Villarroel-Campos, D;
Schiavo, G;
Sleigh, J;
(2021)
Dissection, in vivo imaging and analysis of the mouse epitrochleoanconeus muscle.
Journal of Anatomy
10.1111/joa.13478.
(In press).
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Abstract
Analysis of rodent muscles affords an opportunity to glean key insights into neuromuscular development and the detrimental impact of disease-causing genetic mutations. Muscles of the distal leg, for instance the gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior, are commonly used in such studies with mice and rats. However, thin and flat muscles, which can be dissected, processed and imaged without major disruption to muscle fibres and nerve-muscle contacts, are more suitable for accurate and detailed analyses of the peripheral motor nervous system. One such wholemount muscle is the predominantly fast twitch epitrochleoanconeus (ETA), which is located in the upper forelimb, innervated by the radial nerve, and contains relatively large and uniformly flat neuromuscular junctions (NMJs). To facilitate incorporation of the ETA into the experimental toolkit of the neuromuscular disease field, here, we describe a simple method for its rapid isolation (<5 min), supported by high-resolution videos and step-by-step images. Furthermore, we outline how the ETA can be imaged in live, anaesthetised mice, to enable examination of dynamic cellular processes occurring at the NMJ and within intramuscular axons, including transport of organelles, such as mitochondria and signalling endosomes. Finally, we present reference data on wild-type ETA fibre-type composition in young adult, male C57BL6/J mice. Comparative neuroanatomical studies of different muscles in rodent models of disease can generate critical insights into pathogenesis and pathology; dissection of the wholemount ETA provides the possibility to diversify the repertoire of muscles analysed for this endeavour.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Dissection, in vivo imaging and analysis of the mouse epitrochleoanconeus muscle |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1111/joa.13478 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1111/joa.13478 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2021 The Authors. Journal of Anatomy published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Anatomical Society. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology > Department of Neuromuscular Diseases |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10128386 |
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