A MECHANOCHEMICAL MODEL FOR THE STEADY AND TRANSIENT CONTRACTIONS OF THE SKELETAL MUSCLE

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Abstract
A mechanochemical model for muscle contraction was presented which consisted of 3 subsystems: the regulatory mechanism of contraction by Ca+, the cross-bridge cycle coupled with actin-myosin interaction and the dynamics of contraction with an external load. Both the rate constant of the cross-brdige cycle and the net force of the cross-bridge were linear functions of the sliding velocity. Most parameters in the model were determined from the experimental data, but several were estimated by simulation techniques. The model adequately described the force-load-velocity relation, the rates of energy and heat output as well as some basic mechanical properties of muscle. Not only the steady-state contraction but also the twitch response could be explained by the model. Time courses of tension and shortening during isometric and isotonic twitches were calculated by the model on a digital computer. The calculated curves agreed satisfactorily with the experimental ones obtained from Rana nigromaculata semitendinosus muscle. The rate of tension rise of the isometric twitch was shown to attain the peak at nearly the same time as does the calculated Ca concentration curve.