Berlin 2008 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 7: Posters I

BP 7.25: Poster

Monday, February 25, 2008, 17:00–19:30, Poster A

Contraction waves in chains of spontaneous oscillating sarcomeres. — •Stefan Günther and Karsten Kruse — Saarland University, Theoretical Physics Department, Saarbrücken

Sarcomeres are the elementary force generating elements of skeletal muscle and consist of a regular arrangement of myosin motors and actin filaments. Under appropriate conditions, sarcomeres have been found to oscillate spontaneously [1]. Chains of sarcomeres show spontaneous contraction waves [2] displaying complex dynamics. We have proposed a microscopic model of sarcomere dynamics, which generates spontaneous oscillations resulting from force-dependent motor detachment rates [3]. By rigidly coupling several sarcomeric elements into a linear chain, non-trivial wave solutions emerge. With parameters deduced from single molecule experiments, we find wave solutions in quantitative agreement with experiments. Furthermore, we find spontaneous nucleation and annihilation of waves as reported, for example, in [2].

[1] Yasuda, Shindo, and Ishiwata, Biophys. J. 70 (1996)
Sasaki et al, J. Muscle Res. Cell Motil. 26 (2005)
Guenther, and Kruse, NJP in press