Muscular dystrophy is a hereditary disease that causes the muscles in your body to weaken, and become wasted. It is a rare disease that affects 20,00 to 200,00 United States citizens per year. It can have life lasting effects on the ones infected. The Department of Medicine/Cardiology, at the University of Minnesota Medical School did a study on prevention for the most common fatal form of muscular dystrophy, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Duchenne Muscular dystrophy is caused by an absence of a protein that keeps muscles in tact, dystrophin. Dystrophin is the protein responsible for connecting the internal cytoskeleton and the extracellular matrix. It acts as a protectant against the sarcolemmal membranes contractions. It affects 1 in every
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For the experiment they used mice because they have a lower PCr/ATP ratio compared to humans, which would show what a DMD patient would be going through. At the University of Minnesota School of Medicine they conducted an experiment with six control mice and nine mdx mice. They had 3 males and 3 females weighing in at 28-38 grams. They range from 22-28 weeks old. The nine mdx mice were 3 male and 6 female. Their weights were from 27-31 grams, and were 22-28 weeks in age. To start the experiment the mice were induced with a 2% isoflurane and a 3% mixture of isoflurane, and a 1:1 mixture of of oxygen and N2O. The animal ventilator they used scanned their heart rate, body temperature, and respiration rate. The mices body temperature was maintained about 37 degrees. They had a high temperature water system and a fan. They tested the mice with coils to make them have the problem. They performed MRI’s on the mice. The hearts were scanned using the 3D-ISIS. After they examined the hearts they froze them in liquid nitrogen immediately after they extracted it from the mouse’s body. They than crushed and weighed the hearts. ATP was then extracted from the tissue. They than mixed a sample of chloroform and saturated phenol, than they were centrifuged at 10,000xg for 5 minutes. After the
For the experiment they used mice because they have a lower PCr/ATP ratio compared to humans, which would show what a DMD patient would be going through. At the University of Minnesota School of Medicine they conducted an experiment with six control mice and nine mdx mice. They had 3 males and 3 females weighing in at 28-38 grams. They range from 22-28 weeks old. The nine mdx mice were 3 male and 6 female. Their weights were from 27-31 grams, and were 22-28 weeks in age. To start the experiment the mice were induced with a 2% isoflurane and a 3% mixture of isoflurane, and a 1:1 mixture of of oxygen and N2O. The animal ventilator they used scanned their heart rate, body temperature, and respiration rate. The mices body temperature was maintained about 37 degrees. They had a high temperature water system and a fan. They tested the mice with coils to make them have the problem. They performed MRI’s on the mice. The hearts were scanned using the 3D-ISIS. After they examined the hearts they froze them in liquid nitrogen immediately after they extracted it from the mouse’s body. They than crushed and weighed the hearts. ATP was then extracted from the tissue. They than mixed a sample of chloroform and saturated phenol, than they were centrifuged at 10,000xg for 5 minutes. After the