Tension transients in single isolated smooth muscle cells.

Tension transients were recorded in a single smooth muscle cell. The transient contains a linear elastic response and a biphasic recovery that appear to originate from the cross-bridges. A comparison of transients in smooth and fast skeletal muscle fibers suggests that the cross-bridge in smooth muscle is more compliant than the cross-bridge in striated muscle and that transitions between several cross-bridge states occur more slowly in smooth muscle than in striated muscle.