The Quest for Speed: Muscles Built for High-Frequency Contractions.
Vertebrate sound-producing muscles can contract at frequencies greater than 100 Hz, a feat impossible in locomotory muscles. This is not accomplished by unique proteins or structures but by qualitative shifts in isoforms and quantitative reapportionment of structures. Speed comes with costs and trade-offs, however, that restrict how a muscle can be used.
Rome
Lawrence C.
LC
Department of Biology of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
Lindstedt
Stan L.
SL