Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 10, 2026

X-ray Diffraction of Intact Murine Skeletal Muscle as a Tool for Studying the Structural Basis of Muscle Disease
08:26

X-ray Diffraction of Intact Murine Skeletal Muscle as a Tool for Studying the Structural Basis of Muscle Disease

Published on: July 18, 2019

Intensification of the 5.9-nm actin layer line in contracting muscle

I Matsubara, N Yagi, H Miura

    Nature
    |November 5, 1984
    PubMed

    More Related Videos

    Isolating Myofibrils from Skeletal Muscle Biopsies and Determining Contractile Function with a Nano-Newton Resolution Force Transducer07:55

    Isolating Myofibrils from Skeletal Muscle Biopsies and Determining Contractile Function with a Nano-Newton Resolution Force Transducer

    Published on: May 7, 2020

    Simultaneous Brightfield, Fluorescence, and Optical Coherence Tomographic Imaging of Contracting Cardiac Trabeculae Ex Vivo12:54

    Simultaneous Brightfield, Fluorescence, and Optical Coherence Tomographic Imaging of Contracting Cardiac Trabeculae Ex Vivo

    Published on: October 2, 2021

    Related Concept Videos

    Cross-bridge Cycle01:26

    Cross-bridge Cycle

    As muscle contracts, the overlap between the thin and thick filaments increases, decreasing the length of the sarcomere—the contractile unit of the muscle—using energy in the form of ATP. At the molecular level, this is a cyclic, multistep process that involves binding and hydrolysis of ATP, and movement of actin by myosin.
    Actin and Myosin in Muscle Contraction01:16

    Actin and Myosin in Muscle Contraction

    Actin and myosin are contractile proteins that form the sarcomere found in skeletal muscle tissues for regulating muscle contraction. Actin, a globular contractile protein, interacts with myosin for muscle contraction. The skeletal tissue appears striped or striated under a microscope due to the repeated arrangement of contractile proteins actin and myosin along the length of myofibrils. Dark A bands and light I bands repeat along myofibrils, and the alignment of myofibrils in the cell causes...
    The Sarcomere01:08

    The Sarcomere

    A sarcomere is a microscopic segment repeating in a myofibril. The sarcomere fundamentally consists of two main myofilaments: thick filaments called myosin and thin filaments called actin. These filaments interact by sliding past each other in response to stimulus. In addition to myosin and actin, several other proteins, such as tropomyosin, troponin, titin, nebulin, myomesin, α-actinin, and dystrophin, play crucial roles in regulating, structuring, and functioning of the sarcomere.
    Each myosin...
    Excitation-Contraction Coupling in Skeletal Muscles01:20

    Excitation-Contraction Coupling in Skeletal Muscles

    Excitation-contraction coupling is a series of events that occur between generating an action potential and initiating a muscle contraction. It occurs at the triad, a structure found in skeletal muscle fibers that comprise a T-tubule and terminal cisternae of the sarcoplasmic reticulum on each side. These triads are visible in longitudinally sectioned muscle fibers. They are typically located at the A-I junction — the junction between the A and I bands of the sarcomere.
    When an action potential...
    Motor Unit Stimulation01:20

    Motor Unit Stimulation

    When the neuron of a motor unit fires an action potential, it triggers a series of events, leading to a twitch contraction in the muscle fibers. The process of excitation-contraction coupling is crucial in relaying the action potential to the muscle fibers.
    The latent period of contraction marks the onset of excitation-contraction coupling, when the action potential propagates across the sarcolemma, preparing the muscle fibers for contraction. As the fibers enter the contraction phase, the...
    Smooth Muscle Contraction01:25

    Smooth Muscle Contraction

    Smooth muscle contraction is a complex process vital for various bodily functions, from maintaining blood vessel tension to facilitating the movement of food through the digestive tract. Unlike striated muscles, smooth muscle contraction begins more slowly and lasts longer.
    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...