABSL-2, ABSL-3)
• Ferret (ABSL-1, ABSL-2, ABSL-3)
• Anticipated in 2025
  • Swine (ABSL-2, ABSL-3Ag)
  • Chicken (ABSL-2, ABSL-3Ag)

Animal Models, Including Species, Disease, and Delivery Methods

Current Animal Models

The biocontainment research support services core has a mission to have readily available, reliable challenge models of interest to the research community. In line with this mission, the available animal models are being updated continually. For the most recent list of available animal models, please visit the LIDR website or contact the Director.

Mouse: B. anthracis, Brucella spp., C. burnetii F. tularensis, Y. pestis, Influenza A virus, SARS CoV-2 (Delivery methods: aerosol, intradermal, intranasal, intraperitoneal, oral, subcutaneous, arthropod-borne)

Rat: F. tularensis, Y. pestis, SARS-CoV-2 (Delivery methods: aerosol, intradermal, intranasal, subcutaneous)

Hamster: Zika virus, SARS-CoV-2 (Delivery methods: subcutaneous, arthropod-borne)

Guinea pig: B anthracis, C. burnetii (Delivery methods: aerosol, intraperitoneal, subcutaneous)

Vector Transmission Models

Mosquito: Chikungunya virus, Dengue virus, Sindbis virus, Zika virus (Delivery methods: intrathoracic, oral)

Pathogens

Current Select Agent Approval:

• Bacillus anthracis
• Botulinum neurotoxin-producing species of Clostridium
• Brucella abortus
• Brucella melitensis
• Brucella suis
• Burkholderia mallei
• Burkholderia pseudomallei
• Coxiella burnetii
• Francisella tularensis
• Rift Valley fever virus
• T-2 toxin
• Yersinia pestis

Other Pathogens:

• Borrelia burgdorferi
• Bourbon virus
• Chikungunya virus
• Coccidioides immitis
• Cryptococcus neoformans
• Dengue virus
• Heartland virus
• Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (Select Agent exempt)
• Human coronaviruses (229E, NL63, OC43)
• Influenza A virus
• Klebsiella pneumoniae
• Mayaro virus
• MERS CoV
• Mycobacterium tuberculosis
• Pseudomonas aeuruginosa
• SARS-CoV-2
• Sindbis virus
• Staphylococcus aureus
• Streptococcus pyogenes
• Zika virus

Imaging Capabilities

• BioTek® LionheartTM FX Automated Microscope (BSL-2/BSL-3)
• BioTek® Cytation C10 Confocal Imaging Reader (BSL-2/BSL-3)
• Fluorescent Microscopes (BSL-2/BSL-3):
  • Nikon Eclipse 50i
  • Olympus BX-41
• LagoX Spectral Imaging and X-ray (ABSL-2/ABSL-3)

Major Equipment Available

• CH Technologies Nose-only Inhalation Exposure System (NOIES)- provides accurate and reproducible generation and delivery of aerosols. Particle size is monitored using a Palas Welas® white light aerosol spectrometer helping to target aerosols to specific regions of the respiratory tract.
• Aerosol concentration and presented dose determined by direct impingement or cascade impaction followed by growth or qPCR quantification.
• GermfreeTM Class III Biological Safety Cabinet- a custom-designed and -built, glovebox that houses the NOIES and is connected directly to the vivarium via an interlocked pass-through.
• Invitrogen Bigfoot Spectral Cell Sorter.
• BioTek® LionheartTM FX Automated Microscope.
• BioTek® Cytation C10 Confocal Imaging Reader.
• Miltenyi MACSQuant Analyzer 10 automated flow cytometer.
• Luminex® xMAP Intelliflex detection system.
• Miltenyi MACSQuant Tyto Cell Sorter.
• Kingfisher Apex automated purification system for DNA, RNA, proteins, and cells.
• ImmunoSpot S6 Ultimate M2 ELISpot analyzer.
• Meso Scale Discovery QuickPlex SQ 120MM electrochemiluminescence reader.
• LagoX whole animal spectral imager.

