This work was supported by National Institutes of Health grants NS047726, NS072027, and AR052646.

The methods in this study were performed in ethical accordance with the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) approved guidelines. All efforts were made to minimize suffering.
1. Experimental Procedure for in vivo Electroporation of the Flexor Digitorum Brevis (FDB) Muscle Bundle in Mouse
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	<li>Design plasmids for in vivo expression using a promoter known to express in mammalian cells (e.g., cytomegalovirus, ...

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The use of electroporation to study fluorescently tagged proteins in vivo is ideally suited for the study of muscle given the absence of suitable cell line models that faithfully replicate the entire cell structure of muscle. This protocol describes the utilization of electroporation and high-resolution confocal microscopy to provide detailed imaging of protein localization and translocation after laser wounding. This method can be adapted to study other cellular processes including cytoskeleton reorganization, ...

Individual myofibers are large, highly organized syncytial cells. There are a few cell-culture models for muscle; however, these models have as their major limitation that they do not fully differentiate into mature myofibers. For example, the C2C12 and L6 cell lines are derived from mice and rats, respectively 1-4. Under conditions of serum starvation, the mononuclear &#34;myoblast-like&#34; cells cease proliferation, undergo cell cycle withdrawal, and enter into the myogenic program forming multinucleated cells with sarcomeres, referred to as myotubes. With prolonged culture conditions, myotubes may exhibit contractile properties and &#34;twitch&#34; in culture. Human cell lines have also now been established 5. In addition to these immortalized cell lines, mononuclear myoblasts can be isolated from muscle and under the similar conditions of serum starvation will form myotubes. These cell lines and primary myoblast cultures are highly useful because they can be transfected with plasmids or transduced with viruses and used to study basic cell biological processes. However, these cells, even when induced to form myotubes, lack many of the salient features of mature muscle organization. Specifically, myotubes are much smaller than individual mature myofibers and lack the normal shape of myofibers. Critically, myotubes lack transverse (T-) tubules, the membranous network required for efficient Ca2+ release throughout the myoplasm.
An alternative method to primary myoblast or myogenic cell lines entails using mature myofibers. Transgenesis can be employed to establish expression of tagged proteins, but this method is costly and time consuming. In vivo electroporation of mouse muscle has emerged as a preferred method for its speed and reliability 6-10.
Methods for in vivo electroporation and the efficient isolation of myofibers have been optimized for the mouse flexor digitorum brevis (FDB) muscle 6. The methods can be completed readily and are minimally invasive to induce in vivo expression from plasmids. This approach is now combined with high resolution imaging methods including imaging after laser disruption of the sarcolemma 6,7. The combination of fluorescent dyes and expression of fluorescently labeled proteins can be used to monitor cell biological processes in mature myofibers.

