title: Muscle contraction and movement of cellular organelles: are there two different types of mechanisms for their generation?
abstract: It has been shown that myosin molecules attached to Covaspheres can "walk along" polar actin filament in vitro. The driving force for this movement seems to explain only about 1% of the isometric tension developed by a muscle fibre. Therefore, the driving force for the bead movement seems to be incompatible with that found in muscle, and the bead movement cannot be considered as a model for muscle contraction. The origin of the bead movement may be related to a "molecular jet" process, resulting from the rapid ejection of the MgATP splitting products. This "molecular jet" might also explain the movements of many cellular organelles.
authors.affiliation: Département de Biologie, CEN-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Morel
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bachouchi
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D007537:Isometric Contraction; D009119:Muscle Contraction; D009218:Myosins / Q000378:metabolism*; D015388:Organelles / Q000502:physiology*; D011817:Rabbits; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate; D009218:Myosins