Time-resolved equatorial X-ray diffraction studies of skinned muscle fibres during stretch and release

Nanoscopic changes in the lattice structure of striated muscle sarcomeres involved in the mechanism of spontaneous oscillatory contraction (SPOC)

Muscles perform a wide range of motile functions in animals. Among various types are skeletal and cardiac muscles, which exhibit a steady auto-oscillation of force and length when they are activated at an intermediate level of contraction. This phenomenon, termed spontaneous oscillatory contraction or SPOC, occurs devoid of cell membranes and at fixed concentrations of chemical substances, and is thus the property of the contractile system per se. We have previously developed a theoretical model of SPOC and proposed that the oscillation emerges from a dynamic force balance along both the longitudinal and lateral axes of sarcomeres, the contractile units of the striated muscle. Here, we experimentally tested this hypothesis by developing an imaging-based analysis that facilitates detection of the structural changes of single sarcomeres at unprecedented spatial resolution. We found that the sarcomere width oscillates anti-phase with the sarcomere length in SPOC. We also found that the oscillatory dynamics can be altered by osmotic compression of the myofilament lattice structure of sarcomeres, but they are unchanged by a proteolytic digestion of titin/connectin—the spring-like protein that provides passive elasticity to sarcomeres. Our data thus reveal the three-dimensional mechanical dynamics of oscillating sarcomeres and suggest a structural requirement of steady auto-oscillation.

Effects of myosin inhibitors on the X-ray diffraction patterns of relaxed and calcium-activated rabbit skeletal muscle fibers

We studied the effect of myosin inhibitors, N-benzyl-p-toluenesulfonamide (BTS), blebbistatin, and butanedione monoxime (BDM) on X-ray diffraction patterns from rabbit psoas fibers under relaxing and contracting conditions. The first two inhibitors suppressed the contractile force almost completely at a 100 μM concentration, and a similar effect was obtained at 50 mM for BDM. However, still substantial changes were observed in the diffraction patterns upon calcium-activation of inhibited muscle fibers. (1) The 2nd actin layer-line reflection was enhanced normally, indicating that calcium binding to troponin and the subsequent movement of tropomyosin are not inhibited, (2) the myosin layer-line reflections became much weaker, and (3) the 1,1/1,0 intensity ratio of the equatorial reflections was increased. The observations (2) and (3) indicate that, even in the presence of the inhibitors at a saturating concentration, myosin heads leave the helix on the thick filaments and approach the thin filaments. Interestingly, the d1,0 spacing of the filament lattice remained unchanged upon activation of inhibited fibers, in contrast to the case of normal activation in which the spacing is decreased. This suggests that the normal activated myosin heads exert a pull in both axial and radial directions, but in the presence of the inhibitors, the pull is suppressed, and as a result, the heads simply bind to actin without exerting any force. The results support the idea that the inhibitors do not block the myosin binding to actin, but block the step of force-producing transition of the bound actomyosin complex.

Molecular mechanism of actin-myosin motor in muscle

The interaction of actin and myosin powers striated and smooth muscles and some other types of cell motility. Due to its highly ordered structure, skeletal muscle is a very convenient object for studying the general mechanism of the actin-myosin molecular motor. The history of investigation of the actin-myosin motor is briefly described. Modern concepts and data obtained with different techniques including protein crystallography, electron microscopy, biochemistry, and protein engineering are reviewed. Particular attention is given to X-ray diffraction studies of intact muscles and single muscle fibers with permeabilized membrane as they give insight into structural changes that underlie force generation and work production by the motor. Time-resolved low-angle X-ray diffraction on contracting muscle fibers using modern synchrotron radiation sources is used to follow movement of myosin heads with unique time and spatial resolution under near physiological conditions.

Synchronous in situ ATPase activity, mechanics, and Ca2+ sensitivity of human and porcine myocardium

Flash-frozen myocardium samples provide a valuable means of correlating clinical cardiomyopathies with abnormalities in sarcomeric contractile and biochemical parameters. We examined flash-frozen left-ventricle human cardiomyocyte bundles from healthy donors to determine control parameters for isometric tension (P(o)) development and Ca(2+) sensitivity, while simultaneously measuring actomyosin ATPase activity in situ by a fluorimetric technique. P(o) was 17 kN m(-2) and pCa(50%) was 5.99 (28 degrees C, I = 130 mM). ATPase activity increased linearly with tension to 132 muM s(-1). To determine the influence of flash-freezing, we compared the same parameters in both glycerinated and flash-frozen porcine left-ventricle trabeculae. P(o) in glycerinated porcine myocardium was 25 kN m(-2), and maximum ATPase activity was 183 microM s(-1). In flash-frozen porcine myocardium, P(o) was 16 kN m(-2) and maximum ATPase activity was 207 microM s(-1). pCa(50%) was 5.77 in the glycerinated and 5.83 in the flash-frozen sample. Both passive and active stiffness of flash-frozen porcine myocardium were lower than for glycerinated tissue and similar to the human samples. Although lower stiffness and isometric tension development may indicate flash-freezing impairment of axial force transmission, we cannot exclude variability between samples as the cause. ATPase activity and pCa(50%) were unaffected by flash-freezing. The lower ATPase activity measured in human tissue suggests a slower actomyosin turnover by the contractile proteins.

