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Skeletal muscles are composed of a bundle of muscle fibers and are attached to bones through tendons. Each skeletal muscle fiber is a single muscle cell. The sarcolemma, the plasma membrane of a skeletal muscle cell, consists of a lipid bilayer and glycocalyx that supports muscle fibers. The sarcolemma extends into the muscle cells to form tubular structures called transverse or T-tubules. Each side of the T-tubules consists of a membrane-bound structure called the sarcoplasmic reticulum,...
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Highly extensible skeletal muscle in snakes.

Matthew Close1, Stefano Perni2, Clara Franzini-Armstrong3

  • 1Department of Biological Sciences, 1 W. Packer Avenue, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18015, USA Biology Department, Radford University, Box 6931, Radford, VA 24142, USA mclose2@radford.edu.

The Journal of Experimental Biology
|May 8, 2014
PubMed
Summary

Snakes

Keywords:
Comparative myologyGapeIntermandibular soft tissuesMacrostomyPassive extensibilityTitin

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Area of Science:

  • Comparative physiology
  • Muscle biology
  • Biomechanics

Background:

  • Snakes swallow large prey whole, necessitating extreme jaw extension.
  • Intermandibular muscles undergo significant stretching during prey ingestion.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the structural and functional adaptations of snake intermandibular muscles enabling extreme extensibility.
  • To understand the mechanisms behind muscle recovery after extreme stretching.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of sarcomere length (SL) changes in snake intermandibular muscles under stretched and recovered conditions.
  • Examination of myofibril register, triad alignment, and intracellular components like titin.
  • Assessment of whole muscle stretch contributions from tendon and extracellular matrix.

Main Results:

  • Sarcomere length increased by 210% resting value (SL0), with actin-myosin overlap lost.
  • Myofibrils lost register and triad alignment was disrupted.
  • Recovery involved titin recoil, cytoskeletal realignment, and muscle activation, returning SL to 82% SL0.

Conclusions:

  • Snake intermandibular muscles exhibit remarkable extensibility due to modifications in basic vertebrate muscle components.
  • Titin filaments, cytoskeletal elements, and extracellular structures facilitate extreme stretch and functional recovery.
  • These muscles serve as a model for understanding vertebrate skeletal muscle adaptation to extreme mechanical demands.