scholarly journals Mechanical control of the time-course of contraction of the frog heart.

1975 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Bozler

Changes in load during most phases of an isotonic contraction of the frog and turtle heart increased or decreased the duration of the twitch. It was abbreviated by a maintained increase or by a brief decrease in load. The relaxing effect of these procedures developed with a delay lasting more than a second under some conditions and will be called lengthening deactivation. The reverse procedures, a maintained diminution or a brief increase in load, increased the duration of the twitch. This effect will be called shortening activation. Although the termination of relaxation may be delayed or advanced by the mechanical interventions mentioned, the normal time-course of isotonic relaxation was always resumed later, regardless of the starting level of the load, making it possible to measure accurately changes in the duration of the twitch. The responses to changes in load produce positive feedback during the isotonic contraction and explain, at least in part, the difference in the time-course of isotonic and isometric contraction. The effects of changes in load were much smaller and briefer in the atrium than the ventricle.

In a recent paper from Meyerhof's laboratory P. Rothschild (1930) has shown that in a series of isometric twitches of a frog's gastrocnemius or semi-membranosus considerably more lactic acid may be liberated than in the same number of isotonic twitches with the same initial load: while with sartorius there may be little or no difference. 90 to 150 shocks were applied, at intervals of 5 to 10 seconds, at room temperature (11° C. to 17° C.), and either directly or to the nerve: the intervals were sufficient to allow complete relaxation between twitches and the number of twitches was not so great as to cause appreciable fatigue. With semi-membranosus, with an initial load of 10 or 20 g. the lactic acid in the isotonic averaged about 35 per cent. less than in the isometric twitches: with gastrocnemius stimulated through its nerve following six results were obtained at 15° to 17° C. in 92 to 102 twitches: Initial load: g. ............ 25 20 20 20 10 10 After-load (isotonic): g. ............. 13 50 50 50 140 140 Deficit due to shortening: p. c. ............. 70 49 64 76 34 25 Thus in an isotonic contraction with considerable shortening the lactic acid may be ½ to ⅓ of the amount in an isometric contraction with the same initial load: while when the shortening is smaller (greater after-load) the difference may be less (last two experiments). With sartorius, however, in 110 to 150 contractions at 12° C. to 17° C., there was a slight excess of lactic acid in the isotonic contractions, averaging about 8 per cent. The smallness of the difference was regarded by Rothschild as insignificant, in view of the probable error of his estimations: in this, as will be seen, he unduly depreciated the accuracy of his own observations: his difference was probably genuine.


1977 ◽  
Vol 70 (6) ◽  
pp. 697-705 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Bozler

The effect of shortening on contractile activity was studied in experiments in which shortening during the rising phase of an isotonic contraction was suddenly stopped. At the same muscle length and the same time after stimulation the rise in tension was much faster, if preceded by shortening, than during an isometric contraction, demonstrating an increase in contractile activity. In this experiment the rate of tension rise determined in various phases of contraction was proportional to the rate of isotonic shortening at the same time after stimulation. Therefore, the time course of the isotonic rising phase could be derived from the tension rise after shortening. The rate of isotonic shortening was found to be unrelated to the tension generated at various lengths and to correspond closely to the activation process induced by shortening. The length response explains differences between isotonic and isometric contractions with regard to energy release (Fenn effect) and time relations. These results extend previous work which showed that shortening during later phases of a twitch prolongs, while lengthening abbreviates contraction. Thus the length responses, which have been called shortening activation and lengthening deactivation, control activity throughout an isotonic twitch.


When a frog’s or toad’s sartorius is rapidly released during a maintained isometric contraction its tension drops immediately and is redeveloped later. The extent of release required to reduce the tension to zero is 3 to 4 % of the length of the muscle. This is much less than the 10 to 15 % originally stated by Gasser & Hill: the difference is explained. The amount of work done during release by the passive elastic element in series with the contractile element is affected only very slightly by speed of release: the damping of this element is small. The redevelopment of tension after release has been compared with the original development of tension when the stimulus began. Minor and variable differences only have been observed, and these are probably due to redistribution of length, during isometric contraction, between different regions of the muscle. At greater initial extensions the rise of tension during an isometric tetanus is much slower than at smaller initial extensions. This also is attributed to redistribution of length, within the muscle. At an initial extension not greater than that at which the developed tension is a maximum the system is ‘stable’ and the tension reaches its full value sharply: at extensions on the outer side of the maximum the system is ‘unstable’ and a long slow creep of rising tension occurs. The apparent complexity of the time-course of the heat production in an isometric twitch is discussed.


