The micropillars were cut by using a focused ion beam system.
Each specimen had a notch at the center of the prismatic specimen, which were cut by using a circular diamond concrete saw.
Sections of 4 μm thick were cut by using microtome, dewaxed in xylene (2 × 30 min), rehydrated in a descending series of ethanol (100, 95, 80, and 70%), and washed by distilled water.
Longitudinal sections (30 μm thick) were cut by using a cryostat at −22 °C (Leica CM 1950 Cryostat, Leica Microsystem, Wetzlar, Germany).
Ten μm serial muscle sections were cut by using a cryostat kept at -20°C (model CM1850; Leica Microsystems, Buffalo Grove, IL, USA).
Thin (60 nm) and ultrathin (30 nm) sections were cut by using a Diatome Ultra 45º (Biel, Switzerland) diamond knife on a Leica Ultracut UCT ultramicrotome.
Thin sections (65 nm) were cut by using a Leica UC6 ultramicrotome and stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate, then examined using a JEOL 1200EX electron microscope (JEOL, Peabody, MA, USA).
After several washing steps in buffered saline, the tissues were embedded in saline containing 3% agarose (w/v), and 70- μm thick slices were cut by using a vibratome.
Protein spots that displayed statistically significant regulation were cut by using automated EXQuest Spot Cutter (Bio-Rad) and deposited in a 96-well plate for in gel-tryptic digestion.
Mandibular and maxillary incisor arcades including the canines were cut by use of a steel band saw (type K 420, Kolbe GmbH, Elchingen, Germany).
