water and muscle contraction水和肌肉收缩.pdfVIP

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2008, 9, 1435-1452; DOI: 10.3390/ijms9081435 OPEN ACCESS International Journal of Molecular Sciences ISSN 1422-0067 /ijms Review Water and Muscle Contraction Enrico Grazi * Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Ferrara University, Via Borsari 46, 44100 Ferrara, Italy * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: enrico.grazi@unife.it (E. G.); Tel. 0039-0532-455421; Fax: 0039-0532-202723 Received: 4 Jun 2008; in revised form: 29 July 2008 / Accepted: 30 July 2008 / Published: 18 August 2008 Abstract: The interaction between water and the protein of the contractile machinery as well as the tendency of these proteins to form geometrically ordered structures provide a link between water and muscle contraction. Protein osmotic pressure is strictly related to the chemical potential of the contractile proteins, to the stiffness of muscle structures and to the viscosity of the sliding of the thin over the thick filaments. Muscle power output and the steady rate of contraction are linked by modulating a single parameter, a viscosity coefficient. Muscle operation is characterized by working strokes of much shorter length and much quicker than in the classical model. As a consequence the force delivered and the stiffness attained by attached cross-bridges is much larger than usually believed. Keywords: Water, muscle contraction, osmotic pressure