In Vivo Imaging of Human Sarcomere Twitch Dynamics in Individual Motor Units.

ABSTRACT: Motor units comprise a pre-synaptic motor neuron and multiple post-synaptic muscle fibers. Many movement disorders disrupt motor unit contractile dynamics and the structure of sarcomeres, skeletal muscle's contractile units. Despite the motor unit's centrality to neuromuscular physiology, no extant technology can image sarcomere twitch dynamics in live humans. We created a wearable microscope equipped with a microendoscope for minimally invasive observation of sarcomere lengths and contractile dynamics in any major skeletal muscle. By electrically stimulating twitches via the microendoscope and visualizing the sarcomere displacements, we monitored single motor unit contractions in soleus and vastus lateralis muscles of healthy individuals. Control experiments verified that these evoked twi

SUBMITTER: Sanchez GN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5920519 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature