History dependence of force production in skeletal muscle: a proposal for mechanisms.
Force production in skeletal muscle is history-dependent. This observation has been made numerous times in the past fifty years and the idea of history-dependent properties has been accepted in the scientific community. Nevertheless, history-dependent properties are largely neglected in theoretical models of skeletal muscles, and the mechanism responsible for these properties is not known. Here, a mechanism is proposed to explain the long-lasting, isometric force depression following muscle shortening and some of the experimental evidence in support of this mechanism is presented. Some thoughts (albeit not a mechanism) are also provided on possible explanations for the long-lasting, isometric force enhancement following muscle stretching. It is hoped that the considerations made here might stimulate a renewed interest in an old but unresolved topic in muscle mechanics.
Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. walter@kin.ucalgary.ca
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Herzog
D008841:Actin Cytoskeleton / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D004548:Elasticity; D006801:Humans; D007537:Isometric Contraction / Q000502:physiology; D008954:Models, Biological; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D010710:Phosphates / Q000378:metabolism; D012518:Sarcomeres / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013314:Stress, Mechanical
D010710:Phosphates; D002118:Calcium