(A and B) Normalized junction length (A) and junction strain ([B] left, black) and tension ([B] right, green), during two 20-min activations with a 20-min rest period, trest. The residual strain, ϵr, is the junction strain at the end of the rest period.
(C) The average additional contraction that occurs after the second pulse as a function of residual strain obtained from n = 15 simulations.
(D) Final junction length (heat scale) as a function of rest time and total activation time, for pulsed activation scheme in (A) and (B).
(E and F) Representative image (E) and normalized junction length over time (F) of a junction in an experiment with a two 20-min activation with a 20-min rest period. Scale bar, 10 μm.
(G) Final normalized junction length for varying rest times in experiments (gray, n = 2 or 3) and simulations (pink, n = 15 for each condition). Error bars indicate the standard deviation of the number of experiments and simulations indicated within each bar.