Structural changes during contraction in vertebrate skeletal muscle as studied by time-resolved X-ray diffraction technique.

To obtain information about the structural changes in vertebrate skeletal muscle during contraction, time-resolved X-ray diffraction studies were performed on the intensity changes of the 59 A and 51 A actin layer lines from bullfrog sartorius muscle during the isometric force development, and the intensity changes of the 143 A and 215 A myosin meridional reflections and of the 1.0 and 1.1 equatorial reflections when isometrically contracting muscle was subjected to sinusoidal length changes (1%, 5-10 Hz) with the following results. The integrated intensities of the 59 A and 51 A actin layer lines increased during the force development by 30-50% for the 59 A reflection, and by about 70% for the 51 A reflection compared to their respective resting values. These intensity changes were greater than those taking place during the transition from rest to rigor state, and observed to precede the intensity changes of the 429 A myosin off-meridional reflection and of equatorial reflections. When sinusoidal length changes were applied to the muscle generating steady isometric force, the resulting periodic intensity changes in the 1.0 and 1.1 equatorial reflections were in phase and in antiphase with the length changes respectively. On the other hand, the 143 A myosin reflection exhibited a characteristic periodic changes; its intensity reached a maximum at each boundary between the stretch and release phases of the length changes. These results are discussed in connection with the behaviour of the cross-bridges during contraction.