Author(s):  
P. Maupin-Szamier ◽  
T. D. Pollard

We have studied the destruction of rabbit muscle actin filaments by osmium tetroxide (OSO4) to develop methods which will preserve the structure of actin filaments during preparation for transmission electron microscopy.Negatively stained F-actin, which appears as smooth, gently curved filaments in control samples (Fig. 1a), acquire an angular, distorted profile and break into progressively shorter pieces after exposure to OSO4 (Fig. 1b,c). We followed the time course of the reaction with viscometry since it is a simple, quantitative method to assess filament integrity. The difference in rates of decay in viscosity of polymerized actin solutions after the addition of four concentrations of OSO4 is illustrated in Fig. 2. Viscometry indicated that the rate of actin filament destruction is also dependent upon temperature, buffer type, buffer concentration, and pH, and requires the continued presence of OSO4. The conditions most favorable to filament preservation are fixation in a low concentration of OSO4 for a short time at 0°C in 100mM sodium phosphate buffer, pH 6.0.


1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (5) ◽  
pp. 2100-2106 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Chonan ◽  
M. B. Mulholland ◽  
J. Leitner ◽  
M. D. Altose ◽  
N. S. Cherniack

To determine whether the intensity of dyspnea at a given level of respiratory motor output depends on the nature of the stimulus to ventilation, we compared the sensation of difficulty in breathing during progressive hypercapnia (HC) induced by rebreathing, during incremental exercise (E) on a cycle ergometer, and during isocapnic voluntary hyperventilation (IVH) in 16 normal subjects. The sensation of difficulty in breathing was rated at 30-s intervals by use of a visual analog scale. There were no differences in the level of ventilation or the base-line intensity of dyspnea before any of the interventions. The intensity of dyspnea grew linearly with increases in ventilation during HC [r = 0.98 +/- 0.02 (SD)], E (0.95 +/- 0.03), and IVH (0.95 +/- 0.06). The change in intensity of dyspnea produced by a given change in ventilation was significantly greater during HC [0.27 +/- 0.04 (SE)] than during E (0.12 +/- 0.02, P less than 0.01) and during HC (0.30 +/- 0.04) than during IVH (0.16 +/- 0.03, P less than 0.01). The difference in intensity of dyspnea between HC and E or HC and IVH increased as the difference in end-tidal PCO2 widened, even though the time course of the increase in ventilation was similar. No significant differences were measured in the intensity of dyspnea that occurred with changes in ventilation between E and IVH. These results indicate that under nearisocapnic conditions the sensation of dyspnea produced by a given level of ventilation seems not to depend on the method used to produce that level of ventilation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


2001 ◽  
Vol 170 (3) ◽  
pp. 555-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
AR Green ◽  
EL Parrott ◽  
M Butterworth ◽  
PS Jones ◽  
P Greaves ◽  
...  

This study compares the actions of oestradiol, tamoxifen, toremifene and raloxifene on enzyme and gene expression in uterine tissues of ovariectomised rats over 72 h. The time-course for the induction of ornithine decarboxylase by the compounds showed a rapid biphasic response, while for creatine kinase brain type (BB) there was a continued increase over 72 h. The efficacy of induction showed that, with both markers, oestradiol gave the highest induction level, followed by tamoxifen or toremifene and then raloxifene. RT-PCR demonstrated that all compounds decreased oestrogen receptor (ER) alpha, ERbeta and ERbeta2 gene expression, 8-24 h after the first dose, suggesting that down-regulation of ER is not the primary cause of the difference in efficacy between these compounds. Using cDNA arrays, expression of 512 genes was examined in the uteri of oestradiol- or tamoxifen-treated rats. Both compounds resulted in the up-regulation of heat-shock protein 27, telomerase-associated protein 1 and secretin. However, most surprising was the marked down-regulation of Wilms' tumour and retinoblastoma genes. We speculate that this may result in a loss of regulation of the transition from the G1 to the S phase in the cell cycle and may make cells more vulnerable to the carcinogenic effects of tamoxifen in this tissue.


