On the working stroke elicited by steps in length and temperature

Muscle contraction is generally thought to involve tilting of the light chain region of the myosin head. This could account for 5-10 nm of axial displacement as it moves from nearly perpendicular to the filament axis (the state at the beginning of the working stroke) to the rigor conformation (at the end of the working stroke). According to the kinetic model of Huxley and Simmons, the extent that a cross-bridge progresses through the working stroke depends on the mechanical conditions. A large tilting occurs only when the fibre is allowed to shorten. Evidence for such tilting was provided by the changes in intensity of the third myosin meridional reflection (M3) following a step release. However, there is little change in the M3 intensity when a force increase is elicited by a 10 degrees C temperature jump, and these results were interpreted to indicate that tilting is not the structural transition responsible for force generation. Here we present a simulation of the changes in the intensity of the M3 reflection elicited by step changes in either length or temperature, based on the atomic model of the actin-myosin head complex. The results show that the same set of assumptions for the motions associated with the working stroke can predict the response to both kinds of perturbation. The main difference is due to the larger extent of the working stroke elicited by the length step.