To begin place a euthanized mouse on a dissection stage in a supine position, thoroughly spray the mouse's fur with 70%ethanol. Make a two to three centimeter long vertical incision at the ventral midline. Expose the ribcage and the abdominal muscle.
Then use tissue scissors to cut through the muscle at the xiphoid process and expose the diaphragm. Now cut the diaphragm and rib cage on both sides. Clamp and peel back the cut ribs with a hemostat.
Nick the right atrium with tissue scissors. Then insert a 23 gauge needle attached to a 20 milliliter syringe into the apex of the heart. Slowly inject 20 milliliters of two millimolar PBSEDTA into the heart.
Excise it and place it in a 60 millimeter Petri dish containing cold PBS on ice. Remove the atria and rinse out as much blood as possible. Next, remove the skin above the knee joint of the mouse.
With a pair of fine forceps, remove the fascia. Use scissors to isolate the quadriceps with the femur as a guide. Then transfer the quadriceps muscle to a separate Petri dish containing cold PBS.
