Microscopic model of the actin-myosin interaction in muscular contractions

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2004 Jan;69(1 Pt 1):011108. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.69.011108. Epub 2004 Jan 30.

Abstract

We define and study a detailed many body model for the muscular contraction taking into account the various myosin heads. The state of the system is defined by the position of the actin and by an internal coordinate of rotation for each myosin head. We write a system of Fokker-Planck equations and calculate the average for the position, the number of attached myosin heads, and the total force exerted on the actin. We also study the correlation between these quantities, in particular between the number of attached myosin heads and the force on the actin.

MeSH terms

  • Actins / metabolism*
  • Energy Metabolism*
  • Friction
  • Models, Biological*
  • Muscle Contraction / physiology*
  • Myosins / metabolism*

Substances

  • Actins
  • Myosins