Glycerinated muscle fibers: relation between isometric tension and adenosine triphosphate hydrolysis

The isometric tension of glycerinated muscle fibers and the adenosine triphosphatase activity of homogenates were determined as a function of the concentration of adenosine triphosphate without the addition of divalent cations. These two phenomena are not parallel; large tensions can be developed with negligible hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate. It is concluded that the large negative free energy change of the hydrolysis is not required for shortening or development of tension.     

Tonicity effects on intact single muscle fibers: relation between force and cell volume

Contraction of isolated, intact frog muscle fibers under increasing tonicity of the external solution was studied by adding (i) effectively impermeant sodium chloride and sucrose and (ii) permeant potassium chloride. Force of isometric contraction decreased as a function of tonicity, independent of the permeability of the solute. In contrast, cell volume changed with tonicity in impermeant solutes and was constant with potassium chloride. The results are evidence that ionic strength in the sarcoplasm directly influences the contraction mechanism. Also, the findings show that force development is unaffected by changes in fiber volume, suggesting that the force per cross-bridge is constant at different distances between the thin and myofilaments. Finally, in light of the length-force relation, the results support the idea that cross-bridges are independent force generators.     

Calcium dependence of the inactivation of calcium currents in skeletal muscle fibers of an insect

Calcium currents in skeletal muscle fibers of an insect, Carausius morosus, inactivate under depolarization. This inactivation depends on the current being carried across the membrane by calcium ions, rather than strontium or bariumions.     

Sarcomeric oscillations in frog skeletal muscle fibers

Brief asynchronous, small-amplitude, cyclic, longitudinal displacements of the striations of frog skeletal muscle fibers were observed with ordinary light microscopy after application of caffeine and certain quaternary ammonium compounds. With time these oscillations became synchronized and evolved into peristaltic-like movements. The oscillations were influenced by sarcomere length, temperature, external concentration of calcium ions, membrane potential, and disruption of the transverse tubules.     

Laser diffraction studies on single skeletal muscle fibers

Sarcomere movements during isometric tetanic contractions were resolved to 50 angstroms by diffraction techniques. After a latent period that followed the first stimulus, all sarcomeres shortened simultaneously and uniformly. Oscillations in length and tension in synchrony with the stimuli occurred during an incomplete tetanus. However, no oscillations in length were detected during the plateau of a tetanus.     

Voltage-independent calcium release in heart muscle

The Ca2+ that activates contraction in heart muscle is regulated as in skeletal muscle by processes that depend on voltage and intracellular Ca2+ and involve a positive feedback system. How the initial electrical signal is amplified in heart muscle has remained controversial, however. Analogous protein structures from skeletal muscle and heart muscle have been identified physiologically and sequenced; these include the Ca2+ channel of the sarcolemma and the Ca2+ release channel of the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Although the parallels found in cardiac and skeletal muscles have provoked valuable experiments in both tissues, separation of the effects of voltage and intracellular Ca2+ on sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ release in heart muscle has been imperfect. With the use of caged Ca2+ and flash photolysis in voltage-clamped heart myocytes, effects of membrane potential in heart muscle cells on Ca2+ release from intracellular stores have been studied. Unlike the response in skeletal muscle, voltage across the sarcolemma of heart muscle does not affect the release of Ca2+ from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, suggesting that other regulatory processes are needed to control Ca2(+)-induced Ca2+ release.     

Regenerative calcium release within muscle cells

Free calcium appears to trigger the release of stored calcium from the sarcoplasmic reticulum of skinned skeletal muscle fibers immersed in solutions with a low concentration of magnesium ion.     

Fatigue in phasic and tonic fibers of frog muscle

Single isolated phasic muscle fibers and small bundles of tonic fibers were directly stimulated in one-per-second twitch series by massive electrode shocks. During the stimulation period the isometric tension developed by the phasic fiber continuously decreased, first rapidly and then slowly. The tonic fibers behaved similarly, but showed much less fatigue than the phasic ones. In general, recovery of the fibers after cessation of stimulation also occurred in two phases.     

