Calcaneal tendon plasticity following gastrocnemius muscle injury in rat

We investigated calcaneal tendon extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling after gastrocnemius muscle injury using a rat model. Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups: control group (C; animals that were not exposed to muscle injury) and harvested at different time points post gastrocnemius muscle injury (3, 14 and 28 days) for gene expression analysis. qRT-PCR was performed using TaqMan Universal PCR Master Mix system (Applied Biosystems, CA, USA - Cat. 4304437). For the evaluation of CT gene expression, a total of 1 μg of RNA extracted from each tendon were converted into cDNA (final volume 20 μL) using SuperScript ™ VILO ™ MasterMix reverse transcriptase (Invitrogen-Cat. 11755-010) according to the manufacturer's protocol. To perform reverse transcription, the samples were incubated at 25°C for 10 minutes, at 42°C for 60 minutes, and at 85°C for 5 minutes before being stored at -20°C in a freezer.