Model 400a

Manufactured by Aurora Scientific

Sourced in Canada

The Model 400A is a high-performance digital force transducer designed for a variety of laboratory applications. It features a compact, durable design and delivers precise and reliable force measurements.

Automatically generated - may contain errors

Lab products found in correlation

21 protocols using model 400a

Rabbit Psoas Muscle Bundle Permeabilization

Cited 1 time

Check if the same lab product or an alternative is used in the 5 most similar protocols

Small muscle bundles of the rabbit psoas were dissected, tied to wood sticks, and chemically permeabilized using rigor:glycerol (50:50) solutions following standard procedures [5 , 7 (link)]. Fibers were stored at −20°C in rigor:glycerol solution.
On the day of the experiment, a muscle sample was transferred to a fresh rigor solution and stored in the fridge for one hour before use. A small section of the sample was extracted (~4 mm in length), and single fibers were dissected in dissection solution. The fibers were fixed at their ends with T-shaped clips made of aluminum foil, and were transferred to a temperature controlled experimental chamber to be attached between a force transducer (Model 400A, Aurora Scientific, Toronto, Canada) and a length controller (Model 312B, Aurora Scientific, Toronto, Canada). The protocol was approved by the McGill University Animal Care Committee and complied with the guidelines of the Canadian Council on Animal Care.

Altman D., Minozzo F.C, & Rassier D.E. (2015). Thixotropy and Rheopexy of Muscle Fibers Probed Using Sinusoidal Oscillations. PLoS ONE, 10(4), e0121726.

+ Open protocol

+ Expand

Contractile Properties of Extensor Digitorum Longus and Diaphragm Muscles

Cited 1 time

Check if the same lab product or an alternative is used in the 5 most similar protocols

The extensor digitorum longus and diaphragm muscles were dissected as previously described (51 (link)) and tied into the Horizontal Tissue Bath System from Aurora Scientific Inc. (model 801C). Muscles were stimulated with a 20-V twitch train and stretched until optimal length for force production was reached. Muscles were then allowed to equilibrate for 5 min. For force-frequency curves, muscles were stimulated with frequencies ranging from 10 to 200 Hz (0.1-ms pulse, 330-ms train, and 2 min between trains). To estimate fatigability, muscles were given a 40-Hz stimulus for 330 ms, with 1 s between contractions for 200 contractions. Fatigability was further assessed using a twitch protocol over 60 min (0.2-ms twitch and 120 twitches/min). Forces produced by electrically stimulated muscle contractions were recorded in real time via a force transducer (model 400A, Aurora Scientific Inc.). Specific force was calculated using cross-sectional area of the muscle tissue (millinewton per square millimeter), as estimated from the weight and length of the muscle.

Heden T.D., Johnson J.M., Ferrara P.J., Eshima H., Verkerke A.R., Wentzler E.J., Siripoksup P., Narowski T.M., Coleman C.B., Lin C.T., Ryan T.E., Reidy P.T., de Castro Brás L.E., Karner C.M., Burant C.F., Maschek J.A., Cox J.E., Mashek D.G., Kardon G., Boudina S., Zeczycki T.N., Rutter J., Shaikh S.R., Vance J.E., Drummond M.J., Neufer P.D, & Funai K. (2019). Mitochondrial PE potentiates respiratory enzymes to amplify skeletal muscle aerobic capacity. Science Advances, 5(9), eaax8352.

+ Open protocol

+ Expand

Skeletal Muscle Contractility in Varying Ion Concentrations

Check if the same lab product or an alternative is used in the 5 most similar protocols

Muscles were positioned horizontally in a Plexiglas chamber. One end of the muscle was fixed to a stationary hook, while the other end was attached to a force transducer (model 400A; Aurora Scientific Canada). The transducer was connected to a KCP13104 data acquisition system (Keithley), and data were recorded at 5 kHz.
Muscle length was adjusted to give maximal tetanic force while muscles were stimulated every 100 s. After a 30 min equilibrium period, the time interval between contractions was increased to 5 min while determining how changes in [K⁺]_e, [Ca²⁺]_e, [Mg²⁺]_e, and salbutamol affected tetanic contractions. Two protocols were used.

Uwera F., Ammar T., McRae C., Hayward L.J, & Renaud J.M. (2020). Lower Ca2+ enhances the K+-induced force depression in normal and HyperKPP mouse muscles. The Journal of General Physiology, 152(7), e201912511.

