Normalization of contractile parameters in canine airway smooth muscle: morphological and biochemical

Asthma research has recently highlighted the importance of correctly normalizing force development for purposes of comparing stiffness properties of smooth muscle between different airways, between airways at different stages of maturity, and between airways from different animal species. This problem does not exist in striated muscle where the entire tissue consists almost entirely of muscle and where cross bridges cycle at the same rate throughout a contraction when load correlation is made. In the bronchus, cross-sectional area of true muscle may constitute only 20-30% of the total tissue cross section, and load-independent cycling rate varies fourfold during the course of a contraction because of the occurrence of normally cycling and latch bridges. These features are responsible for the difficulty in force normalization in smooth muscle. Our studies indicate that normalization with respect to true muscle cell cross-sectional area (derived by quantitative morphometry of appropriate tissue transverse sections) is the most valid. This is only so, however, when it has been proved that the actomyosin content per unit weight of the different muscle tissues is the same.