T, he culmination of more than a half century of research in frog muscle was the demonstration of the existence in that species of a separate and distinct slow or tonic striated muscle system that possessed its own peripheral nerve supply and motor units. Thus, the frog has two distinct contractile systems which have different biological functions: a fast or tetanic striate muscle system and a ...

Mice genetically deficient in growth and differentiation factor 8 (GDF8/myostatin) had markedly increased muscle fiber numbers and fiber hypertrophy. In the regenerating muscle of mice possessing FGF6 mutation, fiber remodeling was delayed. Although myostatin and FGF6 may be important for the maintenance, regeneration and/or hypertrophy of muscle, little work has been done on the possible role ...

Slow- and fast-contracting skeletal muscles of both rats and mice display significant differences in their patterns of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) expression. Although neural influences are known to account for a large proportion of these differences, intrinsic variations between fast and slow myogenic precursor cells have been implicated. In the present study, we have capitalized on the use of...

We used intact fast-twitch extensor digitorum longus (EDL) and slow-twitch soleus muscles from rats and mice to test the hypothesis that exogenous application of an oxidant would increase maximum isometric force production (P(o)) of slow-twitch muscles to a greater extent than fast-twitch skeletal muscles. Exposure to an oxidant, hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2); 100 microM to 5 mM, 30 min), affecte...

As a postural behavior, gliding and soaring flight in birds requires less energy than flapping flight. Slow tonic and slow twitch muscle fibers are specialized for sustained contraction with high fatigue resistance and are typically found in muscles associated with posture. Albatrosses are the elite of avian gliders; as such, we wanted to learn how their musculoskeletal system enables them to m...

the muscle-like technology would be of enormous advantages for biomedical applications such as medical implants and human assist devices. ionic polymer metal composites (ipmcs) are one kind of biomimetic actuators. an ionic polymer metal composite composed from an ionomer with high ion exchange capacity that packed between two thin metal layers. in the present study we focused on the preparatio...

Boudreau-Larivière, Céline, David J. Parry, and Bernard J. Jasmin. Myotubes originating from single fast and slow satellite cells display similar patterns of AChE expression. Am. J. Physiol. Regulatory Integrative Comp. Physiol. 278: R140–R148, 2000.—Slowand fast-contracting skeletal muscles of both rats and mice display significant differences in their patterns of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) e...