scholarly journals Effects of membrane potential on mechanical activation in skeletal muscle.

1982 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
A F Dulhunty

The effect of subthreshold depolarization on mechanical threshold was investigated in tetrodotoxin-poisoned mammalian and amphibian skeletal muscle fibers using a two-microelectrode voltage-clamp technique. Mechanical threshold was determined with a 2-ms test pulse. The immediate effect of depolarization was inhibition of the mechanical system. The consequent increase in the test pulse threshold was linearly related to the size of the depolarization and there was, on the average, a 10% increase in threshold for a 10-mV depolarization in mammalian fibers. The duration of the inhibitory period was also related to the size of the depolarization. Inhibition was interrupted by the onset of activation (seen as a reduction in the test pulse threshold), and in rat soleus fibers this occurred within 100 ms with a 20-mV depolarization, inhibition decayed within 10 ms. The decay of activation after brief conditioning pulses was initially rapid (on the average, the test pulse threshold recovered to 80% of its control value within 1 ms) and then slow (full recovery took 100-500 ms). After long conditioning pulses, activation often decayed into a period of inhibition. When depolarization (of 20 mV or more) was maintained for several seconds, the fibers became inactivated. Rat extensor digitorum longus and sternomastoid fibers were strongly inactivated by depolarization to -40 mV and the test pulse to +40 mV did not cause contraction.

1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (6) ◽  
pp. 736-741 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. L. Murrant ◽  
J. K. Barclay

We tested the hypothesis that endothelin and nitric oxide (NO) alter the force developed by fast-twitch and slow-twitch mammalian skeletal muscle, using a mouse skeletal muscle preparation trimmed to approximately 50% of the original diameter to decrease diffusion distances. We suspended trimmed soleus (SOL) and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles in Krebs–Henseleit buffer (27 °C; pH 7.4) gassed with 95% O2 – 5% CO2. Muscles were stimulated once every 90 s for 500 ms at 50 Hz for SOL and 100 Hz for EDL. The force developed by trimmed SOL was 223.8 ± 9.1 mN/mm2 and by EDL was 247.3 ± 9.4 mN/mm2. Endothelin 1 (ET-1) had no effect on EDL but significantly accelerated the rate of decrease of developed force of SOL at concentrations of 10−10 mol/L and higher within 10 contractions. When ET-1 was removed, force returned toward control value. Endothelin 3 (ET-3) had no effect on either muscle. S-Nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP), a source of NO, increased developed force over time in both muscles, with a threshold of 10−6 mol/L. The effect was evident within 5 contractions in both muscles. Force remained elevated above control values after the removal of SNAP. Thus ET-1 attenuated and NO amplified mammalian skeletal muscle function.Key words: soleus, extensor digitorum longus, tetanic contractions, endothelin 1, endothelin 3, S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine.


1989 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
pp. 183-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Chua ◽  
A F Dulhunty

Inactivation of excitation-contraction coupling was examined in extensor digitorum longus (EDL) and soleus muscle fibers from rats injected daily with tri-iodothyronine (T3, 150 micrograms/kg) for 10-14 d. Steady-state activation and inactivation curves for contraction were obtained from measurements of peak potassium contracture tension at different surface membrane potentials. The experiments tested the hypothesis that noninactivating tension is a "window" tension caused by the overlap of the activation and inactivation curves. Changes in the amplitude and voltage dependence of noninactivating tension should be predicted by the changes in the activation and inactivation curves, if noninactivating tension arises from their overlap. After T3 treatment, the area of overlap increased in EDL fibers and decreased in soleus fibers and the overlap region was shifted to more negative potentials in both muscles. Noninactivating tension also appeared at more negative membrane potentials after T3 treatment in both EDL and soleus fibers. The effects of T3 treatment were confirmed with a two microelectrode voltage-clamp technique: at the resting membrane potential (-80 mV) contraction in response to a brief test pulse required less than normal depolarization in EDL, but more than normal depolarization in soleus fibers. After T3 treatment, the increase in contraction threshold at depolarized holding potentials (attributed to inactivation) occurred at more depolarized holding potentials in EDL, or less depolarized holding potentials in soleus. The changes in contraction threshold could be accounted for by the effects of T3 on the activation and inactivation curves. In conclusion, (a) T3 appeared to affect the expression of both activation and inactivation characteristics, but the activation effects could not be cleanly distinguished from T3 effects on the sarcoplasmic reticulum and contractile proteins, and (b) the experiments provided evidence for the hypothesis that the noninactivating tension is a steady-state "window" tension.


2009 ◽  
pp. 599-603 ◽  
Author(s):  
O Tyapkina ◽  
E Volkov ◽  
L Nurullin ◽  
B Shenkman ◽  
I Kozlovskaya ◽  
...  

Antiorthostatic hindlimb suspension (unloading) decreased the resting membrane potential (RMP) of skeletal muscle fibers in fast extensor digitorum longus (EDL) and slow soleus (SOL) muscle of the rat by about 10 % within 7 days and more. Inactivation of the membrane Na+, K+-pump by ouabain brought about similar depolarization as unloading. The increased sodium permeability of the membrane was excluded as the major cause of this depolarization by experiments in which TRIS was substituted for Na+ in the medium. On the other hand, the decrease in the electrogenic participation of the Na+,K+-pump is apparently one of the causes of RMP decrease during hypogravity, in EDL muscle in particular.


