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. 1968 Apr 1;37(1):105–116. doi: 10.1083/jcb.37.1.105

LOCALIZATION OF MYOSIN FILAMENTS IN SMOOTH MUSCLE

Robert E Kelly 1, Robert V Rice 1
PMCID: PMC2107398  PMID: 5645835

Abstract

Thick myosin filaments, in addition to actin filaments, were found in sections of glycerinated chicken gizzard smooth muscle when fixed at a pH below 6.6. The thick filaments were often grouped into bundles and run in the longitudinal axis of the smooth muscle cell. Each thick filament was surrounded by a number of thin filaments, giving the filament arrangement a rosette appearance in cross-section. The exact ratio of thick filaments to thin filaments could not be determined since most arrays were not so regular as those commonly found in striated muscle. Some rosettes had seven or eight thin filaments surrounding a single thick filament. Homogenates of smooth muscle of chicken gizzard also showed both thick and thin filaments when the isolation was carried out at a pH below 6.6, but only thin filaments were found at pH 7.4. No Z or M lines were observed in chicken gizzard muscle containing both thick and thin filaments. The lack of these organizing structures may allow smooth muscle myosin to disaggregate readily at pH 7.4.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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