ARTICLE

THE DOUBLE ARRAY OF FILAMENTS IN CROSS-STRIATED MUSCLE

H. E. Huxley Ph.D.¹

¹ From the Medical Research Council, Department of Biophysics, University College, London

The conditions under which one might expect to see the secondary filaments (if they exist) in longitudinal sections of striated muscle, are discussed. It is shown that these conditions were not satisfied in previously published works for the sections were too thick. When suitably thin sections are examined, the secondary filaments can be seen perfectly easily. It is also possible to see clearly other details of the structure, notably the cross-bridges between primary and secondary filaments, and the tapering of the primary filaments at their ends. The arrangement of the filaments and the changes associated with contraction and with stretch are identical to those already deduced from previous observations and described in terms of the interdigitating filament model in previous papers. There are therefore excellent grounds for believing that this model is correct. The alternative models which have been proposed appear to be incompatible both with the present observations and with much of the other available evidence.

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

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Wells, W. A. (2005). Cilia get arms for bending. JCB 168: 350-351 [Full Text]  
• MILLMAN, B. M. (1998). The Filament Lattice of Striated Muscle. Physiol. Rev. 78: 359-391 [Abstract] [Full Text]  

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