Phosphate release and force generation in skeletal muscle fibers

Rapid laser pulse-induced photolysis of an adenosine triphosphate precursor in muscle fibers abruptly initiated cycling of the cross-bridges. The accompanying changes in tension and stiffness were related to elementary mechanochemical events of the energy-transducing mechanism. When inorganic phosphate was present at millimolar concentrations during liberation of adenosine triphosphate in the absence of calcium, relaxation was accelerated. Steady active tension in the presence of calcium was decreased but the approach to final tension was more rapid. These results suggest that, during energy transduction, formation of the dominant force-generating cross-bridge state is coupled to release of inorganic phosphate in a reaction that is readily reversible.     

Localization of calcium pump activity in smooth muscle

A microsomal fraction isolated from longitudinal smooth muscle of guinea pig ileum actively sequesters calcium ion in the presence of magnesium and adenosine triphosphate in a fashion previously described for microsomes of the rabbit aorta. This activity in guinea pig ileum appears to be associated primarily with the plasma membrane as is found in the red cell. By contrast the uptake of calcium in aortic smooth muscle appears to be associated to an appreciable extent with intracellular membranes, possibly analogous to the sarcoplasmic reticulum of skeletal muscle.     

Histochemical phosphorylase activity in regenerating muscle fibers from myophosphorylase-deficient patients

Fresh frozen sections of mature skeletal muscle fibers from patients with genetically determined "absence" of skeletal muscle phosphorylase (McArdle's disease) have no histochemical phosphorylase activity. That regenerating muscle fibers, in vitro and in vivo, from such patients do have histochemical phosphorylase activity present suggests a loss of enzyme activity with fiber maturity.     

Regulation of calcium concentration in voltage-clamped smooth muscle cells

The regulation of intracellular calcium concentration in single smooth muscle cells was investigated by simultaneously monitoring electrical events at the surface membrane and calcium concentration in the cytosol. Cytosolic calcium concentration rose rapidly during an action potential or during a voltage-clamp pulse that elicited calcium current; a train of voltage-clamp pulses caused further increases in the calcium concentration up to a limit of approximately 1 microM. The decline of the calcium concentration back to resting levels occurred at rates that varied with the calcium concentration in an apparently saturable manner. Moreover, the rate of decline at any given calcium concentration was enhanced after a higher, more prolonged increase of calcium. The process responsible for this enhancement persisted for many seconds after the calcium concentration returned to resting levels. Thus, the magnitude and duration of a calcium transient appear to regulate the subsequent calcium removal.     

Deuterium oxide: inhibition of calcium release in muscle

Calcium release, measured as luminescence of the protein aequorin, was measured simultaneously with membrane potential and isometric tension in single muscle fibers of the barnacle (Balanus nubilus). Deuterium oxide inhibited calcium release and isometric tension but did not affect membrane potential, a result consistent with the postulate that deuterium oxide inhibits the coupling between excitation and contraction.     

产多糖溶磷细菌对难溶性Ca-P的活化特性

以肠杆菌EnHy-401、节杆菌ArHy-505、固氮菌AzHy-510和巨大芽孢杆菌P17为材料,比较了4种溶磷细菌在摇瓶培养条件下对不同难溶性Ca-P中的磷活化能力.结果表明,4种溶磷细菌均能促使难溶性Ca-P中的磷活化, 但3种产多糖的溶磷细菌(EnHy-401、ArHy-505、AzHy-510)对难溶性Ca-P的活化能力普遍强于不产多糖的溶磷细菌(P17),肠杆菌EnHy-401对Ca3-P、Ca8-P和Ca10-P中的磷活化率分别达61.53%、63.40%和4.32%.在产多糖的溶磷细菌中,有机酸和多糖均高的菌株活化磷的能力最高,3种产多糖的溶磷细菌活化难溶磷酸钙能力的大小顺序依次为肠杆菌EnHy-401、节杆菌ArHy-505、固氮菌AzHy-510.结果还表明,产多糖的溶磷细菌对难溶磷的活化作用是由分泌有机酸和多糖的协同作用实现的,多糖对磷的吸持推动了磷的溶解平衡向溶解方向移动,且该协同作用受胞外多糖持磷能力和环境中C/N的影响,单位体积发酵液中多糖持磷量与菌株的磷活化能力呈正相关.在本试验条件下,C/N值高时,多糖产量高,有机酸分泌多,活化磷的能力就强.同一菌株只有在最适于产有机酸和产多糖的C/N值下,才能表现出最佳的溶磷效果.     

