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F D Carlson

Publications and source records attributed to F D Carlson.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

A quasi-elastic light scattering study of smooth muscle myosin in the presence of ATP.

We have investigated the hydrodynamic properties of turkey gizzard smooth muscle myosin in solution using quasi-elastic light scattering (QELS). The effects of ionic strength (0.05-0.5 M KCl) and light chain phosphorylation on the conformational transition of myosin were examined in the presence of ATP at 20 degrees C. Cumulant analysis and light scattering models were used to describe the myosin system in solution. A nonlinear least squares fitting procedure was used to determine the model that best fits the data. The conformational transition of the myosin monomer from a folded form to an extended form was clearly demonstrated in a salt concentration range of 0.15-0.3 M KCl. Light chain phosphorylation regulates the transition and promotes unfolding of the myosin. These results agree with the findings obtained using sedimentation velocity and electron microscopy (Onishi and Wakabayashi, 1982; Trybus et al., 1982; Trybus and Lowey, 1984). In addition, we present evidence for polymeric myosin coexisting with the two monomeric myosin species over a salt concentration range from 0.05 to 0.5 M KCl. The size of the polymeric myosin varied with salt concentration. This observation supports the hypothesis that, in solution, a dynamic equilibrium exists between the two conformations of myosin monomer and filaments.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1989

Form birefringence of muscle.

We investigate the sensitivity of measurements of muscle birefringence to cross-bridge dynamics in the resting, active, and rigor states. The theory of form birefringence is reviewed, and an optical model is constructed for the form birefringence of muscle. Values for the parameters in the model are selected or deduced from the literature. As an illustration of the use of the model, plausible distributions for the orientations of cross-bridges in the resting, active, and rigor states are constructed using a model for cross-bridge dynamics suggested by Huxley and Kress (1985). The general magnitude of the predictions of our model is comparable with that of published measurements of muscle birefringence. However, the precise values of the predicted birefringence for the resting, active, and rigor states are sensitive to the assumed orientations of cross-bridges. We also investigate the dependence of muscle birefringence on sarcomere length and on disorder in the orientation of the myofilament array. We conclude that measurements of muscle birefringence can play a useful role in distinguishing between proposed models of cross-bridge dynamics.

Actin Cytoskeleton↗
PubMed1987

Quasi-elastic light scattering studies of membrane motion in single red blood cells.

Studies of red blood cells (RBCs) and RBC ghosts, using a quasi-elastic light scattering (QELS) microscope spectrometer, have identified the membrane as the primary source of the light scattering signal. This is the first report in which motion of the cell membrane has been demonstrated to be the primary source of the QELS signal from a cell. Cytoplasmic changes induced in the RBC by varying the osmotic strength of the medium were also detected using this technique. Comparison of the data from white blood cells (WBCs) with the RBC data demonstrated significant differences between different types of cells.

Cytoplasm↗
PubMed1982

Photon correlation spectroscopic study of the size distribution of phospholipid vesicles.

The dependence of phospholipid vesicle size on lipid composition is investigated by photon correlation spectroscopy. For each lipid composition prolonged ultracentrifugation was used to isolate a nearly uniform population of minimum-sized vesicles. The residual size variations in the samples were sufficient to cause polydispersity that made comparisons between samples difficult. Analyses of the data by the method of cumulants and by a method for approximating the particle size distributions directly are presented. The latter method made possible unambiguous comparisons that revealed small but systematic dependences of vesicle size on composition in vesicles containing mixtures of egg phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine, egg phosphatidylcholine and beef brain sphingomyelin, and in single lipid vesicles of egg phosphatidylcholine, dioleylphosphatidylcholine, and beef brain sphingomyelin. These size dependences are quantified within the resolution limits of the technique and their implications are discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Quasi-elastic light-scattering studies of single skeletal muscle fibers.

Measurements were made of the intensity autocorrelation function, g(2)[tau], of light scattered from intact frog muscle fibers. During the tension plateau of an isometric tenanus, scattered field statistics were approximately Gaussian and intensity fluctuations were quasi-stationary. The half time, tau 1/2, for the decay of g(2)[tau] was typically 70 ms at a scattering angle of 30 degrees. The decay rate, 1/tau 1/2, of g(2)[tau] varied roughly linearly with the projection of the scattering vector on the fiber axis. 1/tau 1/2 was greater during the tension creep phase of tetani of highly stretched fibers, but was roughly independent of sarcomere length during the tension plateau. g(2)[tau] measured during rest or on diffraction pattern maxima during isometric contraction were flat with low amplitudes. These results are consistent with a model of a 200-mu m segment of an isometrically contracting fiber in which scattering material possesses relative axial velocities of 1-2 mu m/s accompanied by relative axial displacements greater than 0.1 mu m. The slow (1-2 mu m/s) motion of one portion of the fiber relative to another observed under the microscope (500X) during isometric contraction is consistent with the light-scattering results. Structural fluctuations on the scale of the myofibrillar sarcomere which may arise from asynchronous cycling of cross-bridges must involve relative axial velocities less than 3 mu m/s or relative axial displacements less than 0.05 mu m.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Dynamic light-scattering evidence for the flexibility of native muscle thin filaments.