+ Open protocol

+ Expand

Measuring Maximal Isometric Force in Muscle Fibers

Cited 2 times

Check if the same lab product or an alternative is used in the 5 most similar protocols

Individual fibers were attached between connectors leading to a force transducer (model 400 A; Aurora Scientific) and a lever arm system (model 308B; Aurora Scientific). Sarcomere length was set to approximately 2.50 μm, while the temperature was set to 15 °C [23 (link), 24 (link), 29 (link)]. Absolute maximal isometric force generation was calculated as the difference between total tension in the activating solution (pCa 4.5) and the resting tension for the same myofiber in the relaxing solution (pCa 9.0). Specific force was defined as absolute force divided by CSA (estimated from the width and depth, assuming an elliptical circumference). Myofibers included in the analysis were able to sustain three consecutive maximal activations without any force depressions (> 10%) and had preserved sarcomere structures after the three maximal activations. Approximately 7–9 fibers were used per individual for the control group (n = 40) and > 10 individual fibers per CFZS patient (n = 25) sample groups,

Dugdale H.F., Levy Y., Jungbluth H., Oldfors A, & Ochala J. (2024). Aberrant myonuclear domains and impaired myofiber contractility despite marked hypertrophy in MYMK-related, Carey-Fineman-Ziter Syndrome. Acta Neuropathologica Communications, 12, 80.

+ Open protocol

+ Expand

Characterization of Force-Sensing Beams

Check if the same lab product or an alternative is used in the 5 most similar protocols

Devices were characterized to obtain the spring constant and gauge constant of the force-sensing beam. As shown in Figure S2, a probe force transducer (Model 400A, Aurora Scientific Inc.), which was mounted on a translation stage, was used to measure applied force. While the probe was approaching and deforming the beam at its center, applied force was recorded from the force transducer while the beam displacement was recorded using the translation stage. A digital multimeter (Model 34401A, Agilent Technologies) was used simultaneously to measure resistance of the CNT resistor. Conductive grease (Model 846, MG Chemicals) was applied on both ends of the CNT resistor to minimize contact resistance.

Li Z., Wang Y., Xue X., McCracken B., Ward K, & Fu J. (2018). Carbon nanotube strain sensor based hemoretractometer for blood coagulation testing. ACS sensors, 3(3), 670-676.

+ Open protocol

+ Expand

Measuring Maximal Tetanic Muscle Force

Check if the same lab product or an alternative is used in the 5 most similar protocols

Muscle length was adjusted to give maximal tetanic force. Muscles were positioned horizontally in a Plexiglas chamber. One end of the muscle was fixed to a stationary hook, whereas the other end was attached to a force transducer (model 400A; Aurora Scientific Canada). The transducer was connected to a data acquisition system (KCP13104; Keithley), and data were recorded at 5 kHz. Tetanic force was defined as the force developed while muscles were electrically stimulated and was calculated as the difference between the maximum force during a contraction and the baseline force measured 5 ms before stimulation. Electrical stimulations were applied across two platinum wires (4 mm apart) located on opposite sides of the fibers. They were connected to a Grass S88 stimulator and a Grass SIU5 isolation unit (Grass Technologies). Tetanic contractions were elicited with 200-ms trains of 0.3-ms, 10-V (supramaximal voltage) pulses. Stimulation frequencies were set to give maximum tetanic force: 140 Hz for soleus and 200 Hz for EDL and diaphragm. Tetanic contractions were elicited every 5 min.

Ammar T., Lin W., Higgins A., Hayward L.J, & Renaud J.M. (2015). Understanding the physiology of the asymptomatic diaphragm of the M1592V hyperkalemic periodic paralysis mouse. The Journal of General Physiology, 146(6), 509-525.

+ Open protocol

+ Expand

Cardiac Muscle Contractility Measurements

Cited 1 time

Check if the same lab product or an alternative is used in the 5 most similar protocols

Permeabilized trabeculae (mouse) or thin strips (pig) were dissected and mounted between a force transducer (Aurora Scientific, model 400A) and a motor (Aurora Scientific, model 315C) using aluminum T-clips (Aurora Scientific).^{14 (link)} Sarcomere length (SL) was set to ~2.3 μm for the experiments. Experiments were conducted in physiological solution (pH 7.0) at 15°C (mouse) or 21°C (pig) containing a range of pCa (= −log₁₀[Ca²⁺]) values from 9.0 to 4.0 with and without 1μM Dani (MedChemExpress). Tissue was allowed to reach stead-state force (F) at each pCa. F-pCa curves were collected and analyzed with custom code using LabView software and fit to the Hill equation. The rate of tension redevelopment (k_tr) and high frequency stiffness (HFS) were measured at each pCa (details in the supplement).

Keller C.P, & Van Volkenburgh E. (1998). Evidence That Auxin-Induced Growth of Tobacco Leaf Tissues Does Not Involve Cell Wall Acidification. Plant Physiology, 118(2), 557-564.

