Abstract
ACCORDING to Szent-Györgyi1, muscular contraction involves the following reaction : at certain salt concentrations, actomyosin, formed from myosin and polymerized actin, loses water and contracts by the action of adenosinetriphosphate. Actin may be present in two forms : in a globular and a fibrous form. In the presence of salts, globular actin is transformed into the fibrous form, that is, polymerization takes place. Only at this stage is actin able to form with myosin the highly viscous actomyosin. Straub et al.2 showed that adrenaline increases, chinine and vera-trine diminish, the speed of polymerization.
References
Szent-Györgyi, A., "Chemistry of Muscular Contraction" (New York, 1947).
Straub, F. B., Feuer, G., and Lajos, I., Nature, 162, 217 (1948).
Feuer, G., Molnár, F., Pettkó, E., and Straub, F. B., Hungarica Acta Physiol., 1, 150 (1948).
Horváth, I., Koch, J., and Szerb, J., Hungarica Acta Physiol. (in the press).
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HORVÁTH, I., KIRÁLY, C. & SZERB, J. Action of Cardiac Glycosides on the Polymerization of Actin. Nature 164, 792 (1949). https://doi.org/10.1038/164792a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/164792a0
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