Summary
Under conditions of overloading, muscle fibres have been reported to undergo a process of longitudinal division. It has been claimed that this process leads to an increase in cross-sectional area and therefore contributes to the force of contraction. Recent work, however has demonstrated that the division is of limited extent and apparently pathological in origin. Examination of material taken from the immediate vicinity of a crush lesion has shown that a similar picture is reproduced by gross trauma. An electronmicroscopic study of dividing fibres in both overloaded and traumatized muscles has confirmed their similarity and revealed that atrophic changes are present. This evidence is sufficient to suggest that the longitudinal division of fibres seen in overloaded muscles and possibly in dystrophic muscles follows damage to the fibre and that division in this manner may allow the rejection from it of degenerated portions.
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We wish to thank Professor J. Z. Young, F.R.S. for his advice and encouragement and Mr. A. Aldrich and Mr. D. Gunn for their assistance with the illustrations.
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Hall -Craggs, E.C.B., Lawrence, C.A. Longitudinal fibre division in skeletal muscle: A light- and electronmicroscopic study. Z. Zellforsch. 109, 481–494 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00343963
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00343963