| AVS 59th Annual International Symposium and Exhibition | |
| Biointerphases Focus Topic: Bioimaging | Wednesday Sessions |
| Session BN+AS-WeA |
| Session: | Bioimaging |
| Presenter: | D.J. Graham, University of Washington |
| Authors: | D.J. Graham, University of Washington N.P. Whitehead, University of Washington S.C. Froehner, University of Washington D.G. Castner, University of Washington |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a common, X-linked, neuromuscular disease, caused by mutations in the dystophin gene. The absence of dystrophin in DMD patients causes progressive muscle degeneration, characterized by inflammation, fibrosis and failure of muscle regeneration. Profound muscle weakness ensues, ultimately leading to respiratory or cardiac failure, and death around the age of 20 to 30. The mdx mouse is a dystrophin-deficient animal model of DMD. In addition to being a model for DMD, mdx mice have been found to be resistant to obesity when fed a high fat diet.
In this study we used ToF-SIMS imaging to study the differences in lipid composition of skeletal muscle cross-sections of mdx and wild type mice. Results show differences in both the morphology of the tissue and the distribution of lipids within the tissue. For example the mdx mouse tissue shows a more loosely organized muscle fiber structure with fibrotic tissue formation, whereas the fibers in the wild type mice show more tightly packed muscle fibers. Understanding differences in lipid composition between these mice can hopefully provide new insight into differences in muscle lipid metabolism and help understand the metabolic pathways that protect mdx mice from diet-induced obesity.