The Molecular Mechanism of Stretch Activation in Insect Muscle
December 21, 2010
Insect flight is very metabolically demanding and many insects have found a way to reduce energy costs in their flight muscles by employing a process called “stretch activation,” for which a mechanistic explanation has been elusive. Research at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source at Argonne provides another important step toward a full explanation of stretch activation, which also plays an important role in mammalian cardiac muscle contraction.