Have you ever wondered what the difference between walking and running is? In this simulation you will learn the key differences between muscles used during walking and those used for sprinting. Spotting these differences will require the use of a variety of lab techniques.

Stain two muscles using histochemistry

With a cryostat you will cut two muscles in thin slices, and use different protocols to stain the muscle cells and identify myosin ATPase, succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), and aGDPH. You will dye the cells of the extensor digitorum longus (EDL), as well as those of the soleus to inspect the fibre composition under a light microscope. You will then complete a full protocol. First, you will dissect a rat to extract two types of skeletal muscle. Then, you will use the microtome in a cryostat to prepare microscope slides with the muscles to compare them and inspect the differently stained muscle fibres.

Use the force… transducer!

In the second half of the simulation you will investigate the properties of the two types of skeletal muscle to see how they differ and where they are similar. Use force transducers to investigate how the tension of the two muscles differs with length, and what kind of force they produce at different lengths and with different stimuli. Dive in to skeletal muscle exercises such as twitch kinetics, tetanus kinetics, force frequency and fatigue!

Compare the muscles

Use histochemistry and force transduction to get data to compare two types of skeletal muscles from dissected virtual rats. Will you be able to compare the two skeletal muscles and explain why you can be super fit for long walks but get tired from a short sprint?