Myosin-actin interaction technique

The chain of reactions involved in muscle contraction, from the signal at the neuro-muscular junction and the release of calcium by the sarcoplasmic reticulum, to the force development by the contractile apparatus, is currently studied by a wide variety of techniques. These involve experiments with preparations at every level of organization from pure protdns in solution to intact muscle. Some of the important new developments of methods, which can be used for the study of the same reaction step in solution and within cells, have used the contractile system as a paradigm. The application of pressure relaxation to the study of actin-miyosin interaction in solution as well as of tension changes in fibres is discussed in section 6.4. The initiation of reactions by the photochemical release of ATP from inactive precursors, discussed in section 8.4, has provided data for the rates of steps of myosin ATPase in contracting muscle fibres. Many dilferent signals can be used for the kinetic resolution of steps involved in... 

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