Finnish Centre for Laboratory Animal Pathology

We provide histotechnological services and expertise in morphological methods to assess pathological changes and specific phenotypical features in laboratory/experimental animals.

FCLAP is one the HiLIFE reserarch infrastructures and belongs to the Histotechnology and Laboratory Animal Pathology platform.
Aims and Services

FCLAP Aims

  • Provide veterinary technical service and veterinary pathology expertise for research projects involving animal work
  • Foster interdisciplinary research for optimal use of experimental animals
  • Train researchers in experimental animal pathology

Tech­nical Services

  • Trimming, processing and paraffin embedding of tissue specimens
  • Preparation of unstained paraffin and frozen sections
  • Histochemical stainings (HE and a range of special stains)
  • Immunohistochemistry (leukocyte markers, a range of specific markers and testing of new antibodies)
  • Consultation and tutoring on histological tissue processing

Ex­pert Patho­logy Services

  • Assessment of morphological changes 
  • Necropsy and tissue/sample collection
  • Assistance with experimental design and morphological techniques
Sample Submission and How to Acknowledge FCLAP

Sample submission

Please contact FCLAP before sending "the first" samples 
  • One form can be used to submit samples from one or from several animals. For several animals, indicate strains, sexes, age, bodyweight and animal id ranges in the table on the 1st page and detail them as needed in comments, using a separate sheet or copies of the the 2nd page (the organ table). 
  • Outline the treatment regime and study type (e.g. A 14-day toxicity study) in few words and give your reference number in the corresponding fields. Describe the study in more detail in comments or on a separate sheet as needed. For “Submitted for”  see examples at the Request part on the bottom of 2nd page field.
  • You can use the table on the  2nd page or construct a separate sheet to supply the data. Remember to provide information on the fixation method.
  • If submitting organs for trimming, preparation of paraffin blocks and/or histological examination, indicate which organs are provided and (if known) the organ weights. For submission of cassettes,  indicate also how many tissue pieces have been taken of each organ and in which cassette (A, B, C…) these are placed.

Send the filled submission form to fclap-info@helsinki.fi and one paper copy with the samples.

How to acknowledge us

To help us secure the continous support of the University of Helsinki (HiLIFE) and Biocenter Finland, we ask all users to acknowledge us in publications resulting from the work done in FCLAP. 

Please use one of the following templates and edit as needed:

"The authors would like to thank the Finnish Centre for Laboratory Animal Pathology supported by HiLIFE and Biocenter Finland for histological sample processing [and/or other types of service]."

"[type of service] was performed at the Finnish Centre for Laboratory Animal Pathology supported by HiLIFE and Biocenter Finland."
Contact and personnel

Coordination and veterinary pathology services:
Jere Lindén, jere.linden@helsinki.fi, Tel: +358 50 448 0037, 

Histological laboratory:
Kati Holmsten, Laura Vähälä,  Aada Kolehmainen

E-mail: fclap-info@helsinki.fi
Tel: +358 2941 57085 / +358 50 3129078 (Histological laboratory)

Department of Veterinary Biosciences, Histological laboratory
Postal address Visiting / Courier address
P.O. Box 66 (Agnes Sjöbergin katu 2)
00014 University of Helsinki
Finland		 EE building, Agnes Sjöbergin katu 2
00790 Helsinki
Finland

+ A collaborative network of veterinary pathologists with specific areas of expertise

FCLAP is managed by the Veterinary Pathology and Parasitology Unit, Section of Veteriany Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
Charges

Service

FCLAP service prices are calculated on case by case basis. Preliminary and short term guidance are free for academic customers.

University of Helsinki internal customers, academic customers whitin Biocenter Finland Host Universites and commercial customers are priced differently

FCLAP charges (pdf)

General charges do not include vat and pertain to University of Helsinki internal customers.

Col­lab­or­at­ive Research 

Involvement of pathologists in interdisciplinary research; experimental approach and protocols, histological assessment, interpretation, further studies etc. 

Based on a collaborative research agreement, there will be reduced or no charging for the pathologists' time.
Further information

Rationale

  • Do you currently undertake projects that could benefit from a more "holistic" approach?
  • Are you planning animal experiments that could generate additional in situ or functional data of interest?
  • Are you interested in project-applied phenotyping of your genetically modified mice?
  • Are you facing unexpected deaths in your animal cohorts?
  • Do you want to gain more knowledge on the pathogenic processes in a specific experimental setting? 

With "yes", we encourage you to contact us (in English or Finnish) directly to discuss ideas/projects and to obtain further information: Jere Lindén (jere.linden@helsinki.fi), Tel: +358 50 448 0037

Training courses

“Laboratory Animal Necropsy or: How to get the most out of your mouse or rat?”

  • February 2011,  April 2011, May 2013, May 2016
  • Course Leader: Giovanni Pellegrini

NOVA course: “Experimental and laboratory animal pathology”
September 2013

  • Course Leader: Anja Kipar
  • Teachers: Cory Brayton, Raoul Kuiper, Björn Rozell, James P Stewart and Pernilla Syrjä