title: Sarcomere relaxation in hamster diaphragm muscle.
abstract: We characterized instantaneous sarcomere relaxation over the load continuum in isolated hamster diaphragm muscles by means of laser diffraction. In afterloaded twitches, sarcomere relaxation displayed two consecutive phases. The bulk of sarcomere lengthening occurred during the first phase and corresponded in time to muscle lengthening. The second phase of sarcomere relaxation was slower and corresponded in time to tension decay. At initial muscle length, the peak velocity of sarcomere lengthening (SVL) was linearly related to both the maximum extent of sarcomere shortening (delta SL) and sarcomere length at peak shortening (SLmin; each P < 0.01). Varying preload modified the SVL vs. SLmin relationship but not the SVL vs. delta SL relationship. At a given preload, muscle tension decay began at a similar sarcomere length, regardless of the afterload level. In conclusion, our results support the role played by sarcomere length in regulating the diaphragm muscle-lengthening rate but not the rate of tension decline.
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale Unité 451-Laboratoire d'Optique Appliquée-Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Techniques Avancées-Ecole Polytechnique, Palaiseau, France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Coirault
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chemla
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Suard
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Pourny
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lecarpentier
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006224:Cricetinae; D003964:Diaphragm / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D055590:Electromagnetic Phenomena; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007537:Isometric Contraction / Q000502:physiology; D007551:Isotonic Contraction / Q000502:physiology; D008647:Mesocricetus; D009126:Muscle Relaxation / Q000502:physiology; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012518:Sarcomeres / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013997:Time Factors