3-in-1 in-situ System Enables Biologist to Test Physiology of Muscle Regeneration
CHALLENGE
As a molecular and developmental biologist, Dr. Chen-Ming Fan of the Carnegie Institution for Science studies the molecular mechanisms involved in mammalian development, most notably in the musculoskeletal system. Over the years Dr. Fan has uncovered developmental mechanisms that are involved in muscle regeneration through the skeletal muscle stem cell niche, as regeneration is thought to be a recapitulation of development processes.
After identifying mechanisms that may aid in skeletal muscle regeneration, Dr. Fan needed a way to test if muscle function was improved or restored in aged and diseased mouse models.
SOLUTION
With the ability to test muscle function in-situ and in-vivo, the 1300A Whole Animal System was the logical choice for Dr. Fan to expand his research from molecular mechanisms to functional measurements. The in-situ setup would allow Dr. Fan to measure force produced by specific muscles in the hindlimb while keeping the muscle’s blood supply and nervous input intact. This represents a more physiological environment than the standard isolated muscle experiments. In addition, measurements of aggregate hindlimb function without surgery using the in-vivo setup would permit longitudinal study of muscle regeneration and functional recovery in aged and disease states.
RESULTS
Once the whole animal system was installed and demonstration complete, Dr. Fan and his students were extremely excited about the prospect of the system and began making functional measurements immediately. The lab employed the in-situ technique to measure functional recovery of the Tibialis Anterior (TA) following experimentally induced muscle injury in aged and dystrophic mice. Just over a year later, Dr. Fan’s lab published a paper in Nature Medicine citing our 1300A system. Dr. Fan stated it would not have been possible to publish this article without the 1300A whole animal system and he continues to utilize this powerful system to further test the mechanisms involved in muscle regeneration.
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