This review describes the early beginnings of X‐ray diffraction work on muscle structure and
the contraction mechanism in the MRC Unit in the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, and …

During normal muscle shortening, the myosin heads must undergo many cycles of
interaction with the actin filaments sliding past them. It is important to determine what range …

The molecular mechanism of muscle contraction is a problem that has exercised
biophysicists and biochemists for many years. The common view of the mechanism is …

Equatorial X-ray diffraction patterns have been studied from muscles at rest, during
contraction and in rigor. It is confirmed that the relative intensity (I 1, 0 I 1, 1) of the two main …

During normal contractions of vertebrate striated muscle, it is believed that the cross-bridges
which produce the sliding force undergo asynchronous cyclical changes in their structure …

Recent progress in the quantitative study of the mechanics, biochemistry, and molecular
structure of muscle has resulted in the formulation of detailed models for the molecular …

This is a personal account of some of the successive steps in our understanding of the
structural mechanism of muscle contraction during the last 45 years. It describes how I, as an …

We have used a high-resolution small angle X-ray scattering system, together with a high-
performance CCD camera, on the BioCAT beamline at the APS synchrotron radiation facility …

Since the basic outline of the sliding filament mechanism became apparent some 45 years
ago, the principal challenge, an experimental one, has been to produce definitive evidence …

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the muscle structure and the time‐resolved
events in contracting muscles. The chapter explores various issues involved in the X‐ray …