+ Open protocol

+ Expand

Functional Characterization of 3D-EHTs

Cited 1 time

Check if the same lab product or an alternative is used in the 5 most similar protocols

3D-EHTs were constructed in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) (PDMS, Sylgard 184; Dow Corning, Midland, MI) wells by combining hESC-CM and hESC-EPI in a collagen-based hydrogel as previously described (Bargehr et al., 2019 (link)).
To conduct Frank-Starling force measurements, 3D-EHTs were removed from the PDMS wells and suspended between a force transducer (Aurora Scientific, model 400A) and length controller (Aurora Scientific, model 312B). Both passive tension and active force traces were recorded and analyzed using customized LabView and MATLAB software. For non-ratiometric assessment of Ca²⁺ handling, 3D-EHTs were incubated with Fluo-4 AM (Molecular Probes, Invitrogen). Then, videos were recorded at both intrinsic contractile rates and paced at 1, 1.5, and 2 Hz before being analyzed with customized MATLAB software. Final analysis made use of Ca²⁺ data from constructs paced at 1 Hz. Representative force and Ca²⁺ traces are depicted in Figure S4. 3D-EHTs were subsequently cryo-embedded and sectioned on a cryotome prior to IHC and quantitative assessment of morphological endpoints.

Ong L.P., Bargehr J., Knight-Schrijver V.R., Lee J., Colzani M., Bayraktar S., Bernard W.G., Marchiano S., Bertero A., Murry C.E., Gambardella L, & Sinha S. (2023). Epicardially secreted fibronectin drives cardiomyocyte maturation in 3D-engineered heart tissues. Stem Cell Reports, 18(4), 936-951.

+ Open protocol

+ Expand

Measuring Skin Stiffness in Wound Samples

Cited 1 time

Check if the same lab product or an alternative is used in the 5 most similar protocols

Skin stiffness was measured as described (Rohani et al., 2014 (link)). Briefly, 12-d wound samples were dissected into strips and suspended on hooks attached to a force transducer (Aurora Scientific, model 400A) and a length controller (Aurora Scientific, model 308B). Tissue stiffness (dF/dL) was determined by imposing change in length of the skin strip and measuring the resultant change in force normalized per millimeter of sample width. On each strip of tissue, 4 steps of 5% length stretches were taken every 30 sec. Force and length signals were analyzed using custom LabView software.

Rohani M.G., McMahan R.S., Razumova M.V., Hertz A.L., Cieslewicz M., Pun S.H., Regnier M., Wang Y., Birkland T.P, & Parks W.C. (2015). MMP-10 Regulates Collagenolytic Activity of Alternatively Activated Resident Macrophages. The Journal of investigative dermatology, 135(10), 2377-2384.

+ Open protocol

+ Expand

Contractile Properties of Cardiac Muscle

Cited 1 time

Check if the same lab product or an alternative is used in the 5 most similar protocols

Permeabilized trabeculae (mouse) or thin strips (pig) were dissected and mounted between a force transducer (Aurora Scientific, model 400A) and a motor (Aurora Scientific, model 315C) using aluminum T-clips (Aurora Scientific).^{14 (link)} Sarcomere length was set to ≈2.3 µm for the experiments. Experiments were conducted in physiological solution (pH 7.0) at 15 °C (mouse) or 21 °C (pig) containing a range of negative log of calcium concentration (pCa; −log₁₀[Ca²⁺]) values from 9.0 to 4.0 with and without 1 μM Danicamtiv (MedChemExpress). Tissue was allowed to reach stead-state force (F) at each pCa. F-pCa curves were collected and analyzed with custom code using LabView software and fit to the Hill equation. The rate of tension redevelopment (k_tr) and high-frequency stiffness was measured at each pCa (details in the Supplemental Material).

Kooiker K.B., Mohran S., Turner K.L., Ma W., Martinson A., Flint G., Qi L., Gao C., Zheng Y., McMillen T.S., Mandrycky C., Mahoney-Schaefer M., Freeman J.C., Costales Arenas E.G., Tu A.Y., Irving T.C., Geeves M.A., Tanner B.C., Regnier M., Davis J, & Moussavi-Harami F. (2023). Danicamtiv Increases Myosin Recruitment and Alters Cross-Bridge Cycling in Cardiac Muscle. Circulation Research, 133(5), 430-443.

+ Open protocol

+ Expand

About PubCompare

Our mission is to provide scientists with the largest repository of trustworthy protocols and intelligent analytical tools, thereby offering them extensive information to design robust protocols aimed at minimizing the risk of failures.

We believe that the most crucial aspect is to grant scientists access to a wide range of reliable sources and new useful tools that surpass human capabilities.

However, we trust in allowing scientists to determine how to construct their own protocols based on this information, as they are the experts in their field.

Ready to get started?

Revolutionizing how scientists
search and build protocols!