Relationship between light diffraction intensity and tension development in frog skeletal muscle

1983 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Oba ◽  
K. Hotta
1972 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. C. Vos ◽  
G. B. Frank

A brief exposure (about 10–30 s) of a frog's toe muscle or a small bundle of fibers from the semi-tendinosus muscle to just subthreshold potassium concentrations potentiated contractures subsequently produced by exposing the muscles to a potassium concentration slightly above the threshold. The contractures thus potentiated had greater maximum tensions, and greater rates of tension development and relaxation than control contractures elicited by the same final potassium concentration. The resistance to stretch (R.T.S.) in the first few seconds of the potentiated contractures was about twice that of control contractures. Maximum potentiation occurred with preexposures of about 30 s; longer preexposures led to a decrease of potentiation and eventually to a depression of the contracture. The potentiation was not immediately abolished when the muscle was reexposed to Ringer solution but persisted for 2 min or longer (the 'washout effect'). It was concluded that exposing a muscle to low subcontracture threshold concentrations of potassium for a few seconds primes the intracellular contractile apparatus, probably by causing an increased sarcoplasmic concentration of Ca2+ ions, resulting in a potentiation of subsequently induced submaximal potassium contractures. The increase in metabolism (or 'Solandt effect') seen under these conditions is temporally related to the decline and eventual loss of the potentiation and is probably a reflection of active processes involved in reducing the sarcoplasmic concentration of Ca2+ ions.


1974 ◽  
Vol 52 (6) ◽  
pp. 1126-1135 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Parry ◽  
A. Kover ◽  
G. B. Frank

Exposure of frog toe muscles to 1 mM La3+ results in a decrease in amplitude and rate of tension development of potassium contractures and twitches. At this concentration La3+ also inhibits the uptake of calcium, both in the resting condition and during stimulation. Caffeine contractures are unaffected even after a 5-min pre-exposure to La3+. The depolarization induced by various concentrations of K+ is reduced by about 10 mV as is the amplitude of the action potential. The rate of rise of the action potential is reduced by about 40% after 1 min in La3+ Ringer. Neither the decreased amplitude nor the reduced rate of depolarization is considered to be sufficient to explain the inhibition of tension development. It is suggested that La3+ partially uncouples excitation from contraction by preventing the release of a trigger-Ca2+ fraction from some site on the muscle membrane. This fraction normally plays a role in excitation–contraction coupling, although some tension may still be developed in the absence of a trigger-Ca2+ influx.


1999 ◽  
Vol 39 (supplement) ◽  
pp. S189
Author(s):  
H. Tanaka ◽  
T. Kobayashi ◽  
Y. Takezawa ◽  
Y. Sugimoto ◽  
K. Wakabayashi

1969 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 352-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart R. Taylor ◽  
Hanna Preiser ◽  
Alexander Sandow

I-, CH3SO4-, and ClO4-, like other previously studied type A twitch potentiators (Br-, NO3-, SCN-, and caffeine), lower the mechanical threshold in K depolarization contractures of frog skeletal muscle. In potentiated twitches, I-, Br-, CH3SO4-, ClO4, and SCN, as already reported for NO3- and caffeine, slightly shorten the latent period (L) and considerably increase the rate of tension development (dP/dt) during the first few milliseconds of the contraction period. Divalent cations (8 mM Ca2+, 0.5–1.0 mM Zn2+ and Cd2+) raise the mechanical threshold of contractures, and correspondingly affect the twitch by depressing the tension output, increasing L, and decreasing the early dP/dt, thus acting oppositely to the type A potentiators. These various results form a broad, consistent pattern indicating that electromechanical coupling in the twitch is conditioned by a mechanical threshold as it is in the contracture, and suggesting that the lower the threshold, in reference to the raised threshold under the action of the divalent cations, the more effective is a given action potential in activating the twitch as regards especially both its early rate and peak magnitude of tension development. The results suggest that the direct action by which the various agents affect the level of the mechanical threshold involves effects on E-C coupling processes of the T tubular and/or the sarcoplasmic reticulum which control the release of Ca for activating contraction.


Author(s):  
Joachim R. Sommer ◽  
Nancy R. Wallace

After Howell (1) had shown that ruthenium red treatment of fixed frog skeletal muscle caused collapse of the intermediate cisternae of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), forming a pentalaminate structure by obi iterating the SR lumen, we demonstrated that the phenomenon involves the entire SR including the nuclear envelope and that it also occurs after treatment with other cations, including calcium (2,3,4).From these observations we have formulated a hypothesis which states that intracellular calcium taken up by the SR at the end of contraction causes the M rete to collapse at a certain threshold concentration as the first step in a subsequent centrifugal zippering of the free SR toward the junctional SR (JSR). This would cause a) bulk transport of SR contents, such as calcium and granular material (4) into the JSR and, b) electrical isolation of the free SR from the JSR.


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