Unilateral Ureteral Obstruction Murine Model: A Surgical Procedure to Obstruct the Urinary Flow from a Kidney in Mouse Models

All procedures involving animal models have been reviewed by the local institutional animal care committee and the JoVE veterinary review board.

1. The UUO Surgery

1. Prepare the following items: isoflurane, cork sheet, depilatory cream, laboratory wipes, Petri dish with PBS, 4-0 silk, 4-0 nylon, a 2.5 mL syringe, cotton swabs, tweezers, surgical scissors, and 8-week old C57BL/6 male mice.
2. Anesthetize a mouse with 1.5% isoflurane and maintain at 1.5%. Then, apply depilatory cream to the mouse's abdomen. After a few minutes, wipe the depilatory cream off with a PBS-soaked laboratory wipe.
3. Inject 70% ethanol into the mouse's abdomen and place the mouse in the supine position on the cork sheet.
4. Using surgical scissors and tweezers, make an incision in the skin at the abdomen and cut the muscle and peritoneal membrane from the bladder to the left lower edge of the ribs.
5. Place the 2.5 mL syringe underneath the mouse. Take two cotton swabs and moisten them with PBS. Pull the intestines carefully to the side with the tweezers and place the moistened swabs appropriately to identify the left ureter. Using the tweezers, lift the left kidney.
6. Use the 4-0 silk to ligate the left ureter in two places approx. 1 cm apart. Cut the ureter at the center point of the two ligations and then use 4-0 nylon sutures to close the peritoneal membrane and incision.