Catch a Tiny Fish by the Tail

摘要

Methods to measure contractility in intact muscle of zebrafish. (A) Zebrafish larva showing the central ∼1-mm-long tail segment that is clamped and attached to a force transducer and a servomotor to control the overall clamped segment length. The clamped segment contains ∼10 myotomes that each consist of short muscle fibers that connect at their ends to myosepta. (B) An example myotome with a single fiber highlighted. The tail is transparent, allowing the sarcomere length to be determined with laser diffraction and the myotome length to be measured. (C) Placing the fish larva in a physiological solution between two stimulation electrodes allows contractility of the musculature to be measured. This figure is adapted from Mead et al. (1). To see this figure in color, go online.