Abstract
According to the cross-bridge model1–3 of muscle contraction, an interaction of myosin heads with interdigitating actin filaments produces tension. Although X-ray equatorial diffraction patterns of active (contracting) muscle show that the heads are in the vicinity of the actin filaments, structural proof of actual attachment of heads to actin during contraction has been elusive4. We show here that during contraction of frog skeletal muscle, the 5.9-nm layer line arising from the genetic helix of actin5 is intensified by as much as 56% of the change which occurs when muscle enters rigor, using a two-dimensional X-ray detector. This provides strong structural evidence that myosin heads do in fact attach during contraction6,7.
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Matsubara, I., Yagi, N., Miura, H. et al. Intensification of the 5.9-nm actin layer line in contracting muscle. Nature 312, 471–473 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1038/312471a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/312471a0
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