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A preparation for studying dystrophic avian muscle and neuromuscular junctions
Author(s) -
Gunther J. S.,
Letinsky M. S.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
muscle and nerve
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.025
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1097-4598
pISSN - 0148-639X
DOI - 10.1002/mus.880050103
Subject(s) - electrophysiology , anatomy , neuromuscular junction , muscular dystrophy , depolarization , biology , neuroscience , endocrinology , genetics
Abstract The extensor of the second digit of the chicken wing (EDII) is a small, fast‐twitch muscle susceptible to chicken muscular dystrophy and well‐suited for correlated studies of the morphology and physiology of identified nerve and muscle fibers. In cross section, the dystrophic EDII show morphological abnormalities common to other well‐studied dystrophic chicken muscles. However, in contrast to other dystrophic chicken muscles, living endplates can be viewed in the EDII, facilitating electrophysiological studies. A survey of electrophysiological properties of the EDII muscle in birds 5–16 weeks ex ovo revealed that compared to normal preparations, the dystrophic preparations had: ( 1 ) lower resting potentials, ( 2 ) lower miniature endplate potential frequency, ( 3 ) abortive nerve‐evoked action potentials recorded extrajunctionally, and ( 4 ) multiple muscle fiber action potentials to a single depolarizing current pulse.