Cardiac Contractility: How Calcium Activates the Myofilaments |
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Authors: | J Caspar Rüegg |
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Institution: | II. Physiologisches Institut, Universit?t Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 326, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany, DE
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Abstract: | 2+ concentrations tropomyosin is located at the edge of the thin filament, thereby interfering with the formation of strong
actin-myosin linkages (blocked state). An increase in Ca2+ activity causes an azimuthal shift of tropomyosin around the filament (by about 30°), thereby increasing the probability
of low-force crossbridge interaction, a process which by cooperative effects induces further tropomyosin movement (by an additional
10°) which results in the open state of the filament characterized by forceful crossbridge interaction. (This mechanism may
be analogous to that in ligand-gated ion channels, where ligand binding increases the open probability of the pore.) The extent
of activation then depends on the free Ca2+ concentration and on the calcium sensitivity of the thin filament that may be affected by protein phosphorylation, crossbridge
attachment, the troponin isoform composition of the filament, and novel calcium-sensitizing drugs that act on the contractile
or regulatory proteins and thus increase the force of the heart. |
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Keywords: | |
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