Ultrastructural Alteration of Rat Cardiac Myofibrils Caused by a Myosin-Cleaving Protease1

Abstract
Incubation of rat cardiac myofibrils with a myosin-cleaving protease in the presence of EDTA at 25°C caused removal of Z- and M-lines, accompanied by myofibril fragmentation. When rat cardiac muscle I-Z-I brushes were subjected to proteolysis, the protein components with the molecular weights of 55,000 and 50,000 were degraded by the protease. Ca2+ was not required for the ultrastructural alterations of myofibrils caused by the protease action.

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