title: Post-mortem changes in skeletal muscle connectin.
abstract: Changes in connectin and elasticity of skeletal muscle were determined during post-mortem ageing. The amount of connectin decreased with increasing time of post-mortem storage whereas the rate of the decrease depended on the source of muscles. The loss in elasticity of muscle coincided well with the decrease in connectin contents. Electron microscopically, a network structure between the Z discs vanished when the amount of connectin fell to zero. We have concluded that the continuous net structure of connectin is responsible for about 30% of the total elasticity of living skeletal muscle and its degradtaion is responsible for post-mortem tenderization of meat.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens; D004548:Elasticity; D007700:Kinetics; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009124:Muscle Proteins; D009132:Muscles / Q000032:analysis*; D009210:Myofibrils / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D011817:Rabbits
chemical_list: D009124:Muscle Proteins