Gf. Elliott et Cr. Worthington, THE MUSCLE MOTOR - SIMULTANEOUS LEVERS OR SEQUENTIAL IMPULSES, International journal of biological macromolecules, 21(3), 1997, pp. 271-275
We use the step-size distance equation z = u/n developed in our two pr
evious papers (z is the step-size distance, u is the actin filament re
lative velocity and n is the rate of ATP splitting on a given actin fi
lament), and introduce one additional concept: that the impulsive cont
ractile forces developed on an actin filament should proceed sequentia
lly along a given actin-myosin train. This enables us to elucidate som
e unexplained and puzzling data in the literature, and to predict the
surprisingly high values of ATPase in intact muscle that have recently
been found experimentally. It seems that a sequential impulsive model
of the actin-myosin interaction may give a better explanation of many
phenomena in muscle physiology than does the current model of the act
ion of simultaneous levers. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.