title: A highly non-ideal solution: the contractile system of skeletal muscle.
abstract: The contractile system is a highly non-ideal solution. The activities of its components must be determined in order to achieve a meaningful representation of cross-bridge kinetics and of chemio-mechanical transduction. Osmotic techniques may help in this respect. A few examples are presented. Protein osmotic pressure influences cross-bridges by determining (1) their free energy minimum, (2) their stiffness and (3) their contractile force.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biochimica e Biologia Molecolare, Università di Ferrara, Italy. gre@ifeuniv.unife.it
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Grazi
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D007700:Kinetics; D008954:Models, Biological; D009119:Muscle Contraction; D018485:Muscle Fibers, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D015879:Myosin Subfragments; D009218:Myosins / Q000502:physiology; D009997:Osmotic Pressure; D011817:Rabbits; D011898:Ranidae; D012996:Solutions; D013816:Thermodynamics; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D015879:Myosin Subfragments; D012996:Solutions; D009218:Myosins