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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences
The Contractile Fine Structure Of Vertebrate Smooth Muscle, Hans H. Weber, J. C. Rüegg
The Contractile Fine Structure Of Vertebrate Smooth Muscle, Hans H. Weber, J. C. Rüegg
MCV/Q, Medical College of Virginia Quarterly
About 30 years ago, Ernst Fischer introduced a new approach to muscle research by comparing the fine structure, and the function of the contractile mechanism of smooth and striated muscle. At that time (Fischer, 1936a and b; 1938) he systematically and successfully investigated the total, the intrinsic, and the form birefringence of smooth muscles and compared his results with analogous data concerning the contractile structure (Noll and Weber, 1935) and the oriented actomyosin threads (Weber, 1935) of skeletal muscle. These investigations were especially important because the birefringence of all muscles is based on its contractile structure and functional state, and …
Latency Relaxation: A Brief Analytical Review, Alexander Sandow
Latency Relaxation: A Brief Analytical Review, Alexander Sandow
MCV/Q, Medical College of Virginia Quarterly
In this report I review certain aspects of the research on the latency relaxation (LR), the minute relaxation of a stimulated muscle that occurs during the latter half of the latent period, i.e., just prior to the onset of contraction (e.g., Sandow, 1944). The first part of my discussion will be historical, dealing with the early, mostly descriptive work on the LR, and then I shall present a more analytically oriented attempt to indicate the significance of the LR in relation to certain aspects of the response of a muscle to stimulation.
Some Effects Of Extreme Shortening On Frog Skeletal Muscle, Sibyl F. Street, Michael N. Sheridan, Robert W. Ramsey
Some Effects Of Extreme Shortening On Frog Skeletal Muscle, Sibyl F. Street, Michael N. Sheridan, Robert W. Ramsey
MCV/Q, Medical College of Virginia Quarterly
We have established that the sarcolemma of frog skeletal muscle is so firmly tied in at each sarcomere level near the M line, as well as near the Z line, that it is thrown into folds or festoons when the fibers shorten. The attachment is not broken even when the fibers shorten to 25% of optimum tension length. Such extreme shortening affects both the morphology and physiology of the muscle; the morphological change seems to be limited to the myofilaments. The physiological effects in frog sartorius muscle include an increase in resting oxygen consumption and changes in the relation between …
"Slow" And "Fast" Muscle Fibers, Ernest Gutmann
"Slow" And "Fast" Muscle Fibers, Ernest Gutmann
MCV/Q, Medical College of Virginia Quarterly
On the basis of the clear-cut differentiation used in fast (twitch) and slow (tonic) muscles of the frog, both the fast E.D.L. and the slow soleus muscle should be considered twitch muscles. However, they reveal a marked differential behavior in their contracture responses to ACh and caffeine. Moreover, all the slow muscles I have studied (i.e.. the L.D.A. of the chicken, the rectus abdominis of the frog, and the soleus of the rat) show a higher rate of proteosynthesis. This may be related to the basic function of slow muscles concerned with long-lasting maintenance of tension, the extreme being, for …