1976 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 789-798
Author(s):  
A. J. Syson ◽  
H. Huddart

1. For cockroach skeletal muscle, 2 mM caffeine considerably lowered the mechanical threshold without affecting the membrane potential. Constractures were induced by 8–10 mM caffeine. 2. In rat ileal smooth muscle, 1–10 mM caffeine inhibited spontaneous contractile behaviour, abolished spike activity and reduced KCl-induced contracture tension. 3. Enhanced spike activity associated with the KCl-induced phasic contraction was abolished by caffeine, the degree of caffeine-induced relaxation being proportional to the concentration employed. These relaxations were not accompanied by membrane hyperpolarization. 4. The present results accord with previous work which has shown that caffeine increases myoplasmic free calcium in the skeletal muscle and lowers it in the smooth muscle. It is suggested that caffiene releases bound calcium in the former muscle and promotes binding in the latter. 5. It is further suggested that in the smooth muscle caffeine may reduce the membrane permeability to calcium.


2002 ◽  
Vol 282 (6) ◽  
pp. C1306-C1312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid Helander ◽  
Håkan Westerblad ◽  
Abram Katz

Extensor digitorum longus muscles were stimulated to contract to fatigue and allowed to recover for 2 h in the absence or presence of 5.5 or 11 mM extracellular glucose. This was followed by a second fatigue run, which ended when the absolute force was the same as at the end of the first run. During the first fatigue run, the fluorescence ratio for indo 1 increased [reflecting an increase in myoplasmic free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i)] during the initial tetani, peaking at ∼115% of the first tetanic value, followed by a continuous decrease to ∼90% at fatigue. During the first fatigue run, myofibrillar Ca2+ sensitivity was significantly decreased. During the second run, the number of tetani was 57 ± 6% of initial force in muscles that recovered in the absence of glucose and 110 ± 6 and 119 ± 2% of initial force in muscles that recovered in 5.5 and 11 mM glucose, respectively. Fluorescence ratios during the first, peak, and last tetani did not differ significantly between the first and second fatigue runs during any of the three conditions. Glycogen decreased by almost 50% during the first fatigue run and did not change further after recovery in the absence of glucose. After recovery in the presence of 5.5 and 11 mM glucose, glycogen increased 32 and 42% above the nonstimulated control value ( P < 0.01). These data demonstrate that extracellular glucose delays the decrease of tetanic force and [Ca2+]i during fatiguing stimulation and that glycogen supercompensation following contraction can occur in the absence of insulin.


1985 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. K. McCully ◽  
J. A. Faulkner

We tested the hypothesis that lengthening contractions result in greater injury to skeletal muscle fibers than isometric or shortening contractions. Mice were anesthetized with pentobarbital sodium and secured to a platform maintained at 37 degrees C. The distal tendon of the extensor digitorum longus muscle was attached to a servomotor. A protocol consisting of isometric, shortening, or lengthening contractions was performed. After the contraction protocol the distal tendon was reattached, incisions were closed, and the mice were allowed to recover. The muscles were removed after 1–30 days, and maximum isometric force (Po) was measured in vitro at 37 degrees C. Three days after isometric and shortening contractions and sham operations, histological appearance was not different from control and Po was 80% of the control value. Three days after lengthening contractions, histological sections showed that 37 +/- 4% of muscle fibers degenerated and Po was 22 +/- 3% of the control value. Muscle regeneration, first seen at 4 days, was nearly complete by 30 days, when Po was 84 +/- 3% of the control value. We conclude that, with the protocol used, lengthening, but not isometric or shortening contractions, caused significant injury to muscle fibers.


1989 ◽  
Vol 123 (3) ◽  
pp. 429-NP ◽  
Author(s):  
C. M. Ayling ◽  
B. H. Moreland ◽  
J. M. Zanelli ◽  
D. Schulster

ABSTRACT The studies describe alterations after hypophysectomy in the proportion of the type-1 and type-2 fibres in rat skeletal muscles, and the effects of replacement treatment with pituitary human (h) GH. Cytochemical analysis of myosin ATPase, succinate dehydrogenase and lactate dehydrogenase activities in sections of rat hind limb muscles were used as markers of fibre type and revealed that hypophysectomy reduced the proportion of type-1 fibres by 50% in soleus and in extensor digitorum longus muscles. This reduction in the proportion of type-1 fibres was accompanied by the appearance of transitional fibres (type 2C/1B). Following seven daily injections of hGH (60 mIU/day) to hypophysectomized rats, the proportion of type-1 fibres in both soleus and in extensor digitorum longus was increased with a concomitant reduction in the number of transitional fibres. After 11 days of treatment, all these transitional fibres had reverted back to type-1 fibres. Only hGH was observed to elicit this effect; injections of other pituitary hormones had no effect on the proportions of these transitional fibres. These alterations in fibre type occurred more rapidly than the changes reported after prolonged electrical stimulation of muscle or following extended exercise. These findings suggest that hypophysectomy and GH injection can result in a rapid alteration in the fibre composition of skeletal muscle, which may have important implications in terms of the resistance to fatigue and speed of contraction of the muscle. Journal of Endocrinology (1989) 123, 429–435


1971 ◽  
Vol 121 (5) ◽  
pp. 817-827 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Hider ◽  
E. B. Fern ◽  
D. R. London

1. The kinetics of radioactive labelling of extra- and intra-cellular amino acid pools and protein of the extensor digitorum longus muscle were studied after incubations with radioactive amino acids in vitro. 2. The results indicated that an extracellular pool could be defined, the contents of which were different from those of the incubation medium. 3. It was concluded that amino acids from the extracellular pool, as defined in this study, were incorporated directly into protein.


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