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The transmission of excitation from the membrane to actomyosin

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Abstract

The impressed field, “Window Field” (WF), due to a half-wave action potential on a muscle fiber, has been calculated on the basis of potential theory. It has been shown that in spite of the small intensity of the field, its integrated action can transfer the energy needed to induce, contraction from the membrane to the interior of the fiber. The energy of polarization has been found to be sufficient to exceed the energy of, thermal agitation on that length of fiber, which can be identified as the length of a sarcomere. The changes of ion concentration, caused by the WF, if calculated on the assumption of the semipermeability of theZ membranes, was found to be equal to the changes necessary to induce contraction of actomyosinin vitro.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Biological Laboratory, Institute for Muscle Research, Woods Hole, Massachusetts

    Z. Bay, M. C. Goodall & A. Szent-Györgyi

Authors
  1. Z. Bay
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  2. M. C. Goodall
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  3. A. Szent-Györgyi
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Bay, Z., Goodall, M.C. & Szent-Györgyi, A. The transmission of excitation from the membrane to actomyosin. Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics 15, 1–13 (1953). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02476362

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02476362

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