ARTICLE

SOME ASPECTS OF THE STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION OF THE MYOFIBRIL AS REVEALED BY ANTIBODY-STAINING METHODS

Frank A. Pepe ¹

¹ From the Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

From observations of fluorescent antibody staining and antibody staining in electron microscopy, evidence is presented for the following: (a) Direct contact of the actin and myosin filaments occurs at all stages of contraction. This results in inhibition of antibody staining of the H-meromyosin portion of the myosin molecule in the region of overlap of the thin and thick filaments. (b) Small structural changes occur in the thick filaments during contraction. This leads to exposure of antigenic sites of the L-meromyosin portion of the myosin molecule. The accessibility of these antigenic sites is dependent upon the sarcomere length. (c) The M line is composed of a protein which is weakly bound to the center of the thick filament and is not actin, myosin, or tropomyosin. (d) Tropomyosin as well as actin is present in the I band. (e) If actin or tropomyosin is present in the Z line, it is masked and unavailable for staining with antibody.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Lowey, S., Holt, J. C. (1973). An Immunochemical Approach to the Interaction of Light and Heavy Chains in Myosin. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol 37: 19-28 [Abstract]  
• Offer, G. (1973). C-Protein and the Periodicity in the Thick Filaments of Vertebrate Skeletal Muscle. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol 37: 87-93 [Abstract]  
• Pepe, F. A. (1973). The Myosin Filament: Immunochemical and Ultrastructural Approaches to Molecular Organization. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol 37: 97-108 [Abstract]  
• Penn, A. S., Cloak, R. A., Rowland, L. P. (1972). Myosin From Normal and Dystrophic Human Muscle: Immunochemical and Electrophoretic Studies. Arch Neurol 27: 159-173 [Abstract]  
• Huxley, H. E. (1969). The Mechanism of Muscular Contraction. Science 164: 1356-1366  
• Jenis, E. H., Lindquist, R. R., Lister, R. C. (1969). New Congenital Myopathy With Crystalline Intranuclear Inclusions. Arch Neurol 20: 281-287 [Abstract]  

Home | Help | Feedback | Subscriptions | Archive | Search | Table of Contents