Abstract
The intensities of three regions of the low-angle X-ray diffraction pattern from a molluscan unstriated muscle have been followed during tension generation at a time resolution of 0.5–1 s using synchrotron radiation. The observed intensity changes can be reasonably interpreted in terms of myosin cross-bridge movements during the contractile cycle. A model that accounts for the intensity changes suggests that myosin heads move out from the thick filament during activation and attach to actin sites to produce tension with a small delay. During relaxation from both phasic and tonic contractions the heads remain attached to actin sites longer than it takes for tension to decay.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Huxley, H. E. Science 164, 1356–1366 (1969).
Huxley, A. F. Prog. Biophys. biophys. Chem. 7, 255–318 (1957).
Lowy, J. & Hanson, J. Physiol. Rev. 42, 34–47 (1962).
Sobieszek, A. J. Ultrastructure 43, 313–343 (1973).
Lowy, J. & Vibert, P. J. Nature 215, 1254–1255 (1967).
Fletcher, C. M. J. Physiol., Lond. 91, 172–185 (1937).
Twarog, B. M. J. cell. comp. Physiol. 44, 141–163 (1954).
Lowy, J. & Millman, B. M. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B246, 105–148 (1963).
Jewell, B. J. Physiol., Lond. 149, 154–177 (1959).
Baguet, F. & Gillis, J. M. J. Physiol., Lond. 198, 127–143 (1968).
Cornelius, F. & Lowy, J. Acta physiol. scand. 102, 167–180 (1978).
Huxley, H. E., Faruqi, A. R., Milch, J. R., Bordas, J. & Koch, M. H. J. Nature 284, 140–143 (1980).
Bordas, J., Koch, M. H. J., Clout, P. N., Boulin, C. & Gabriel, A. J. Phys. scient. Instrum. E 13, 938–944 (1980).
Guinier, A. in X-Ray Diffraction 326–333 (Freeman, San Francisco and London, 1963).
Hanson, J. & Lowy, J. Proc. Roy. Soc. B154, 173–196 (1961).
Elliott, G. F. J. molec. Biol. 10, 89–104 (1964).
Elliott, A., Lowy, J., Parry, D. A. D. & Vibert, P. J. Nature 218, 656–659 (1968).
Elliott, A. & Lowy, J. J. molec. Biol. 53, 181–203 (1970).
Elliott, A. J. molec. Biol. 132, 323–341 (1979).
Elliott, A. Proc. R. Soc. B186, 53–66 (1974).
Mendelson, R. & Kretzschmar, K. M. Biochemistry 19, 4103–4108 (1980).
Holtzer, A., Lowey, S. & Schuster, T. in The Molecular Basis of Neoplasia 259–280 (University of Texas Press, Austin, 1962).
Kendrick-Jones, J., Lehman, W. & Szent-Györgyi, A. J. molec. Biol. 54, 313–326 (1970).
Vainshtein, B. K. in Diffraction of X-Rays by Chain Molecules 125–143 (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1966).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lowy, J., Poulsen, F. Time-resolved X-ray diffraction studies of the structural behaviour of myosin heads in a living contracting unstriated muscle. Nature 299, 308–312 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/299308a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/299308a0
This article is cited by
-
Small-angle X-ray diffraction studies of a molluscan smooth muscle in the catch state
Journal of Muscle Research and Cell Motility (2008)
-
Twitchin as a regulator of catch contraction in molluscan smooth muscle
Journal of Muscle Research and Cell Motility (2006)
-
X-ray evidence for the elongation of thin and thick filaments during isometric contraction of a molluscan smooth muscle
Journal of Muscle Research and Cell Motility (1994)
-
The ‘catch’ mechanism in molluscan muscle: an electron microscopy study of freeze-substituted anterior byssus retractor muscle ofMytilus edulis
Journal of Muscle Research and Cell Motility (1989)
-
Synchrotron radiation X-ray scattering and diffraction: Applications to structural research in biology
Zeitschrift f�r Physik B Condensed Matter (1985)
