# STRUCTURAL STUDIES OF MUSCLE CONTRACTION MECHANISM

> **NIH NIH R01** · BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY · 1989 · $272,047

## Abstract

The long-term objective of this research is to reach a detailed
understanding of the molecular mechanism of muscle contraction,
and at the same time to gain thereby important information about
other cellular motile processes involving actin-myosin
interactions.  Understanding of muscle pathology must remain
incomplete until we understand fully the basic mechanism which
all the other ancillary processes in muscle cells have to support; a
full understanding of cell movements during development, and of
cell invasiveness, also requires basic knowledge of the motile
mechanisms involved.

The specific aim of the project is to obtain as much information
as possible about the structural changes taking place in the
myosin crossbridges in muscle as they interact with actin to
produce the sliding force between the arrays of actin and myosin
filaments.  The techniques that will be employed in this work are
those of low angle X-ray diffraction and electron-microscopy.
The X-ray work will exploit the new sources of high intensity
synchrotron radiation at such places as the Brookhaven National
Laboratory to carry out detailed time-resolved studies of the
changes in the muscle diffraction pattern which reflect the
structural events in contraction.  The electron-microscope work
will make use of rapid freezing techniques to obtain direct images
of muscle filaments and crossbridges in chosen states of
contraction.  Both approaches call for substantial technical
developments but, if successful, these new techniques will be of
considerable value in other biological fields.

The results of these structural studies should provide a detailed
framework of understanding for the very active research on
contraction and motility being pursued by many other workers
using biochemical, biophysical, genetical and physiological
techniques.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3158905
- **Project number:** 5R01AR038899-03
- **Recipient organization:** BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY
- **SAM.gov UEI:** MXLZGAMFEKN5
- **Principal Investigator:** HUGH E HUXLEY
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1989
- **Award amount:** $272,047
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1987-08-01 → 1992-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3158905

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3158905, STRUCTURAL STUDIES OF MUSCLE CONTRACTION MECHANISM (5R01AR038899-03). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3158905. Licensed CC0.

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