Dynamic vacuolation in skeletal muscle fibres after fatigue.
Vacuoles develop after fatiguing stimulation in frog skeletal muscle fibres. Experiments on isolated Xenopus muscle fibres show that this vacuolation is a dynamic process that reaches its maximum about 20 min after the end of fatiguing stimulation and then recedes. Fatigue-induced vacuoles originate from the t-tubular system. Recent data indicate that vacuoles are formed because of lactate accumulation in the t-tubules resulting in increased osmotic pressure and subsequent water influx. There is no obligatory connection between the presence of vacuoles and force depression, which is another common feature during the recovery from fatigue. Nevertheless, extensive vacuolation may exaggerate this force depression.
Lännergren
Jan
J
Department of Physiology, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
Westerblad
Håkan
H
Bruton
Joseph D
JD
D000818:Animals; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D007425:Intracellular Membranes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D018763:Muscle Fatigue / Q000502:physiology*; D018485:Muscle Fibers, Skeletal / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D014617:Vacuoles / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D014882:Water-Electrolyte Balance / Q000502:physiology; D014982:Xenopus laevis