Investigation of the mechanisms of muscle adaptation requires independent control of the regulating factors. The aim of the present study was to develop a serum-free medium to culture mature single muscle fibres of Xenopus laevis. As an example, we used the culture system to study adaptation of twitch and tetanic force characteristics, number of sarcomeres in series and fibre cross-section. Fib...

Parvalbumin (PV), a small cytosolic protein belonging to the family of EF-hand calcium-binding proteins, is highly expressed in mammalian fast-twitch muscle fibers. By acting as a 'slow-onset' Ca2+ buffer, PV does not affect the rapid contraction phase, but significantly contributes to increase the rate of relaxation, as demonstrated in PV-/- mice. Unexpectedly, PV-/- fast-twitch muscles were c...

BACKGROUND Sarcopenia, the progressive decline in skeletal muscle mass and function with age, is a debilitating condition. It leads to inactivity, falls, and loss of independence. Despite this, its cause(s) and the underlying mechanism(s) are still poorly understood. METHODS In this study, small skeletal muscle fibre bundles isolated from the extensor digitorum longus (a fast-twitch muscle) a...

TTranscription factor nuclear factor of activated T cells NFATc (NFATc1, NFAT2) may contribute to slow-twitch skeletal muscle fiber type-specific gene expression. Green fluorescence protein (GFP) or FLAG fusion proteins of either wild-type or constitutively active mutant NFATc [NFATc(S-->A)] were expressed in cultured adult mouse skeletal muscle fibers from flexor digitorum brevis (predominantl...

Repetitive-twitch contraction of the hindlimb muscles in anesthetized rabbits consistently evokes a reflex depressor response, whereas this type of contraction in anesthetized cats evokes a reflex pressor response in about one-half of the preparations tested. Rapidly conducting group III fibers appear to comprise the afferent arm of the reflex arc, evoking the depressor response to twitch contr...

A cDNA clone encoding skeletal muscle myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) was isolated from a rat skeletal muscle library using oligonucleotide probes. The total length of the rat skeletal muscle MLCK cDNA was 2823 base pairs with an open reading frame of 1830 base pairs. The deduced sequence of the 610-amino acid protein exhibited 96% amino acid identity to rabbit skeletal muscle MLCK in the carb...

Maximal isometric forces during both twitch and tetanus are largely temperature independent in muscles from both endothermic and ectothermic vertebrates. Anuran muscle can develop maximal force at lower temperatures than mammalian muscle. Tetanic tension is maximal at normally experienced body temperatures in a variety of animals, but twitch tension seldom is. Thermal dependence of twitch tensi...

The interpolated twitch technique (ITT) is the gold standard to assess voluntary activation and central fatigue. Yet, its validity has been questioned. Here we studied how peripheral fatigue can affect the ITT. Repeated contractions at submaximal frequencies were produced by supramaximal electrical stimulations of the human adductor pollicis muscle in vivo and of isolated rat soleus fiber bundl...

Examination by scanning electron microscopy revealed differences between neuromuscular junctions in the muscle fibers of the zebra finch (bird) and rat. The neuromuscular junctions between the anterior and posterior latissimus dorsi muscles of the zebra finch were compared. The junctions of the former, exclusively slow tonic fibers, were small and numerous along the long axis of a single muscle...

There is a wealth of contemporary scholarship pointing to ways in which money and payment media are being rapidly reconfigured through data technology platforms, towards what Swartz terms ‘New Money’. In this article, we look at these developments the lens design research ask: how might approach new money? And can complement extend critical sociological work on technologies, monetization cultur...