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Updated: Mar 26, 2026

Author Spotlight: Functional Site-Directed Fluorometry in Native Cells to Study Skeletal Muscle Excitability
Published on: June 2, 2023
Bridging the myoplasmic gap II: more recent advances in skeletal muscle excitation-contraction coupling
1Department of Medicine-Cardiology Division, University of Colorado Denver-Anschutz Medical Campus, 12700 East 19th Avenue, Room 8006, B-139, Aurora, CO 80045, USA roger.bannister@ucdenver.edu.
Abstract:
In skeletal muscle, excitation-contraction (EC) coupling relies on the transmission of an intermolecular signal from the voltage-sensing regions of the L-type Ca(2+) channel (Ca(V)1.1) in the plasma membrane to the channel pore of the type 1 ryanodine receptor (RyR1) nearly 10 nm away in the membrane of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). Even though the roles of Ca(V)1.1 and RyR1 as voltage sensor and SR Ca(2+) release channel, respectively, have been established for nearly 25 years, the mechanism underlying communication between these two channels remains undefined. In the course of this article, I will review current viewpoints on this topic with particular emphasis on recent studies.
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