Effects of the number of actin-bound S1 and axial force on X-ray patterns of intact skeletal muscle

Effects of the number of actin-bound S1 and of axial tension on x-ray patterns from tetanized, intact skeletal muscle fibers were investigated. The muscle relaxant, BDM, reduced tetanic M3 meridional x-ray reflection intensity (I(M3)), M3 spacing (d(M3)), and the equatorial I(11)/I(10) ratio in a manner consistent with a reduction in the fraction of S1 bound to actin rather than by generation of low-force S1-actin isomers. At complete force suppression, I(M3) was 78% of its relaxed value. BDM distorted dynamic I(M3) responses to sinusoidal length oscillations in a manner consistent with an increased cross-bridge contribution to total sarcomere compliance, rather than a changed S1 lever orientation in BDM. When the number of actin-bound S1 was varied by altering myofilament overlap, tetanic I(M3) at low overlap was similar to that in high [BDM] (79% of relaxed I(M3)). Tetanic d(M3) dependence on active tension in overlap experiments differed from that observed with BDM. At high BDM, tetanic d(M3) approached its relaxed value (14.34 nm), whereas tetanic d(M3) at low overlap was 14.50 nm, close to its value at full overlap (14.56 nm). This difference in tetanic d(M3) behavior was explicable by a nonlinear thick filament compliance which is extended by both active and passive tension.

MRI-based finite-element analysis of left ventricular aneurysm

Tagged MRI and finite-element (FE) analysis are valuable tools in analyzing cardiac mechanics. To determine systolic material parameters in three-dimensional stress-strain relationships, we used tagged MRI to validate FE models of left ventricular (LV) aneurysm. Five sheep underwent anteroapical myocardial infarction (25% of LV mass) and 22 wk later underwent tagged MRI. Asymmetric FE models of the LV were formed to in vivo geometry from MRI and included aneurysm material properties measured with biaxial stretching, LV pressure measurements, and myofiber helix angles measured with diffusion tensor MRI. Systolic material parameters were determined that enabled FE models to reproduce midwall, systolic myocardial strains from tagged MRI (630 +/- 187 strain comparisons/animal). When contractile stress equal to 40% of the myofiber stress was added transverse to the muscle fiber, myocardial strain agreement improved by 27% between FE model predictions and experimental measurements (RMS error decreased from 0.074 +/- 0.016 to 0.054 +/- 0.011, P < 0.05). In infarct border zone (BZ), end-systolic midwall stress was elevated in both fiber (24.2 +/- 2.7 to 29.9 +/- 2.4 kPa, P < 0.01) and cross-fiber (5.5 +/- 0.7 to 11.7 +/- 1.3 kPa, P = 0.02) directions relative to noninfarct regions. Contrary to previous hypotheses but consistent with biaxial stretching experiments, active cross-fiber stress development is an integral part of LV systole; FE analysis with only uniaxial contracting stress is insufficient. Stress calculations from these validated models show 24% increase in fiber stress and 115% increase in cross-fiber stress at the BZ relative to remote regions, which may contribute to LV remodeling.

Time-resolved X-ray diffraction by skinned skeletal muscle fibers during activation and shortening

Force, sarcomere length, and equatorial x-ray reflections (using synchrotron radiation) were studied in chemically skinned bundles of fibers from Rana temporaria sartorius muscle, activated by UV flash photolysis of a new photolabile calcium chelator, NP-EGTA. Experiments were performed with or without compression by 3% dextran at 4 degrees C. Isometric tension developed at a similar rate (t(1/2) = 40 +/- 5 ms) to the development of tetanic tension measured in other studies (Cecchi et al., 1991). Changes in intensity of equatorial reflections (I(11) t(1/2), 15-19 ms; I(10) t(1/2), 24-26 ms) led isometric tension development and were faster than for tetanus. During shortening at 0.14P(o), I(10) and I(11) changes were partially reversed (18% and 30%, respectively, compressed lattice), in agreement with intact cell data. In zero dextran, activation caused a compression of A-band lattice spacing by 0.7 nm. In 3% dextran, activation caused an expansion of 1.4 nm, consistent with an equilibrium spacing of 45 nm. But, in both cases, discharge of isometric tension by shortening caused a rapid lattice expansion of 1.0-1.1 nm, suggesting discharge of a compressive cross-bridge force, with or without compression by dextran, and the development of an additional expansive force during activation. In contrast to I(10) and I(11) data, these findings for lattice spacing did not resemble intact fiber data.