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Updated: Jun 10, 2026
Electrophysiological Motor Unit Number Estimation (MUNE) Measuring Compound Muscle Action Potential (CMAP) in Mouse Hindlimb Muscles
Published on: September 25, 2015
Development and use of the incremental twitch subtraction MUNE method in mice
Janka Hegedus1, Kelvin E Jones, Tessa Gordon
1Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, 525, Heritage Medical Research Center, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2S2, Canada.
Abstract:
We have used a technique to estimate the number of functioning motor units (MUNE) innervating a muscle in mice based on twitch tension. The MUNE technique was verified by modeling twitch tensions from isolated ventral root stimulation. Analysis by twitch tensions allowed us to identify motor unit fiber types. The MUNE technique was used to compare normal mice with transgenic superoxide dismutase-1 mutation (G94A) mice to assess the time course of motor unit loss with respect to fiber type. Motor unit loss was found to occur well in advance of behavioral changes and the degree of reinnervation is dependent upon motor unit fiber types.
