Summary
Isometric tension of skinned fibres from the frog semitendinosus muscle is sigmoidally related to Ca2+ concentration betweenpCa 7 and 6. Stiffness measurements showed that the Ca2+-activated tension may be due to recruitment of attached cross-bridges. In the absence of ATP (rigor solution) the skinned fibre develops a rigor tension which reaches about 80–110% of the maximum Ca2+-activated tension.
However, stiffness measurements showed that in rigor many more cross-bridges are attached to actin at any one moment than in contraction. It was concluded that the force per cross-bridge is 37% smaller in rigor than in contraction.
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Yamamoto, T., Herzig, J.W. Series elastic properties of skinned muscle fibres in contraction and rigor. Pflugers Arch. 373, 21–24 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00581144
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00581144