title: Myofilament compliance and sarcomere tension-stiffness relation during the tetanus rise in frog muscle fibres.
abstract: The sarcomere stiffness was measured in single muscle fibres during the development of tetanic tension using a method insensitive to fibre inertia and viscosity. The stiffness was calculated as the ratio between tension changes and sarcomere length changes during a period of fast sarcomere elongation at constant velocity. The results show that, unlike previous measurements with step or sinusoidal length changes, the relation between relative force and relative stiffness on the tetanus rise is linear. Consequently, the development of stiffness upon stimulation is synchronous with the development of force. Since a substantial fraction of sarcomere compliance is localized in the myofilaments, this result can be accounted for by assuming that either myofilament compliance is highly non-linear or that crossbridges stiffness during the tetanus rise is not proportional to crossbridge tension.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Bagni
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cecchi
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Colombini
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Colomo
mesh_terms: D008841:Actin Cytoskeleton / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D009119:Muscle Contraction; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D011893:Rana esculenta