In vivo measurement of knee extensor muscle function in mice

Camille R. Brightwell, Ted G. Graber, Benjamin D. Brightwell, Matthew Borkowski, Brian Noehren, Christopher S. Fry

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Skeletal muscle plasticity in response to countless conditions and stimuli mediates concurrent functional adaptation, both negative and positive. In the clinic and the research laboratory, maximal muscular strength is widely measured longitudinally in humans, with knee extensor musculature the most reported functional outcome. Pathology of the knee extensor muscle complex is well documented in aging, orthopedic injury, disease, and disuse; knee extensor strength is closely related to functional capacity and injury risk, underscoring the importance of reliable measurement of knee extensor strength. Repeatable, in vivo assessment of knee extensor strength in pre-clinical rodent studies offers valuable functional endpoints for studies exploring osteoarthritis or knee injury. We report an in vivo and non-invasive protocol to repeatedly measure isometric peak tetanic torque of the knee extensors in mice across time. We demonstrate consistency using this novel method to measure knee extensor strength with repeated assessment in multiple mice producing similar results.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere62211
JournalJournal of Visualized Experiments
Volume2021
Issue number169
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 JoVE Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Funding

We would like to thank Rosario Maroto for technical assistance. Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01 AR072061 (CSF). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

FundersFunder number
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin DiseasesR01AR072061

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • General Neuroscience
    • General Chemical Engineering
    • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
    • General Immunology and Microbiology

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