The sarcomere is partitioned in a number of regions, called zones and bands, in which these filaments are arranged in various ways.The thin filament consists of F-actin, troponin, tropomyosin, and nebulin. The latter can form links between the filaments, whereas myosin, the so-called motor protein engages with the thin filament to generate force and muscle contraction.Thick filament structure in the relaxed heart sarcomere. An in-depth photo of the thick filament would be of enormous significance for developing therapeutical strategies to treat these diseases, but has been missing out on so far.Milestones in muscle research” If you want to fully comprehend how the muscle works on the molecular level, you need to visualize its components in their natural environment– one of the most significant challenges in biological research study nowadays that can not be tackled by traditional experimental methods,” states Raunser.To conquer this challenge his group established an electron cryo-tomography workflow particularly customized to the examination of muscle samples: The researchers flash-freeze mammalian heart muscle samples, produced by the Gautel group in London, at an extremely low temperature level (- 175 ° C).3 D structure of the sarcomere showing thick (purple) and thin (green) filaments.
They just inform us little about how the highly variable, dynamic interaction of muscle components moves the muscle in its native environment,” says Raunser.Through thick and thinSkeletal and heart muscles contract upon the interaction of 2 types of parallel protein filaments in the sarcomere: thin and thick. The sarcomere is subdivided in a number of regions, called zones and bands, in which these filaments are organized in different ways.The thin filament consists of F-actin, nebulin, tropomyosin, and troponin. The latter can form links between the filaments, whereas myosin, the so-called motor protein interacts with the thin filament to generate force and muscle contraction.Thick filament structure in the relaxed cardiac sarcomere. Thin filaments are marked with thick and green filaments with a purple arrow. A detailed image of the thick filament would be of enormous significance for developing therapeutical techniques to treat these illness, however has actually been missing out on so far.Milestones in muscle research study” If you want to totally understand how the muscle works on the molecular level, you need to imagine its elements in their natural environment– one of the biggest obstacles in biological research nowadays that can not be dealt with by conventional experimental approaches,” says Raunser.To conquer this barrier his group developed an electron cryo-tomography workflow particularly tailored to the examination of muscle samples: The scientists flash-freeze mammalian heart muscle samples, produced by the Gautel group in London, at an extremely low temperature (- 175 ° C).3 D structure of the sarcomere showing thick (purple) and thin (green) filaments.
