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Query: UMLS:C0026837 (muscle rigidity)
 1,077 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Rigor complexes between actin and myosin have been shown to cause increased binding of Ca2+ to troponin C. A similar effect of force-generating crossbridges has been suggested as an explanation for the coupling between load and activation which has been observed in skeletal and cardiac muscle. The goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that Ca2+-troponin affinity during crossbridge cycling is load-dependent. Ca2+-binding to detergent-extracted rabbit psoas fibres was measured during ATP-induced force generation and in the relaxed state. To compare Ca2+ binding in the latter two states it was necessary to establish conditions in which ATP-induced force could be regulated independently of free Ca2+ concentration. Such conditions were obtained by the use of either the ATPase inhibitor sodium vanadate or the substitution of MgITP for MgATP as an energy source. This study showed that in the presence of MgATP (or MgITP) the amount of Ca2+ bound to the myofilaments at a given free Ca2+ concentration was independent of the force generated. Thus force per se is not a determinant of Ca2+-troponin affinity.
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PMID:The binding of calcium to detergent-extracted rabbit psoas muscle fibres during relaxation and force generation. 385 10

Striated muscle contracts in the absence of calcium at low concentrations of MgATP ([MgATP]), and this has been termed rigor activation because rigor cross bridges attach and activate adjacent actin sites. This process is well characterized in skeletal muscle but not in cardiac muscle. Rigor cross bridges are also thought to increase calcium binding to troponin C and play a synergistic role in activation. We tested the hypothesis that cross bridge-dependent activation results in an increase in contractile activity at normal and low pH values. Myofibrillar ATPase activity was measured as a function of pCa and [MgATP] at pH 7.0, and the data showed that, at pCa values of >/=5.5, there was a biphasic relationship between activity and [MgATP]. Peak activity occurred at 10-50 microM MgATP, and [MgATP] for peak activity was lower with increased pCa. The ATPase activity of rat cardiac myofibrils as a function of [MgATP] at a pCa of 9.0 was measured at several pH levels (pH 5.4-7.0). The ATPase activity as a function of [MgATP] was biphasic with a maximum at 8-10 microM MgATP. Lower pH did not result in a substantial decrease in myofibrillar ATPase activity even at pH 5.4. The extent of shortening, as measured by Z-line spacing, was greatest at 8 microM MgATP and less at both lower and higher [MgATP], and this response was observed at all pH levels. These studies suggest that the peak ATPase activity associated with low [MgATP] was coupled to sarcomere shortening. These results support the hypothesis that cross bridge-dependent activation of contraction may be responsible for contracture in the ischemic heart.
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PMID:Cross bridge-dependent activation of contraction in cardiac myofibrils at low pH. 1033 Feb 28