Program in Physical Therapy, Washington University in St. Louis.
Program in Physical Therapy, Washington University in St. Louis; Departments of Neurology, Orthopaedic Surgery and Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis;
J Vis Exp. 2023 Jun 9(196). doi: 10.3791/65461.
Fatty infiltration is the accumulation of adipocytes between myofibers in skeletal muscle and is a prominent feature of many myopathies, metabolic disorders, and dystrophies. Clinically in human populations, fatty infiltration is assessed using noninvasive methods, including computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and ultrasound (US). Although some studies have used CT or MRI to quantify fatty infiltration in mouse muscle, costs and insufficient spatial resolution remain challenging. Other small animal methods utilize histology to visualize individual adipocytes; however, this methodology suffers from sampling bias in heterogeneous pathology. This protocol describes the methodology to qualitatively view and quantitatively measure fatty infiltration comprehensively throughout intact mouse muscle and at the level of individual adipocytes using decellularization. The protocol is not limited to specific muscles or specific species and can be extended to human biopsy. Additionally, gross qualitative and quantitative assessments can be made with standard laboratory equipment for little cost, making this procedure more accessible across research laboratories.
脂肪浸润是指脂肪细胞在骨骼肌肌纤维之间的积累，是许多肌病、代谢紊乱和营养不良的突出特征。在人体临床中，脂肪浸润是通过非侵入性方法评估的，包括计算机断层扫描（CT）、磁共振成像（MRI）和超声（US）。尽管一些研究已经使用 CT 或 MRI 来量化小鼠肌肉中的脂肪浸润，但成本和空间分辨率不足仍然是挑战。其他小动物方法利用组织学来观察单个脂肪细胞；然而，这种方法在异质病理学中存在采样偏差。本方案描述了使用脱细胞化技术全面观察和定量测量完整小鼠肌肉和单个脂肪细胞水平的脂肪浸润的方法。该方案不限于特定的肌肉或特定的物种，并且可以扩展到人类活检。此外，使用标准实验室设备可以进行粗略的定性和定量评估，成本低，使该程序在研究实验室中更易于使用。
