Mechanism of muscle contraction

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Skubiszak, L.

Affiliations: Institute of Biocybernetics and Biomedical Engineering, Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 55, 00-818 Warsaw, Poland

Abstract: This work is the first attempt to propose a complex model of muscle contraction in which different aspects of the sarcomere shortening are collected into a logical entity. Proposed are some suggestions to answer some fundamental questions concerning the molecular mechanism of muscle contraction, such as the following: “of which part of the myosin molecule does the crossbridge consist?”, “how does the crossbridge act?”, “what are two heads of the myosin molecule needed for?”, “in what way is the metabolic energy of ATP converted into the mechanical work of muscle contraction?”, “does the actin filament influence have a passive or active role in the process of muscle contraction?”, “what is the role of the third filament – a connecting one?”, “in what way is muscle relaxation generated?”.

Keywords: Muscle contraction, Myosin filament, Actin filament, Connecting filament

DOI: 10.3233/THC-1993-1203

Journal: Technology and Health Care, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 133-142, 1993