Work

From Single Molecule Fluctuations to Muscle Contraction: A Brownian Model of A.F. Huxley's Hypotheses

Year: 2012

Type: article

Abstract: Muscular force generation in response to external stimuli is the result of thermally fluctuating, cyclical interactions between myosin and actin, which together form the actomyosin complex. Normally, these fluctuations are modelled using transition rate functions that are based on muscle fiber behaviour, in a phenomenological fashion. However, such a basis reduces the predictive power of these models. As an alternative, we propose a model which uses direct single molecule observations of actomyosin fluctuations reported in the literature. We precisely estimate the actomyosin potential bias and use diffusion theory to obtain a brownian ratchet model that reproduces the complete cross-bridge cycle. The model is validated by simulating several macroscopic experimental conditions, while its interpretation is compatible with two different force-generating scenarios.

Source: PLoS ONE

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0040042

Authors: Lorenzo Marcucci, Toshio Yanagida

Institutions: The University of Osaka, RIKEN, Center for Information and Neural Networks

Language: English

Topic: Cardiomyopathy and Myosin Studies

Subfield: Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,382

Funder: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology