Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 24, 2026

X-ray Diffraction of Intact Murine Skeletal Muscle as a Tool for Studying the Structural Basis of Muscle Disease
Published on: July 18, 2019
Modeling analysis of myosin-based meridional X-ray reflections from frog skeletal muscles in relaxed and contracting
Kanji Oshima1, Yasunori Takezawa, Yasunobu Sugimoto
1Division of Biophysical Engineering, School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-8531, Japan.
Abstract:
Analysis of the myosin-based meridional intensity data in the X-ray diffraction patterns of live frog skeletal muscles was performed to propose a more precise model for a myosin crown periodicity and an axial disposition of two-headed crossbridges along the thick filament in a sarcomere. Modeling studies revealed that the thick filament has a mixed structure of two different periodicities of the myosin crossbridge crown arrangement and that the crown periodicity and the axial disposition of crossbridges are altered when muscle goes from the relaxed state to the contracting state. Factors that primarily affect the meridional intensities were examined.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Actin and Myosin in Muscle Contraction
Relaxation of Skeletal Muscles
When an action potential reaches the axon terminal, it depolarizes the membrane and opens voltage-gated sodium channels. Sodium ions enter the cell, further depolarizing the presynaptic membrane. This depolarization causes voltage-gated calcium channels to open.
The Role of Actin and Myosin in Non-muscle Cells
Excitation-Contraction Coupling in Skeletal Muscles
When an action potential...
Smooth Muscle Contraction
The onset of contraction is triggered by an increase in calcium ions within the sarcoplasm, similar to the process in striated muscle. However, smooth muscles have a relatively smaller reservoir of the sarcoplasmic...

