title: Passive forces in mammalian skeletal muscle: a freely-jointed and worm-like chain.
abstract: The passive mechanical properties of whole muscle in active and nonactive states are compared. The experimental results are presented as stress-strain curves, which are analyzed in the framework of the current theoretical background [viz. the freely-jointed chain model (FJCM) and the worm-like chain model (WLCM)] in a semi-quantitative fashion. This analysis shows that both models can explain the mechanical behavior of whole muscle in non-active state. In the active state, the presence of crossbridges alters the mechanical response, leading to a markedly different behavior, as expected. A discussion of the mechanisms involved and the interpretation of the parameters required for the fitting of the stress-strain curves is also presented.
authors.affiliation: Centro Universitario de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad de Colima, México.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Muñiz
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Marín
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Huerta
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Del Rio
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Larios
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Trujillo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D007537:Isometric Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013314:Stress, Mechanical