Figure 2

Optical imaging detects muscle damage in exercised Cox2 ^FLuc1/+ DMD ^−/− mice. (A) Representative bioluminescent image taken 25 min after D-luciferin injection into 6-week-old female exercised Cox2 ^FLuc/+ DMD ^−/− mice and non-exercised Cox2 ^FLuc/+ DMD ^+/+ mice. (B) Representative example of data obtained from a group of mice imaged at 6 weeks of age, demonstrating the stability of the bioluminescent signal over the imaging period. (Cox2 ^FLuc/+ DMD ^+/+ N = 14, Cox2 ^FLuc/+ DMD ^−/− N = 17) (C) The optical imaging data are graphed as log base e (Cox2 ^FLuc/+ DMD ^+/+ N = 15, 14, 14, 15, 24, and Cox2 ^FLuc/+ DMD ^−/− N = 18, 17, 19, 20, 35) at 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 weeks of age. (D) Ex vivo luciferase enzymatic assays of gastrocnemius, hamstring, and tibialis anterior muscles harvested from Cox2 ^FLuc/+DMD^−/− (N = 6) mice and Cox2 ^FLuc/+DMD^+/+ (N = 3) mice. Mice were 6 to 9 weeks of age. (E) Representative cross sections of 8 week old Cox2 ^{FLuc /+} DMD ^+/+(left) and Cox2 ^FLuc/+DMD^−/− (right) muscles, stained with a macrophage marker CD68 (red) and counterstained with hematoxylin (blue). (F) Muscle strength testing in Cox2 ^{FLuc /+} DMD ^−/− mice (N = 9, 15, 11, 11, and 11) and Cox2 ^FLuc/+DMD^+/+ mice (N = 7, 6, 6, 6, and 5) at 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 weeks of age.