Abstract
The propagation of sound waves along relaxed single fibres of glycerinated rabbit psoas muscle has been observed using Brillouin scattering at frequencies up to 1.6 GHz. Two types of waves were observed: one with a velocity of 1508±7 m s−1, which is attributed to sound waves in intra-cellular saline, the other with a velocity of 912±25 m s−1, which is attributed to waves propagating along the protein filaments within individual sarcomeres. The latter sound velocity is much higher than that which has been reported by Stienen and Blangé (1985) for 50 μs tension transients, and the difference is attributed to the much higher stiffness of the protein filaments compared to the cross-bridges which determine the low-frequency elasticity of muscle fibres.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baskin RJ, Lieber RL, Oba T, Yeh Y (1981) Intensity of light diffraction from striated muscle as a function of incident angle. Biophys J 36:759–773
Brenner B (1983) Technique for stabilizing the striation pattern in maximally calcium-activated skinned rabbit psoas fibres. Biophys J 41:99–102
Cusack S, Miller A (1979) Determination of the elastic constants of collagen by Brillouin light scattering. J Mol Biol 135: 39–51
Dil JG (1982) Brillouin scattering in condensed matter. Rep Prog Phys 45:285–334
Fabelinskii IM (1968) Molecular scattering of light. Plenum Press, New York
Hakim HB, Lindsay SM, Powell J (1984) The speed of sound in DNA. Biopolymers 22:1185–1192
Harley R, James D, Miller A, White JW (1977) Phonons and the elastic moduli of collagen and muscle. Nature 267:285–287
Hatta I, Tamura Y, Matsuda T, Sugi H, Tsuchiya T (1984) Muscle stiffness changes during isometric contraction in frog skeletal muscle as studied by the use of ultrasonic waves. Adv Exp Med Biol 170:673–684
Maret G, Oldenbourgh R, Winterling G, Dransfeld K, Rupprecht A (1979) Velocity of high frequency sound waves in oriented DNA fiber and films determined by Brillouin scattering. Colloid Polym Sci 257:1017–1020
Randall J, Vaughan JM (1982) The measurement and interpretation of Brillouin scattering in the lens of the eye. Proc R Soc Lond B214:449–470
Rüdel R, Zite-Ferenczy F (1979) Interpretation of light diffraction by cross-striated muscle as Bragg reflection by the lattice of contractile proteins. J Physiol (London) 290:317–330
Sandercock JR (1975) Some recent developments in Brillouin scattering. RCA Rev 36:89–107
Stienen GJM, Blangé T (1985) Tension responses to rapid length changes in skinned muscle fibres of the frog. Pflügers Arch 405:5–11
Vaughan JM, Randall J (1980) Brillouin scattering, density and elastic properties of the lens and cornea of the eye. Nature 284:489–491
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Berovic, N., Thomas, N., Thornhill, R.A. et al. Observation of Brillouin scattering from single muscle fibres. Eur Biophys J 17, 69–74 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00257104
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00257104