Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 21, 2026

Ex Vivo Assessment of Contractility, Fatigability and Alternans in Isolated Skeletal Muscles
Published on: November 1, 2012
Effect of transposition on contractile and histochemical properties of muscle
1Institute of Physiology, Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, Prague 4 - Krc, Czechoslovakia.
Abstract:
In 16 rats, the extensor digitorum longus (EDL) - a fast muscle - was grafted, complete with its innervation, into the bed of the (removed) soleus - a slow muscle. Following the transposition, performed on one side only, EDL recovered and showed the contraction time of the contralateral EDL that served as control. However, as demonstrated histochemically, the transposed EDL exhibited a different succinic dehydrogenase activity: it acquired the muscle fiber pattern of the slow red soleus muscle. This method of transposition of muscle plus nerve allows the study of nerve-muscle relationships with respect to a multiple regulation of muscle properties, including the decisive role of neuronal specificity and other mechanisms such as substrate (oxygen) supply.
Related Concept Videos
Actin and Myosin in Muscle Contraction
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...
Overview of Muscle Tissues
Elasticity
Elasticity is the ability of muscles to stretch and return to their original shape. This property is partly due to elastic fibers — macromolecules that run through the muscles. These fibers are firm and resilient,...
Overview of Skeletal Muscle
Cross-bridge Cycle
Excitation-Contraction Coupling in Skeletal Muscles
When an action potential...

