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Updated: Apr 16, 2026
Immunolabelling Myofiber Degeneration in Muscle Biopsies
Published on: December 5, 2019
Expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 by myofibers in mdx mice
Maria J Torres-Palsa1, Matthew V Koziol1, Qingnian Goh1
1Department of Kinesiology, The University of Toledo, 2801 W. Bancroft Street, Toledo, Ohio, 43606, USA.
Introduction:
We investigated the extent to which intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), a critical protein of the inflammatory response, is expressed in skeletal muscles of mdx mice (a murine model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy).
Methods:
Muscles were collected from control and mdx mice at 2-24 weeks of age and analyzed for ICAM-1 expression by means of Western blot and immunofluorescence.
Results:
Western blot revealed higher expression of ICAM-1 in mdx compared with control muscles through 24 weeks of age. In contrast to control muscles, ICAM-1 was expressed on the membrane of damaged, regenerating, and normal myofibers of mdx mice. CD11b+ myeloid cells also expressed ICAM-1 in mdx muscles, and CD11b+ cells were closely associated with the membrane of myofibers expressing ICAM-1.
Conclusions:
These findings support a paradigm in which ICAM-1 and its localization to myofibers in muscles of mdx mice contributes to the dystrophic pathology.