Auxiliary:

• Vivarium- Procedure suites with Class II biological safety cabinets; isolator caging for mice, rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, and ferrets; dedicated goat housing and procedure suite.
• Vector Suite- Arthropod Containment Level 3 for vector-borne disease research and housing.

Shared Resources

• NIH-supported MU Mutant Mouse Resource and Research Center (one of four centers comprising the MMRRC): supplies mouse models, embryonic stem cells, related reagents, and protocols, as well as unique repository services including importing, storing, and distributing a vast number of mutant mouse strains. 
• NIH-supported MU National Swine Resource and Research Center: ensures access to critically needed swine models and serves as a central resource for reagents, creation of new genetically modified swine, and information and training related to use of swine models in biomedical research. 
• NIH-supported MU Rat Resource and Research Center: supplies rat models, embryonic stem cells, related reagents, protocols and training, and other specialized services including importing, storing, and distributing rat strains and facilitating strain acquisition from international repositories.
• MU Research Reactor: a 10-megawatt reactor (the largest research reactor in the U.S.) that contributes to research on boron neutron capture therapy, neutron scattering and neutron interferometry, radioisotopes for imaging and treatment of cancer, neutron transmutation doping of semiconductor materials, epidemiology, and various other fields of medicine.
• Animal Modeling Core: provides services associated with the generation and characterization of animal models including expert advice on the design and approach for generating animal models as well as traditional techniques (e.g. embryonic stem cell modification) and cutting-edge genetic modification tools (e.g. CRISPR/Cas9 system) to generate models.
• Cell and Immunobiology Core: provides services for non-infectious and fixed samples including custom monoclonal antibody production, normal and tumor cell preparation, cell acquisition and/or propagation, real-time metabolic analysis, flow cytometric services, and tissue culture reagents. 
• Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center: a facility dedicated to multidisciplinary collaborations among investigators from medicine, engineering, veterinary medicine, and other departments to better understand the causes of many diseases, leading to prevention and treatment. 
• Genomics Technology Core: provides services in DNA sequencing, DNA fragment analysis, genotyping, genomic variation analysis, and gene expression, as well as maintains the Enzyme Freezer Program for University of Missouri-Columbia. 
• Electron Microscopy Core: provides consultation, training, and services for scanning and transmission electron microscopy, immunoelectron microscopy, x-ray microanalysis, digital imaging and analysis, electron beam lithography, and materials and biological specimen preparation. 
• Gehrke Proteomics Center: provides advanced technologies in protein sequencing, custom peptide synthesizing, HPLC and capillary electrophoretic analyses, and mass spectrometry identification. 
• Informatics Research Core: offers a broad range of expertise and capabilities to facilitate the use of high-performance computing hardware to analyze research data. 
• MU Institute for Clinical and Translational Science: serves as the focal point to connect interdisciplinary researchers with research tools and provide mentoring and education opportunities to the next generation of researchers.
• International Institute of Nano and Molecular Medicine: a research center dedicated to the creation of novel materials, devices, and agents through the discovery and application of fundamental and translational medical science based upon previously unexplored chemistry combined with nanotechnology and the biosciences. 
• Metabolomics Center: provides targeted and non-targeted small molecule/metabolite profiling and data processing, as well as user training on sample preparation, data processing, and analysis. 
• Metagenomics Center: provides services associated with the characterization of complex microbial communities including DNA extraction, next-generation sequencing, and study design consultation, as well as re-derivation of genetically manipulated rodents to generate animals harboring a desired complex microbiota. 
• Molecular Cytology Core: offers services for immunocytochemistry, laser capture microdissection, light microscopy, in situ hybridization techniques, and general scientific image analysis and processing. 
• Molecular Interactions Core: provides instrumentation and assistance for crystallography, dynamic light scattering, nuclear magnetic resonance, peptide synthesis, and custom liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry. 
• Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Core: assists researchers in using NMR for structural elucidation of molecules and the study of chemical and biological reactions, as well as experiment design and spectral analysis. Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory: an American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians accredited, full-service laboratory that provides diagnostic services including anatomic and clinical pathology, bacteriology and mycology, serology, toxicology, and molecular diagnostics.

See all National and Regional Biocontainment Labs