Sliding Filament Mechanism in Muscle Contraction

Sliding Filament Mechanism in Muscle Contraction: Fifty Years of Research covers the history of the sliding filament mechanism in muscle contraction from its discovery in 1954 by H.E. Huxley through and including modern day research. Chapters include topics in dynamic X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, muscle mechanisms, in-vitro motility assay, cardiac versus smooth muscle, motile systems, and much more. TOC:From the contents:Preface.- Early Development in Muscle Research and the Role of New Structureal Technologies.- The Molecular Basis of Cross-Bridge Function.- Molecular Synchronization in Actomyosin Motors from Single Molecule to Muscle Fiber via Nanomuscle.- Distribution of Crossbridge States in Contracting Muscle.- X-Ray Diffraction Studies of Striated Muscles.- Conformational Change and Regulation of Myosin Molecules.- Driving Filament Sliding: Weak Binding Cross-bridge states, Strong Binding Cross-bridge States, and the Power Stroke.- Mysteries about Amplitude and Efficiency of Cross-bridge Powerstroke.- Sarcomere Dynanmics, Stepwise Shortening, and the Nature of Contraction.- Cross-bridge Formation Detected by Stiffness Measurements in Single Muscle Fibers.- Non Cross-bridge Stiffness in Skeletal Muscle Fibers at Rest and During Activity.- Nature's Strategy for Optimizing Power Generation in Insect Flight Muscle.- From Crossbridges to Metabolism: System Biology for Energetics.- Energetics, Mechanics, and Molecular Engineering of Calcium Cycling in Skeletal Muscle.- Heat, Phosphorus NMR, and Microcalorimetry in Relation to the Mechanism of Filament Sliding.