Changes in the x-ray diffraction pattern from single, intact muscle fibers produced by rapid shortening and stretch.

Changes in the x-ray diffraction patterns produced by 100-microseconds-length steps imposed during tetanic stimulation were recorded from single intact fibers of frog tibialis anterior muscle. For shortening steps, a staircase length change was applied, with a 20-ms interval between steps. For stretches, each 20-ms cycle started with a stretch, followed after 4 ms by shortening to the original length. Each shortening step in the staircase and each stretch in the stretch/shortening protocol produced a response similar to that of a single step from the isometric steady state. The intensity of the 14.5-nm x-ray reflection arising from the axial repeat of the myosin heads along their filaments decreased after both shortening and stretch; this decrease was not accompanied by broadening along or across the meridian. The relationship between the intensity after the length step and step amplitude was approximately linear for both stretches and shortening steps, extrapolating to zero intensity for 11-nm stretches and 13-nm shortening steps, but there was no significant intensity change for the first approximately 2 nm of shortening. These results are broadly consistent with conventional models of muscle contraction in which myosin heads move through about 10 nm during the working stroke in the shortening direction, but an additional distortion of the myosin heads may be produced by a stretch.