Radioautographic study on 3H-thymidine incorporation at different stages of muscle development in aging mice

The DNA synthesis of mouse intercostal muscle from the 13th prenatal day through postnatal 24 months has been studied by light microscopic radioautography after the injection of 3H-thymidine. Chronological changes of labeling indices showed the highest value at E13, decreased gradually and reached almost 0% at 3 months after birth. We classified the embryonic muscle development into five stages, and the LI at stage I was the highest, the LI at stage II was significantly lower than that at stage I, the LI at stage IV was significantly higher than that at stage II, and the LI at stage V was significantly lower than that at stage IV. These changes accorded well with the primary and secondary myotube formation.