Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Ex Vivo Assessment of Contractility, Fatigability and Alternans in Isolated Skeletal Muscles
Published on: November 1, 2012
[Some new perspectives on V. I. Deshcherevskiy's kinetic theory of muscle contraction]
Abstract:
Deshcherevsky's kinetic theory of muscle contraction (Deshcherevsky, 1968, 1971) is considered in the light of the modern experimental data. The data are discussed, which support the validity of some propositions and conclusions of the theory, including the postulate on the negligibly small probability of pulling cross-bridge detachment. It is shown that if this postulate is accepted and the distance between the neighbouring actin sites for the given myosin cross-bridge attachment on the actin filament is taken as an actin filament half-turn (Sydorenko, 1982, 1984), then simple explanations, which don't contradict the cross-bridge hypothesis of force generation, could be given to a number of muscle behaviour features such as the high efficiency, stepwise shortening, repeated tension recovery after repeated forced step-wise shortening of activated muscle with the time-interval less than 10 ms, step-size up to 90nm powered by a single ATP molecule and so on.
Related Concept Videos
Muscle Contraction
Actin and Myosin in Muscle Contraction
Muscle Contraction
Excitation-Contraction Coupling in Skeletal Muscles
When an action potential...
Motor Unit Stimulation
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...
Isotonic and Isometric Muscle Contractions
Isotonic contractions
Isotonic contractions occur when a muscle changes length while the...