Dorsal spinocerebellar tract: response pattern of nerve fibers to muscle stretch

The response to muscle stretch of second-order neurons of the dorsal spinocerebellar tract was studied in anesthetized cats. Three different types of neurons are defined; the response of each type is remarkably similar to that of the corresponding stretch-receptors of the muscle. Accordingly, the cerebellum receives information on the mechanical situation in muscle from three qualitatively different channels: one has a high degree of sensitivity to dynamic stretch (Ia units) and provides a mixed signal of muscle length and speed of movement; another provides information mainly on muscle length (group-Il units); and the third signals information on the degree of contraction of the muscle (Ib units).     

碳酸钙原位改性植物纤维及其复合材料性能表征

为研究原位沉积对竹、杉木、黄麻3种植物纤维的表面改性效果,采用平压工艺制备了植物纤维增强聚丙烯复合材料,并通过SEM、原子力学显微镜、光学纤维接触角测量仪等方法分别表征了植物纤维的表面形貌、表面粗糙度、静态接触角、拉伸性能以及复合材料的断口形貌和力学性能。结果表明:CaCO3原位沉积改性对单根植物纤维的表面性能有显著影响,不仅提高了单根植物纤维的拉伸性能,还改善了植物纤维增强热塑性聚合物的界面性能,增强了复合材料的界面强度。原位沉积改性后,3种植物纤维表面均有CaCO3附着,杉木纤维的CaCO3上载量最高,达16.08%;竹纤维最低,为6.96%。改性竹纤维的表面粗糙度Rq值降低了32.95%,静态接触角增加了1.85%;改性杉木纤维的Rq值和静态接触角分别增加了42.51%、3.12%;改性黄麻纤维的Rq值增加了62.77%,静态接触角降低了0.4%。单根改性植物纤维的拉伸性能均有所提高,相同CaCO3原位沉积改性条件下,改性竹纤维的拉伸强度和弹性模量最大,分别为1 134.83 MPa、37.25 GPa。断口形貌SEM图中,改性植物纤维与聚丙烯结合紧密,复合材料的断裂主要以改性植物纤维的断裂为主,表明复合材料的界面性质得到改善。改性植物纤维增强聚丙烯复合材料的拉伸性能得到提高,而且其弹性模量的变化趋势与改性植物纤维CaCO3附着量的变化趋势一致。改性杉木纤维增强聚丙烯复合材料弹性模量最大,为2.28 GPa;改性竹纤维增强聚丙烯复合材料拉伸强度最大,为54.04 MPa。      

Striated muscle fibers: facilitation of contraction at short lengths by caffeine

One of the factors evidently responsible for decreasing the force of muscle contraction with shortening is inactivation of the myofibrils in the core of a muscle fiber. Caffeine antagonizes this inactivation and, correspondingly, changes the length-force relationship at short muscle lengths.     

Calcium-sensitive cross-bridge transitions in mammalian fast and slow skeletal muscle fibers

The fundamental mechanism underlying the differing rates of tension development in fast and slow mammalian skeletal muscle is still unknown. Now, in skinned (membrane-permeabilized) single fibers it has been shown that the rate of formation of the strongly bound, force-producing cross-bridge between actin and myosin is calcium-sensitive in both fast and slow fibers and that the rate is markedly greater in fast fibers. The transition rates obtained at high calcium concentrations correlated with myosin isoform content, whereas at low calcium concentrations the thin filament regulatory proteins appeared to modulate the rate of tension development, especially in fast fibers. Fiber type-dependent differences in rates of cross-bridge transitions may account for the characteristic rates of tension development in mammalian fast and slow skeletal muscles.     

Crayfish muscle fiber: spike electrogenesis in fibers with long sarcomeres

Most of the muscle fibers in the walking legs of the crayfish Procambarus clarkii generate only graded electrical responses. However, some fibers in extensor muscles of the carpopodite have long sarcomeres, about 10 micrometers in length, and generate overshooting spikes that have conduction velocities of 0.3 meter per second. The spikes induce twitch contractions.