The swinging lever-arm hypothesis of muscle contraction

The molecular mechanism of muscle contraction is a problem that has exercised biophysicists and biochemists for many years. The common view of the mechanism is embodied in the ‘cross-bridge hypothesis’, in which the relative sliding of thick (myosin) and thin (actin) filaments in cross-striated musc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current Biology 1997-02, Vol.7 (2), p.R112-R118
Main Author: Holmes, Kenneth C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Actins - chemistry
Actins - metabolism
Adenosine Diphosphate - metabolism
Adenosine Triphosphate - metabolism
Animals
Dictyostelium - physiology
Models, Biological
Models, Molecular
Models, Structural
Muscle Contraction
Muscle, Skeletal - physiology
Muscle, Skeletal - ultrastructure
Myosins - chemistry
Myosins - metabolism
Protein Structure, Secondary
Vanadates - metabolism
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Summary:The molecular mechanism of muscle contraction is a problem that has exercised biophysicists and biochemists for many years. The common view of the mechanism is embodied in the ‘cross-bridge hypothesis’, in which the relative sliding of thick (myosin) and thin (actin) filaments in cross-striated muscle is brought about by the ‘cross-bridges’, parts of the myosin molecules which protrude from the thick filaments and interact cyclically with the actin filaments, transporting them by a rowing action that is powered by the hydrolysis of ATP. This hypothesis is, however, rather vague on the molecular details of cross-bridge movement and, in the light of the recently determined crystal structures of myosin and actin, it has evolved into the more precise ‘swinging lever-arm hypothesis’.
ISSN:0960-9822
1879-0445
DOI:10.1016/S0960-9822(06)00051-0