A gap isolation method to investigate electrical and mechanical properties of fully contracting skeletal muscle fibers

Abstract

We describe here a single-gap isolation method that allows the simultaneous measurement of electrical activity and tension output from fully contracting segments of frog skeletal muscle fibers. By using single pulses and pulse trains of varying frequency (5-100 Hz), records obtained for both electrical and mechanical fiber response demonstrate that the physiological properties of the fiber segments have been preserved. Action potentials could be recorded free of movement artifacts, even while segments were in fused tetani and developing maximum tensions of more than 600 kN/m2. Single current pulses evoked action potentials that averaged 144 +/- 16 mV (mean +/- SD, n = 8) in amplitude and twitches that averaged 285 +/- 66 kN/m2 and 55 +/- 5 ms (mean +/- SD, n = 20) in magnitude and time to peak, respectively. Trains of action potentials elicited patterns of tension development that exhibited summation, unfused tetani, and fused tetani in a frequency-dependent manner. The AC and DC electrical properties of the single grease gap were modeled with a simple Thévenin equivalent circuit, which satisfactorily predicted the experimental results. Our methodology is easily implemented and potentially applicable to any muscle preparation in which fiber segments with an intact end attached to a piece of tendon can be dissected.