QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in JEB Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Conley, K. E. Articles by Lindstedt, S. L. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Conley, K. E. Articles by Lindstedt, S. L. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

The Journal of Experimental Biology 205, 2175-2181 (2002)
© 2002 The Company of Biologists Limited

Review

Energy-saving mechanisms in muscle: the minimization strategy

Kevin E. Conley^1,2,3,* and Stan L. Lindstedt⁴

¹ Department of Radiology, Box 357115, University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA 98195-7115, USA
² Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA 98195-7115, USA
³ Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA 98195-7115, USA
⁴ Physiology and Functional Morphology Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011-5640, USA

^* Author for correspondence at address 1 (e-mail: kconley{at}u.washington.edu )

Accepted 13 May 2002

Many mechanisms reduce the cost of muscle activity. Here, we describe a set of specializations that reduce the cost of contraction in the high-frequency twitches that are used by a wide variety of animals for either sound production or flight. Minimizing the cost of these contractions means that cellular ATP production can meet ATP demand and sustain the high contractile rate. Two classes of specialization are found that minimize the contractile cost. The first class reduces the muscle work required per contraction. Light appendages such as rattles, insect limbs and membranous wings that require little work for movement are used in high-frequency contractions. The second set of specializations involves processes that minimize energy use. High-frequency muscles tend to have a lower cross-bridge content, fewer attached cross-bridges and shorter length changes per contraction. The result is low muscle-specific forces (stress), small length changes (strain) and rapid contraction times that suggest that these muscles push the lower limit of contractile function. The consequence of function at this lower extreme of contraction is to minimize the contractile cost of high-frequency muscles. Thus, specializations that permit rapid contractions at a low rate of ATP use per twitch are the basis of a minimization strategy for energy saving in muscles contracting at high frequency.

Key words: sound production, flight, muscle, energetics

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

Related articles in JEB:

One Tissue Across the Whole Animal Kingdom

Kathryn Phillips
JEB 2002 205: i. [Full Text]  

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P. C. Nahirney, J. G. Forbes, H. D. Morris, S. C. Chock, and K. Wang What the buzz was all about: superfast song muscles rattle the tymbals of male periodical cicadas FASEB J, October 1, 2006; 20(12): 2017 - 2026. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Philp, A. L. Macdonald, and P. W. Watt Lactate - a signal coordinating cell and systemic function J. Exp. Biol., December 15, 2005; 208(24): 4561 - 4575. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. R. Moon, K. E. Conley, S. L. Lindstedt, and M. R. Urquhart Minimal shortening in a high-frequency muscle J. Exp. Biol., April 15, 2003; 206(8): 1291 - 1297. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. N. Askew and R. L. Marsh Muscle designed for maximum short-term power output: quail flight muscle J. Exp. Biol., August 1, 2002; 205(15): 2153 - 2160. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]