*2.2. Mice*

Female and male 8- to 11-week-old and 8-month-old C57BL/6 female mice were purchased from Envigo, Jerusalem, Israel and were acclimated for at least 7 days before the experiment in the specific pathogen-free (SPF) facility of the Authority of Biological and Biomedical Models at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The aged mice were up to 18 months old in the SPF animal facility. The study was approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in accordance with national laws and regulations for the protection of animals (MD-22-16868-4, MD-20-16432-4, and MD-18-15565-5). The mice were housed under specific SPF conditions in the animal facility under the AAALAC accreditation, throughout the experiments.
