Mv. Razumova et al., Different myofilament nearest-neighbor interactions have distinctive effects on contractile behavior, BIOPHYS J, 78(6), 2000, pp. 3120-3137
Cooperativity in contractile behavior of myofilament systems almost assured
ly arises because of interactions between neighboring sites. These interact
ions may be of different kinds. Tropomyosin thin-filament regulatory units
may have neighbors in steric blocking positions (off) or steric permissive
positions (on). The position of these neighbors influence the tendency for
the regulatory unit to assume the on or off state. Likewise, the tendency o
f a myosin cross-bridge to achieve a force-bearing state may be influenced
by whether neighboring cross-bridges are in force-bearing states. Also, a c
ross-bridge in the force-bearing state may influence the tendency of a regu
latory unit to enter the on state. We used a mathematical model to examine
the influence of each of these three kinds of neighbor interactions on the
steady-state force-pCa relation and on the dynamic force redevelopment proc
ess. Each neighbor interaction was unique in its effects on maximal Ca2+-ac
tivated force, position, and symmetry of the force-pea curve and on the Hil
l coefficient. Also, each neighbor interaction had a distinctive effect on
the time course of force development as assessed by its rate coefficient, k
(dev). These diverse effects suggest that variations in all three kinds of
nearest-neighbor interactions may be responsible for a wide variety of curr
ently unexplained observations of myofilament contractile behavior.