Monitoring Synaptic Function at the Neuromuscular Junction of a MouseExpressing SynaptopHluorin - Essay Example

5422). Selection of the neuromuscular junction of a mouse however came with a number of challenges for the researchers and this generally affected the tone of the research as the researchers were forced to “created a transgenic mouse (Bozza et al., 2004; Li et al., 2005; Wyatt and Balice-Gordon, 2005, 2006) that expresses spH at the NMJ” (Lucia et al., 2007, p. 5422). The researchers therefore based their work on the characterization of a number of hidden and unexpected properties of the phenotype of the synapse.

Techniques used Four major techniques for data collection into the proof of the hypothesis set were used. These were vector construction, acute experimental conditions, generation transgenic of mouse and image analysis. Each of these techniques was used at different levels and for different purposes. This means that the techniques were not used simultaneously. With the vector constructions for instance, the transgenic vector known to be pThy1-SynaptopHluorin was obtained. The researchers used a method that had earlier been used by Ng et al., (2002), which subcloned a 1 kb EcoRI-SmaI fragment from pCiNeo-VAMP-superecliptic.

This technique and the generation transgenic of mouse that followed it were important because it set the pace for the researchers to have an ideal clone that would perfectly fit the place of the transgenic mouse they created in terms of characteristics. Under the acute experimental conditions, the researchers made an attempt towards the actual goal by getting to the nerve-muscle of the mouse whereby they dissected the levator auris nerve–muscle (Lucas et al., 2007, p. 5424). The dissection was done based on the work of Katz et al., (1996). This particular technique was highly necessary in setting the pace for stimulus trains, which were delivered at 100 Hz.

This was the work that had been previously done in conjunction with Bernard Katz. Through the work, they argued that ions became neutrally charged when combined with a lipid soluble carrier. This paradigm also predicted that any current that is incoming, has to be preceded by a flow of lipid carriers, which have to be outgoing. They therefore concluded that the justification of this is that the ions were being attracted through a charge-biased selective pathway, which, to overcome the membrane potential, had to perform work (Lucia et al. 5422). Data-base review of key findings The data collected from the experiment gave very new but equally important information on the neuromuscular junction of the mouse.

This new information had to do with the fact that there is large size of the nerve terminals of the mouse that generally makes it possible to undertake spatial properties of exocytosis. A number of existing researches and findings were also confirmed in this research by Lucas et al (2007). For instance studies by Hodgkin-Huxley, which had earlier been conducted on the neurology of membrane current is largely confirms in the current research. Scientifically, the Hodgkin-Huxley studies have been instrumental for the prediction of biological mechanisms, which would otherwise not have been detectable by the use of the contemporary techniques.

Their original studies have triggered further research, as well as the development of simplified models of reaction diffusion. The studies by Hodgkin and Huxley awarded them a Nobel Prize in physiology in 1963. The study had both dependent and