A Modified Wire Hanging Apparatus for Small Animal Muscle Function Testing

Discussion The wire hanging test is based on the natural instinct of a mouse to avoid falling. The time that a mouse can hang for is determined by a number of factors, including the physical properties of the muscles, the number of limbs used and the weight of the mouse, as well as age and sex. Muscle disease such as muscular dystrophy, reduces hang times providing a rationale for using the test to determine the potential benefits of interventions. Mouse age and sex can be controlled in the experimental design, and weight can be accounted for in various ways in calculating the result. However, whether a mouse uses two or four limbs to hang on a wire is not easily controlled, nor is the direction and speed of movement, or whether the mouse falls off the wire when it reaches the end of a traditional linear wire hanging apparatus. Indeed distinctions between wire hanging using two limbs and grid hanging using all four limbs have yielded quite different results 6. Furthermore a mouse hanging on a grid can change its stance to use opposing muscles and/or vary the use of different muscle groups, making the gird hanging method a less consistent test of distinct limb muscles. On a linear wire hanging apparatus, the number of reaches and falls also adds a variable duration rest factor into the experiment (Supplementary Figure 2). A mouse placed on a linear wire by its front paws may have the strength to lift its rear paws onto the wire and can also use its tail for extra balance, ...
Source: PLOS Currents Muscular Dystrophy - Category: Neurology Authors: Source Type: research