Calcium transients in skeletal muscle fibres under isometric conditions and during and after a quick stretch

Abstract

The transient change in the sarcoplasmic concentration of Ca2+ was measured in intact fibres isolated from the anterior tibial muscle of the frog Litoria moorei. The fibres had been injected with the calcium-sensitive dye arsenazo III and the change of the calcium concentration was calculated from the changes in light absorbance at 570, 600 and 720 nm wavelengths. Absorbance and force were measured under three different conditions: (1) during a normal isometric twitch, (2) when a quick ramp-and-hold stretch had been applied to the fibre during onset of the contraction, and (3) when the fibre was allowed to contract isometrically at a length corresponding to the final length of the stretch. A method was devised to neutralize most of the movement artefacts encountered in such measurements. While the quick stretch caused substantial increase in the level and the duration of the contractile force such as originally described in whole muscle by A. V. Hill, the calcium transients appeared basically unaffected. It thus seems that the mechanism behind the phenomenon of the force enhancement lies at a step in the excitation-contraction coupling subsequent to the calcium release. From the present results, however, it is not clear whether the phenomenon is caused by an increase in the level of activation of the calcium-dependent regulatory system, or whether it is to be found in the acto-myosin interaction itself. The latter alternative would be consistent with the stiffness measurements published earlier.