Murine Skeletal Muscle (murine + skeletal_muscle)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Collateral Capillary Arterialization following Arteriolar Ligation in Murine Skeletal Muscle

MICROCIRCULATION, Issue 5 2010
FEILIM MAC GABHANN
Microcirculation (2010) 17, 333,347. doi: 10.1111/j.1549-8719.2010.00034.x Abstract Objective:, Chronic and acute ischemic diseases,peripheral artery disease, coronary artery disease, stroke,result in tissue damage unless blood flow is maintained or restored in a timely manner. Mice of different strains recover from arteriolar ligation (by increasing collateral blood flow) at different speeds. We quantify the spatio-temporal patterns of microvascular network remodeling following arteriolar ligation in different mouse strains to better understand inter-individual variability. Methods:, Whole-muscle spinotrapezius microvascular networks of mouse strains C57Bl/6, Balb/c and CD1 were imaged using confocal microscopy following ligation of feeding arterioles. Results:, Baseline arteriolar structures of C57Bl/6 and Balb/c mice feature heavily ramified arcades and unconnected dendritic trees, respectively. This network angioarchitecture identifies ischemia-protected and ischemia-vulnerable tissues; unlike C57Bl/6, downstream capillary perfusion in Balb/c spinotrapezius is lost following ligation. Perfusion recovery requires arterialization (expansion and investment of mural cells) of a subset of capillaries forming a new low-resistance collateral pathway between arteriolar trees. Outbred CD1 exhibit either Balb/c-like or C57Bl/6-like spinotrapezius angioarchitecture, predictive of response to arteriolar ligation. Conclusions:, This collateral capillary arterialization process may explain the reported longer time required for blood flow recovery in Balb/c hindlimb ischemia, as low-resistance blood flow pathways along capillary conduits must be formed ("arterialization") before reperfusion. [source]


Capillary supply and gene expression of angiogenesis-related factors in murine skeletal muscle following denervation

EXPERIMENTAL PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 3 2005
A. Wagatsuma
Capillary supply of skeletal muscle decreases during denervation. To gain insight into the regulation of this process, we investigated capillary supply and gene expression of angiogenesis-related factors in mouse gastrocnemius muscle following denervation for 4 months. Frozen transverse sections were stained for alkaline phosphatase to detect endogenous enzyme in the capillary endothelium. The mRNA for angiogenesis-related factors, including hypoxia inducible factor-1, (HIF-1,), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), kinase insert domain-containing receptor/fetal liver kinase-1 (KDR/Flk-1), fms-like tyrosine kinase (Flt-1), angiopoietin-1 and tyrosine kinase with Ig and epidermal growth factor(EGF) homology domain 2 (Tie-2), was analysed using a semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The fibre cross-sectional area after denervation was about 20% of the control value, and the capillary to fibre ratio was significantly lower in denervated than in control muscles. The number of capillaries around each fibre also decreased to about 40% of the control value. These observations suggest that muscle capillarity decreases in response to chronic denervation. RT-PCR analysis showed that the expression of VEGF mRNA was lower in denervated than in control muscles, while the expression of HIF-1, mRNA remained unchanged. The expression levels of the KDR/Flk-1 and Flt-1 genes were decreased in the denervated muscle. The expression levels of angiopoietin-1 but not Tie-2 genes were decreased in the denervated muscle. These findings indicate that reduction in the expression of mRNAs in the VEGF/KDR/Flk-1 and Flt-1 as well as angiopoietin-1/Tie-2 signal pathways might be one of the reasons for the capillary regression during chronic denervation. [source]


Sequence-specific gene silencing in murine muscle induced by electroporation-mediated transfer of short interfering RNA

THE JOURNAL OF GENE MEDICINE, Issue 1 2004
Tsunao Kishida
Abstract Background Post-genomic biomedical research requires efficient techniques for functional analyses of poorly characterized genes in living organisms. Sequence-specific gene silencing in mammalian organs may provide valuable information on the physiological and pathological roles of predicted genes in mammalian systems. Here, we attempted targeted gene knockdown in vivo in murine skeletal muscle through the electroporation-mediated transfer of short interfering RNA (siRNA). Methods siRNA duplexes corresponding to the firefly luciferase (Luc), green fluorescent protein (GFP), or glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPD) genes were delivered by electroporation into the tibial muscle of normal or enhanced GFP (EGFP) transgenic mice. Plasmid vectors carrying the Luc, hRluc or ,-galactosidase (,-gal) reporter genes were also delivered. The Luc and hRluc activities in the muscle lysates were assayed. The EGFP and GAPD expression was detected by fluorescence microscopic observation and RT-PCR, respectively. Results When Luc-specific siRNA was co-delivered with the Luc expression vector into the tibial muscle, the reporter gene expression was markedly suppressed (less than 1% of the control level) for 5 days. As little as 0.05 µg of siRNA almost completely blocked the reporter gene expression from 10 µg of the plasmid. To examine whether siRNA can also suppress expression of an endogenous gene, transgenic mice carrying the EGFP gene received intramuscular transfection of a mixture of ,-gal plasmid and GFP-specific siRNA. ,-Gal-positive cells failed to express detectable levels of EGFP, while EGFP expression was not inhibited in control mice that received nonspecific siRNA. Expression of GAPD was also suppressed by the specific siRNA. Conclusions The present system may provide a useful means of phenotypic analysis of genetic information in mammalian organs for basic research as well as therapeutic molecular targeting in the post-genomic era. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Novel application of flow cytometry: Determination of muscle fiber types and protein levels in whole murine skeletal muscles and heart

CYTOSKELETON, Issue 12 2007
Connie Jackaman
Abstract Conventional methods for measuring proteins within muscle samples such as immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis can be time consuming, labor intensive and subject to sampling errors. We have developed flow cytometry techniques to detect proteins in whole murine heart and skeletal muscle. Flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry were performed on quadriceps and soleus muscles from male C57BL/6J, BALB/c, CBA and mdx mice. Proteins including actins, myosins, tropomyosin and ,-actinin were detected via single staining flow cytometric analysis. This correlated with immunohistochemistry using the same antibodies. Muscle fiber types could be determined by dual labeled flow cytometry for skeletal muscle actin and different myosins. This showed similar results to immunohistochemistry for I, IIA and IIB myosins. Flow cytometry of heart samples from C57BL/6J and BALB/c mice dual labeled with cardiac and skeletal muscle actin antibodies demonstrated the known increase in skeletal actin protein in BALB/c hearts. The membrane-associated proteins ,-sarcoglycan and dystrophin could be detected in C57BL/6J mice, but were decreased or absent in mdx mice. With the ability to label whole muscle samples simultaneously with multiple antibodies, flow cytometry may have advantages over conventional methods for certain applications, including assessing the efficacy of potential therapies for muscle diseases. Cell Motil. Cytoskeleton 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]