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>DMEM+A2:D32D42A2:D31AA2:D29</td>
			<td>Life Technologies</td>
			<td>11995-073</td>
			<td>Dissection Media 
			Dilution: 50ml +100g BSA</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Collagenase, Type II</td>
			<td>Life Technologies</td>
			<td>17101-015</td>
			<td>Fiber Digestion 
			Dilution: 160mg / 4ml DMEM (stock 40mg/ml aliquot)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Falcon 12-well dishes</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>877229</td>
			<td>Fiber Digestion</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ringers Solution</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Fiber Digestion and Imaging 
			Dilution: 146 mM NaCl 
			5 mM&#160;&#160; KCl 
			2 mM&#160;&#160; CaCl2 
			1 mM&#160;&#160; MCl2 
			10mM HEPES 
			pH7.4 in H2O</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>1ml Pipettes</td>
			<td>Axygen</td>
			<td>T-1000-C-R</td>
			<td>Digestion</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Razor Blades</td>
			<td>Personna</td>
			<td>94-120-71</td>
			<td>Digestion</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Precision Glide 30G needle</td>
			<td>BD Biosciences</td>
			<td>305128</td>
			<td>Dissection</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>1x PBS (-/-)</td>
			<td>Life Technologies</td>
			<td>14190-250</td>
			<td>Dissection</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sylgard 184</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>50-366-794</td>
			<td>Dissection</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Forceps</td>
			<td>FST by Dumont</td>
			<td>#5/45</td>
			<td>Dissection</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Forceps</td>
			<td>Roboz</td>
			<td>RS-4913</td>
			<td>Dissection</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Scissors</td>
			<td>World Precision Instruments</td>
			<td>500260</td>
			<td>Dissection</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>BSA</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>A7906</td>
			<td>Dissection media 
			Dilution: 100mg / 50ml DMEM</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Falcon 60mm dishes</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>08772B</td>
			<td>Dissection- used to hold sylgard</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Clay</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Electroporation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Stimulator&#160;</td>
			<td>Grass</td>
			<td>s88x</td>
			<td>Electroporation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Clamps</td>
			<td>Radio Shack</td>
			<td>270-356</td>
			<td>Electroporation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Triadine</td>
			<td>Aplicare</td>
			<td>82-220</td>
			<td>Electroporation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Precision Glide 27G needle</td>
			<td>BD Biosciences</td>
			<td>305136</td>
			<td>Electroporation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Simulator</td>
			<td>Grass</td>
			<td>SIU-V</td>
			<td>Electroporation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Gauze</td>
			<td>Covidien</td>
			<td>2146</td>
			<td>Electroporation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Hyaluronidase</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>H4272</td>
			<td>Injection 
			Dilution: Add 160ul PBS (1X) to 40&#181;l 5x stock</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>1cc U-100 Insulin Syringe (28G1/2)&#160;</td>
			<td>BD Biosciences</td>
			<td>329420</td>
			<td>Injection</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Eppendorf Tubes</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>02-682-550</td>
			<td>Injection</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>35mm glass bottom Microwell dish</td>
			<td>MaTek</td>
			<td>P35G-1.5-14-C</td>
			<td>Microscopy</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>FM 4-64</td>
			<td>Life Technologies</td>
			<td>T-13320</td>
			<td>Microscopy 
			Dilution: Final 2.5 ug/ml</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>FM 1-43</td>
			<td>Life Technologies</td>
			<td>T-35356</td>
			<td>Microscopy 
			Dilution: Final 2.5 ug/ml</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Endotoxinfree Plasmid Maxi Kit</td>
			<td>Qiagen</td>
			<td>12362</td>
			<td>Plasmid Purification</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

dna electroporation, isolation and imaging of myofibers

Mature muscle has a unique structure that is amenable to live cell imaging. Herein, we describe the experimental protocol for expressing fluorescently labeled proteins in the flexor digitorum brevis (FDB) muscle. Conditions have been optimized to provide a large number of high quality myofibers expressing the electroporated plasmid while minimizing muscle damage. The method employs fluorescent tags on various proteins. Combining this expression method with high resolution confocal microscopy permits live cell imaging, including imaging after laser-induced damage. Fluorescent dyes combined with imaging of fluorescently-tagged proteins provides information regarding the basic structure of muscle and its response to stimuli.

Electroporation is a minimally invasive technique that efficiently introduces purified plasmid DNA into the flexor digitorum brevis (FDB) muscle bundle (Figure 1A). Seven days post transfection fluorescently tagged protein is visualized in isolated myofibers (Figure 1B). Isolated fibers are then plated and prepared for imaging on a confocal microscope. Fibers can be subjected to laser induced injury. FM dye can be used to identify the site of membrane dam...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about DNA Electroporation, Isolation and Imaging of Myofibers at JoVE.com

DNA Electroporation, Isolation and Imaging of Myofibers

This protocol utilizes electroporation to introduce and express fluorescently labeled proteins in mouse muscle fibers. Following recovery after electroporation, fibers are isolated. Individual fibers are then imaged using high resolution confocal microscopy to visualize muscle structure.

Mature muscle has a unique structure that is amenable to live cell imaging. Herein, we describe the experimental protocol for expressing fluorescently ...

dna-electroporation-isolation-and-imaging-of-myofibers

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JoVE Journal

Biology

12.1K visualizações.  Northwestern University. This protocol utilizes electroporation to introduce and express fluorescently labeled proteins in mouse muscle fibers. Following recovery after electroporation, fibers are isolated. Individual fibers are then imaged using high resolution confocal microscopy to visualize muscle structure. 