Tension Transients in Single Isolated Smooth Muscle Cells

Abstract

Tension transients were recorded in a single smooth muscle cell. The transient contains a linear elastic response and a biphasic recovery that appear to originate from the cross-bridges. A comparison of transients in smooth and fast skeletal muscle fibers suggests that the cross-bridge in smooth muscle is more compliant than the cross-bridge in striated muscle and that transitions between several cross-bridge states occur more slowly in smooth muscle than in striated muscle.

Molecular Nanomechanical Mapping of Histamine-Induced Smooth Muscle Cell Contraction and Shortening

“…A pioneering study measured tension transients in single isolated smooth muscle cells by attaching the ends of the cell to a force transducer and a piezoelectric length displacement device, allowing detection of force generation after imposing a quick length perturbation . A series of studies utilizing this approach has led to important discoveries, including the underlying kinetics of cross-bridges , and the existence of internal load that opposes cell shortening .…”

The stiffness and phase frequency response of taenia coli smooth muscle: Comparison of the step and sinusoidal perturbation analysis

“…Therefore, we can assume that linearity requirement was met. In related studies, length changes around 0.5-2% of muscle length are also assumed to be within the linear range in smooth muscles [16,18,30,31]. Therefore, our assumption corresponds to what is accepted in the literature.…”