Crayfish muscle fiber: ionic requirements for depolarizing synaptic electrogenesis

Presence of sodium in the bathing medium is not essential for the electrically excitable depolarizing electrogenesis of crayfish muscle fibers, production of action potentials being dependent on calcium. The depolarizing electrogenesis of the excitatory synaptic membrane component does require sodium, however, and this ion cannot be replaced by lithium as it can in spike electrogenesis of many cells. Ionophoretic applications of glutamate, which in the presence of sodium depolarize the cell by activating the excitatory synaptic membrane, are without effect in the absence of sodium. Not only is there no depolarization, but the membrane conductance also remains unchanged. Thus, in the absence of inward movement of sodium across the synaptic membrane there is also no outward movement of potassium. Accordingly, it seems that increased conductance for potassium is not an independent process in the synaptic membrane, whereas it is independent of sodium activation in spike electrogenesis. Chloride activation is independent, however; increase in conductance and the electrogenesis of the inhibitory synaptic component are not affected by the absence of sodium. Implications of these findings regarding the structure of differently excitable membrane components are discussed.     

Crayfish muscle receptor organ: role in regulation of postural flexion

Recordings were made from postural-control motor nerves with antagonistic functions in the crayfish abdomen through flexible suction electrodes. During unrestrained flexion of the abdomen, output from the tonic stretch receptor neuron of RM(1),(SR(1)) is sufficient to drive an extensor motor unit in the same segment. However, this intrasegmental "resistance" reflex is normally blocked by an intersegmental reflex in which output from SR(1)'s in caudal segments inhibits SR(1) discharge in more anterior segments.     

Crayfish muscle: permeability to sodium induced by calcium depletion

Membrane of crayfish muscle fibers becomes selectively permeable to sodium when the calcium concentration of the bathing medium is reduced. Removal of calcium or its reduction below 1 or 2 millimole per liter causes large transient depolarizations up to 70 millivolts in amplitude. They resemble pro longed action potentials and occur only in the presence of sodium. The responses are abolished when tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane or lithium is substituted for sodium, and are blocked by tetrodotoxin even in the presence of sodium.     

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.     

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.     

Experimental transformation of muscle fiber properties in lobster

Like the chelipeds, the claw closer muscles of the adult lobster are asymmetric (dipmorphic). In the crusher claw the closer muscle is composed entirely of slow fibers, and in the cutter claw it has 65 to 75 percent fast fibers and 25 to 35 percent slow fibers. While claw placement in the adult is essentially random, it can be demonstrated in two ways that the muscle fiber properties are not genetically fixed: (i) if one claw is removed in the fourth and early fifth stages, the remaining closer muscle develops all slow muscle fibers, and (ii) if the animals are raised in smooth-bottomed containers, both claws can become cutter types, having closer muscles with more than 50 percent fast fibers. Thus, as in vertebrate skeletal muscle, the properties of lobster closer muscle fibers can be transformed by various experimental manipulations.     

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).     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Frog skeletal muscle fibers: changes in electrical properties after disruption of transverse tubular system

In muscle fibers which have been exposed for 1 hour to a Ringer solution containing 400 millimolar glycerol and then returned to plain Ringer solution, the transverse tubular system is disrupted. At the same time the membrane capacitance is markedly reduced and hyperpolarizing current pulses no longer produce a slow, progressive increase in potential (creep). The large capacitance of muscle and the phenomenon of "creep" must both depend on an intact transverse tubular system.     

不同品系优质鸡肌纤维生长规律及其与肉品质的关系

以3个日龄的5个品系F、D、Y、S、B优质肉鸡为试验对象,采用组织化学切片染色技术进行组织学观察,探讨优质鸡肌纤维的发育规律及其对肉品质的影响.结果表明,随着日龄的增加鸡肌纤维的发育呈明显变化.70-90日龄的肌纤维面积的生长强度小于90-120日龄,而肌纤维密度70-90日龄的生长强度大于90-120日龄.同一生长阶段不同品系间肌纤维的生长强度也明显不同,生长较快的D系肌纤维生长强度最大.相关分析表明,肌纤维面积与肌纤维密度呈极显著负相关(P<0.01),与硫胺素含量呈显著正相关(P<0.05),与嫩度、肉色、肌内脂肪含量、肌苷酸含量呈正相关,但相关性不显著(P>0.05).可见,肌纤维的生长发育对肌肉的干物质、肌内脂肪等肉质性状及硫胺素、肌苷酸等风味物质的产生有利.     

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.     

Acetylcholine sensitivity of muscle fiber membranes: mechanism of regulation by motoneurons

Inhibitors of RNA and protein synthesis prevent the development of acetylcholine supersensitivity in organ-cultured rat diaphragm muscle but do not affect established acetylcholine sensitivity. The restriction of this sensitivity in innervated muscle apparently involves muscle fibers.     

Human skeletal muscle: properties of the "chemically skinned%" fiber

A "skinning%" procedure is described for irreversibly disrupting the sarcolemmal membrane of human skeletal muscle and allowing calcium and other diffusible solutes (such as adenosine triphosphate) access to the myofilament space. Single skinned fibers give isometric tensions of about 1.5 kilograms per square centimeter when exposed to ionized calcium event after 1 to 2 weeks of storage at 5 degrees C. For up to 5 days the preparation will sequester and, under appropriate conditions (anion substitution, caffeine addition, or magnesium withdrawal), release calciumn. The regulation of intracellular calcium distribution and the calcium-induced activation of the contractile proteins are discussed and related to the morphology of humnan fibers and to similar processes occurring on other muscle preparations.     

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.     

Targeted myostatin loss-of-function mutation increases type Ⅱ muscle fibers in Meishan pigs

Myostatin(MSTN) is a negative regulator of skeletal muscle growth and development. The skeletal muscle in MSTN^–/–mice is significantly hypertrophied, with muscle fiber type II increasing significantly while muscle fiber type I decreasing.However, it is still not clear how the skeletal muscle types change in MSTN^–/– pigs, and how the mechanism for MSTN regulates fiber types, especially in large animals like pigs. This study conducted a comprehensive analysis of the compositi...     

It is diprotonated inorganic phosphate that depresses force in skinned skeletal muscle fibers

The increases in the intracellular concentrations of inorganic phosphate and hydrogen ion accompanying fatigue of skeletal muscle appear to be the most important metabolic changes associated with the decrease in contractile force. Experiments on chemically skinned single fibers from rabbit psoas muscle with pH ranging between 6 and 7.25 demonstrate that the depression of maximal calcium-activated force by inorganic phosphate correlates nicely with the concentration of the acidic (diprotonated) species. Therefore, in addition to the well-known depressant effect on the contractile machinery of lowering pH per se, any decrease of intracellular pH associated with fatigue further depresses force production by converting more of the total inorganic phosphate within the cell to the inhibitory diprotonated form.     

Rapid neural coding in the retina with relative spike latencies

Natural vision is a highly dynamic process. Frequent body, head, and eye movements constantly bring new images onto the retina for brief periods, challenging our understanding of the neural code for vision. We report that certain retinal ganglion cells encode the spatial structure of a briefly presented image in the relative timing of their first spikes. This code is found to be largely invariant to stimulus contrast and robust to noisy fluctuations in response latencies. Mechanistically, the observed response characteristics result from different kinetics in two retinal pathways ("ON" and "OFF") that converge onto ganglion cells. This mechanism allows the retina to rapidly and reliably transmit new spatial information with the very first spikes emitted by a neural population.