2. Define sliding filament theory of muscle contraction.
Sliding filament theory of muscle contraction
1. The sliding filament theory was mainly proposed to explain the process of muscle contraction. This theory proposes that during muscle contraction the thin filaments slide over the thick filaments leading to shortening of the myofibrils.
2. Each muscle fibre possesses alternate light and dark bands, which contain a specialised contractile protein known as actin and myosin respectively.
3. Actin refers to a thin contractile protein present in the light band and is known as the I-band, on the other hand, myosin is a thick contractile protein present in the dark band and is known as the A-band.
4. An elastic fibre called z line bisects each I-band. To this z-line, the thin filament is firmly anchored. The central part of the thick filament that is not overlapped by the thin filament is known as the H-zone.
5. During muscle contraction, the myosin heads or cross bridges come in close contact with the thin filaments causing the thin filaments to be pulled towards the middle of the sarcomere. The Z line attached to the actin filaments is also pulled leading to the shortening of the sarcomere. Hence, the length of the band remains constant as its original length and the I-band shortens and the H-zone disappears.