1999 ◽  
Vol 112 (4) ◽  
pp. 447-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Zicha ◽  
E. Genot ◽  
G.A. Dunn ◽  
I.M. Kramer

We have previously shown that addition of type 1 transforming growth factor-beta (TGFbeta1) to an exponentially growing population of mink lung CCl64 cells increases their average intermitotic time from 14.4 to 20.3 hours, predominantly by extending G1 from 7.5 to 13.5 hours. Here we have used the DRIMAPS system (digitally recorded interference microscopy with automatic phase-shifting) for obtaining data on cellular mass distribution, cell motility and morphology. We found no significant change in the cells' rate of mass increase following TGFbeta1 treatment, which implies that the treated cells attained a higher mass during their extended cell cycle and this was confirmed by direct measurement of cell size. However, the cells showed a dramatic motile response to treatment: TGFbeta1-treated cells had a significantly higher time-averaged speed of 36.2 microm hour-1 compared to 14.5 microm hour-1 for the control cells. The time course of the response was gradual, reaching a maximum mean speed of 52.6 microm hour-1 after 15 hours exposure. We found that the gradual onset of the response was probably not due to a slow accumulation of a secondary factor but because cells were dividing throughout the experiment and most of the response to TGFbeta1 occurred only after the first cell division in its presence. Thus, taking only those cells that had not yet divided, the time-averaged speed of treated cells (26.1 micrometer hour-1) was only moderately higher than that of untreated cells (14.9 micrometer hour-1) whereas, for those cells that had divided, the difference in speed between treated cells (45.1 micrometer hour-1) and untreated cells (14.1 microm hour-1) was much greater. Increased speed was a consequence of enhanced protrusion and retraction of the cell margin coupled with an increase in cell polarity. TGFbeta1 also increased the mean spreading of the cells, measured as area-to-mass ratio, from 3.2 to 4.4 micrometer2 pg-1, and the intracellular mass distribution became more asymmetric. The observations indicate that a G2 signal may be necessary to reach maximal motility in the presence of TGFbeta1.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Se-Wook Pyo ◽  
Young-Jun Lim ◽  
Ki-Tae Koo ◽  
Jungwon Lee

The purpose of this review is to examine various assessment methods in order to compare the accuracy between the virtually planned and clinically achieved implant positions. In this review, comparison methods using pre- and post-operative computed topography (CT) data and digital impressions for definitive prosthesis will be described. The method for the displacement and strain for quantification of the error will also be explored. The difference between the planned and the actual implant placement position in guided implant surgery is expressed as an error. Assessing the accuracy of implant-guided surgery can play an important role as positive feedback in order to reduce errors. All of the assessment methods have their own inevitable errors and require careful interpretation in evaluation.


1985 ◽  
Vol 249 (1) ◽  
pp. C124-C128 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. K. Lauf ◽  
C. M. Perkins ◽  
N. C. Adragna

The effects of incubation in anisosmotic media and of metabolic depletion on ouabain-resistant (OR) Cl--dependent K+ influxes stimulated by N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) were studied in human red blood cells using Rb+ as K+ analogue. The NEM-stimulated but not the basal Rb+-Cl- influx measured in phosphate-buffered anisosmotic media was found to be cell volume dependent. When cellular ATP, [ATP]c, was lowered to less than 0.10 of its initial level by exposure to nonmetabolizable 2-deoxy-D-glucose, the NEM-stimulated but not the basal Cl--dependent Rb+ influxes were abolished. Metabolically depleted red blood cells subsequently repleted by incubation in glucose plus inosine regained the NEM-inducible Rb+ (K+) transport activity. The difference in the time course of ATP breakdown and Rb+ influx inhibition suggests that energization of the NEM-stimulated Rb+ flux by metabolism may involve factors additional to ATP.


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