The contraction of smooth muscle is an essential process underpinning diverse physiological functions ranging from gastrointestinal motility to vascular regulation. At its core, smooth muscle ...

The flow of water within a muscle fiber may dictate how quickly muscle can contract, according to a new study. The flow of water within a muscle fiber may dictate how quickly muscle can contract, ...

Numerous motor and structural proteins compose a highly ordered structure known as the sarcomere, the basic unit of muscle contraction in heart and skeletal muscles. Sarcomeric myosin heavy chain ...

The mechanism of skeletal muscle contraction is a process that relies on calcium signaling. However, the physiological role of calcium-induced calcium release (CICR) through the ryanodine receptor ...

Segments of the obliquely striated body muscle of Ascaris were fixed at minimum body length after treatment with acetylcholine and at maximum body length after treatment with piperazine citrate and ...

If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in ...

Using zebrafish larvae, biologists have discovered neural mechanisms that suppress slow muscle activity in fish swimming at high speeds. In vertebrate muscles, there are slow and fast muscle fibers.

A new study by researchers at Yale and Johns Hopkins University has discovered how asthmatic bronchial spasms — muscle contractions in the airway that cause difficulty breathing in asthma patients— ...

Researchers describe a new mechanism for muscle repair after physiological damage relying on the rearrangement of muscle fibre nuclei, and independently of muscle stem cells. Muscle is known to ...