Actin filament organization and myosin head labelling patterns in vertebrate skeletal muscles in the rigor and weak binding states

Abstract

The structures of vertebrate skeletal muscles (particularly from frog and fish) in the rigor state are analysed in terms of the concept of target areas on actin filaments. Assuming that 100% of the heads are to be attached to actin in rigor, then satisfactory qualitative low-resolution modelling of observed X-ray diffraction data is obtained if the outer ends of these myosin heads can move axially (total range about 200Å) and azimuthally (total range less than 60°) from their original lattice sites on the myosin filament surface to attach in defined target areas on the actin filaments. On this basis, each actin target area comprises about four actin monomers along one of the two long-pitched helical strands of the actin filament (about 200 Å) or an azimuthal range of actin binding sites of about 100° around the thin filament axis. If myosin heads simply label in a non-specific way the nearest actin monomers to them, as could occur with non-specific transient attachment in a ‘weak binding’ state, then the predicted X-ray diffraction pattern would comprise layer lines at the same axial spacings (orders of 429 Å) as those seen in patterns from resting muscle. It is shown that actin target areas in vertebrate skeletal muscles are probably arranged on an approximate 6₂ (right-handed) helix of pitch (P) of about 720 Å, subunit translation P/6 and near repeat P/2. Troponin position need not be considered in defining the labelling pattern of cross-bridges on this 6₂ helix of target areas; the target areas appear to be defined solely by the azimuthal position of the actin binding sites. The distribution of actin filament labelling patterns could be regular in fish muscle which has a ‘crystalline’ A-band, but will be irregular in higher vertebrate muscles such as frog sartorius muscle.