Mouse Stomach Tissue
Presented in the digital image in this section is a three-dimensional reconstruction of mouse stomach tissue stained with Alexa Fluor 350 (wheat germ agglutinin; highlighting lectins), Alexa Fluor 568 (phalloidin; labeling actin filaments), and SYTOX Green (nuclei). As with other rodents, the mouse has an especially strong barrier between its stomach and the esophagus. Alongside the fact that many rodents lack certain nervous system connections and are also incapable of diaphragm muscle contraction, the barrier renders mice nonemetic. Because they cannot vomit, mice try to keep themselves from harmful toxic substances by other means, such as tasting new bits of food in extremely small quantities in order to judge their toxicity.