Mechanics of dystrophin deficient skeletal muscles in very young mice and effects of age

The MDX mouse is an animal model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a human disease marked by an absence of the cytoskeletal protein, dystrophin. We hypothesized that (1) dystrophin serves a complex mechanical role in skeletal muscles by contributing to passive compliance, viscoelastic properties, and contractile force production and (2) age is a modulator of passive mechanics of skeletal muscles of the MDX mouse. Using an in vitro biaxial mechanical testing apparatus, we measured passive length-tension relationships in the muscle fiber direction as well as transverse to the fibers, viscoelastic stress-relaxation curves, and isometric contractile properties. To avoid confounding secondary effects of muscle necrosis, inflammation, and fibrosis, we used very young 3-week-old mice whose muscles reflected the pre-fibrotic and pre-necrotic state. Compared to controls, 1) muscle extensibility and compliance were greater in both along fiber direction and transverse to fiber direction in MDX mice and 2) the relaxed elastic modulus was greater in dystrophin-deficient diaphragms. Furthermore, isometric contractile muscle stress was reduced in the presence and absence of transverse fiber passive stress. We also examined the effect of age on the diaphragm length-tension relationships and found that diaphragm muscles from 9-months old MDX mice were significantly less compliant and less extensible than those of muscles from very young MDX mice. Our data suggest that the age of the MDX mouse is a determinant of the passive mechanics of the diaphragm; in the pre-fibrotic/pre-necrotic stage, muscle extensibility and compliance, as well as viscoelasticity, and muscle contractility are altered by loss of dystrophin.

Morphological intelligence counters foot slipping in the desert locust and dynamic robots

During dynamic terrestrial locomotion, animals use complex multifunctional feet to extract friction from the environment. However, whether roboticists assume sufficient surface friction for locomotion or actively compensate for slipping, they use relatively simple point-contact feet. We seek to understand and extract the morphological adaptations of animal feet that contribute to enhancing friction on diverse surfaces, such as the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) [Bennet-Clark HC (1975) J Exp Biol 63:53–83], which has both wet adhesive pads and spines. A buckling region in their knee to accommodate slipping [Bayley TG, Sutton GP, Burrows M (2012) J Exp Biol 215:1151–1161], slow nerve conduction velocity (0.5–3 m/s) [Pearson KG, Stein RB, Malhotra SK (1970) J Exp Biol 53:299–316], and an ecological pressure to enhance jumping performance for survival [Hawlena D, Kress H, Dufresne ER, Schmitz OJ (2011) Funct Ecol 25:279–288] further suggest that the locust operates near the limits of its surface friction, but without sufficient time to actively control its feet. Therefore, all surface adaptation must be through passive mechanics (morphological intelligence), which are unknown. Here, we report the slipping behavior, dynamic attachment, passive mechanics, and interplay between the spines and adhesive pads, studied through both biological and robotic experiments, which contribute to the locust’s ability to jump robustly from diverse surfaces. We found slipping to be surface-dependent and common (e.g., wood 1.32 ± 1.19 slips per jump), yet the morphological intelligence of the feet produces a significant chance to reengage the surface (e.g., wood 1.10 ± 1.13 reengagements per jump). Additionally, a discovered noncontact-type jump, further studied robotically, broadens the applicability of the morphological adaptations to both static and dynamic attachment.