Mechanical properties of frog muscle fibres at rest and during twitch contraction

Data reported in the literature suggest that crossbridges in rapid equilibrium between attached and detached states (weakly binding bridges), demonstrated in relaxed skinned fibres at low ionic strength, could be present also in intact fibres under physiological conditions. In addition, it was suggested that the well known leading of stiffness over force during the tension development in stimulated muscle fibres could be due to an increased number of weakly binding bridges induced by the stimulation. The experiments reviewed in this paper were made to investigate these possibilities. Fast ramp length changes were applied to single frog muscle fibres at rest and during the early phases of activation. The corresponding force changes were analysed, searching for the components expected from the presence of weakly binding bridges. The results showed no mechanical indication for the presence of weakly binding bridges in both skinned and intact fibres, either at rest or during activation. It was also found that a portion of the fibre stiffness increase induced by stimulation leads the formation of crossbridges.