2. Methods

Twelve-to 16-week-old female C57BL/6J mice were used in this study. All experiments were approved by and performed in accordance with the Animal Ethics Committees of the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI; animal ethics number SAM109), Flinders University, and the University of Adelaide. Mice were acquired from an in-house C57BL/6J breeding programme (JAX strain# 000664; originally purchased from The Jackson Laboratory; breeding barn MP14; Bar Harbor, ME) within SAHMRI's specific and opportunistic pathogen-free animal care facility. Before commencement of surgical approaches, mice were group housed (5 mice per cage) and then subsequently individually housed within individual ventilated cages, which are filled with chip coarse dust-free aspen bedding (Cat#–ASPJMAEBCA; PuraBed, Niederglatt, Switzerland). Cages were stored on individual ventilated cage racks within a temperature-controlled environment of 22 C and a 12-hour light/12-hour dark cycle. Mice had free access to LabDiet JL Rat and Mouse/Auto6F chow (Cat# 5K52, Jackson Laboratories, St. Louis, MO) and autoclaved reverse osmosis water. Mice had an average weight of∼ 21 g on the experimental day.