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A chemo-mechanical model for the single myofibril in striated muscle contraction

  • Active Behavior in Soft Matter and Mechanobiology
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Abstract

Based on the framework of sliding-filament theory and on the cross-bridges dynamics, a mathematical model for the simulation of the force response and length change of individual myofibril is presented. The myofibril is modeled as a group of segments placed in series, each segment represents a half-sarcomere with active and elastic properties. A multiple-state cross-bridge formalism relates the half Sarcomere force to the chemical kinetics of ATP hydrolysis. The corresponding system of nonlinear nonlocal partial differential equations of the model is analyzed. A numerical approach is introduced and some numerical tests are performed. The proposed in-silico model enables the study of biologically relevant process in the muscle contraction process, also in the case of muscular diseases, with reasonable computational effort.

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Acknowledgements

This study was partially funded by ADAMSS (ADvanced Applied Mathematical and Statistical Sciences) Center of the Università degli studi di Milano.

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  1. Dipartimento di Matematica, Università degli studi di Milano, via Saldini 50, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Giovanni Naldi

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  1. Giovanni Naldi
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Correspondence to Giovanni Naldi.

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Naldi, G. A chemo-mechanical model for the single myofibril in striated muscle contraction. Meccanica 52, 3357–3369 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11012-017-0654-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11012-017-0654-9

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