Intermediate filaments connect z-discs in adult chicken muscle.
When adult chicken skeletal myofibrils are treated with a myosin-extracting solution, the Z-discs with attached actin filaments retain their linear connections with one another in the extracted myofibril. The sarcomere length increases in the extracted myofibrils from a control lenght of 2.5 micrometer up to 6 micrometer. In a sarcomere, eight to fifty 10 nm filaments can be seen in parallel array in the H-zone. The 10 nm-wide filaments do not bind heavy meromyosin and are two to four micrometers in length. These intermediate filaments are postulated to be an integral part of the sarcomere, connecting Z-bands along the length of the myofibril.
D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009132:Muscles / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D009210:Myofibrils / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009218:Myosins / Q000378:metabolism
D000199:Actins; D009218:Myosins