title: Inter-sarcomere dynamics in muscle fibres. A neglected subject?
abstract: The sarcomere is the functional unit of muscle, and all sarcomeres are connected in series in myofibrils within a muscle fibre. From this point of view of the structure a single model consisting of a contractile, a series and a parallel element can not account for the description of a real muscle fibre. Additionally, the titin protein filament needs to be considered as a passive visco-elastic element in parallel with the contractile apparatus. Therefore, the structure of a single muscle fibre is complex due mechanical elements ("motors") operating in series and in parallel. Moreover, variability does exist in the mechanical properties along a fibre and hence a multi-segmental model is more realistic and would give rise to many new insights. By attributing a segment model to each half-sarcomere, a fibre can be constructed through rigorous coupling of these units in series and parallel. The dynamics of such a multi-segmental model is much more complex, but it can explain a variety of effects reported in standard classical mechanics experiments. With a relatively simple mechanistic description we can show that the dynamics of such multi-sarcomere systems exhibit a variety of effects (relaxation phenomena, permanent extra-tension, biphasic force-velocity relation) and should therefore not be neglected in muscle fibre modelling. We have observed in single skinned fibre experiments that non-uniformities in sarcomere length changes are prominent during activation and relaxation.
authors.affiliation: Muscle Mechanics Group, Laboratory for Biomechanics, ETH Zurich, Schlieren CH-8952, Switzerland. telley@biomech.mat.ethz.ch
authors.forename: I A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Telley
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Denoth
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Ranatunga
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D001703:Biophysics; D064211:Connectin; D007834:Lasers; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009119:Muscle Contraction; D018485:Muscle Fibers, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D009124:Muscle Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000737:chemistry; D016658:Psoas Muscles / Q000502:physiology; D011817:Rabbits; D012518:Sarcomeres / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D064211:Connectin; D009124:Muscle Proteins; D011494:Protein Kinases