We have obtained clear evidence for the flexibility of native scallop adductor thin filaments by studying the temperature and ionic strength dependence of the average decay constants obtained from intensity fluctuation spectroscopic (IFS) measurements. The low-angle (10-25 degrees ), average decay constants obtained from time autocorrelation functions of scattered light were independent of concentration (0.08-1.3 mg/ml), scaled with the ratio of temperature to solvent viscosity, T/eta, over a range of 4-45 degrees C, and yielded a value for the translational diffusion coefficient of D(T) (5 degrees C) = (1.24 +/- 0.06) x 10(-8) cm(2)/s. From this value and the Broersma relation for rigid rods, we find an average filament length of 1.06 +/- 0.06 mum. Quantitative sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed that at high temperatures (> 35 degrees C) or in 0.6 M NaCl, tropomyosin completely dissociates from native thin filaments. Decay constants from high-angle (60-150 degrees C) IFS temperature dependence measurements do not scale with T/eta and hence do not show the temperature dependence expected for rigid rods. The differences are not due to any change in length distribution of filaments with temperature or to the free tropomyosin in solution, but are attributed to nonrigid motions of the filaments. Similar experiments on samples in high- and low-salt solvents gave results consistent with this interpretation.

Actins↗
PubMed1975

The interaction of heavy meromyosin and subfragment 1 with actin. Physical measurements in the presence and absence of adenosine triphosphate.

Viscosity, turbidity, and laser-light fluctuation autocorrelations of acto-heavy merymyosin (HMM) and acto-subfragment 1 (S-1) solutions were measured under conditions where the actin-activated ATPase is close to its maximal value. The results were compared to similar data obtained in the absence of ATP where the actin and myosin fragments were completely domplexed, and in the presence of ATP but at 0.1 M KLC where the actin and HMM or S-1 were almost completely dissociated. It was found that at maximal actin activation, the viscosity, turbidity, and autocorrelation data were all much closer to the values for the completely dissociated systems than to the values for the completely complexed systems. Assuming that viscosity, turbidity, and autocorrelation measurements approximate a linear measure of binding between actin and HMM or S-1, the results suggest that at maximal actin activation less than 10% of the HMM or S-1 are bound to the actin. Therefore as was suggested previously by ultracentrifuge and kinetics studies, it appears that under conditions of maximal actin activation, most of the HMM and S-1 occur in a refractory state unable to bind to actin.

Actins↗
PubMed1975

Structural fluctuations in the steady state of muscular contraction.

Recent studies of the intensity fluctuation spectra of coherent light scattered from striated muscle have demonstrated the existence of large scale fluctuations in position and polarizability at the level of the myofibrillar sarcomere and its major structural subunits during the steady state of contraction. The existence of these fluctuations implies a fluctuating driving force. Various possible fluctuating motions of the thick and thin filaments, A and I bands, and entire sarcomeres are described. The magnitude of the fluctuating forces associated with the making and breaking of cross bridges is estimated. A mechanical model is proposed for coupling structural elements of a single sarcomere to one another and for coupling myofibrillar sarcomeres to one another. It is shown that the fluctuating force generated by the spontaneous making and breaking of cross bridges in conjunction with the model accounts for some of the features of the observed intensity fluctuation spectra.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Structural dynamics of frog muscle during isometric contraction.

Intensity fluctuation autocorrelation functions of laser light scattered by actively contracting muscle were measured at points in the scattered field. They were reproducible and showed characteristics which depended on the physiological state of the muscle and the parameters of the scattering geometry. The autocorrelation functions had large amplitudes and decay rates that varied significantly with the phase of the contraction-relaxation cycle. The dependence of the autocorrelation function on scattering geometry indicated many elements with diameters on the order of 0.5 mum (presumed to be myofibrillar sarcomeres or their A bands or I bands) undergo independent random changes in their axial positions and their internal distribution of optical polarizability during the plateau of an isometric tetanus. The experimental results are interpreted in terms of a model in which most of the scattering elements in isometrically contracting muscle have random fluctuating axial velocities of average magnitude 20 nm/ms that persist for a few milliseconds at least. In addition to these axial motions there are local fluctuations in polarizability. Similar intensity fluctuation autocorrelation functions were observed throughout the active state on two muscle preparations, whole sartorius muscle and small bundles of single fibers (three to eight) of semitendinosus muscle. These results imply that the tension developed during an isometric tetanus contains a fluctuating component as well as a constant component.

Animals↗
PubMed1973

Initial heat production in isometric from muscle at 15 degrees C.

An infrared radiation-detecting system was used to measure initial heat production in bull frog sartorius muscle at 15 degrees C. Numerous tests with the system showed that thermal artifacts were not noticeable. Many previous measurements with myothermic thermopiles were corroborated with this method. In addition, a cooling phase as large as 0.39 of peak exothermicity was found during and after relaxation. Cooling diminished with both increasing sarcomere length and increasing duration of mechanical activity. No large rapid increase in heat rate accompanied a 0.6 reactivation at the peak of twitch tension. Above rest length, initial heat rate and the heat produced up to the peak of tension decreased nearly proportionally with overlap of myofilaments, while the total twitch initial heat decreased slightly.

Animals↗
PubMed1971

Transient phases of the isometric tetanus in Frog's striated muscle.

In an isometric tetanus in frog's sartorius muscle tension approaches the plateau exponentially with rate constant alpha. alpha a depends on sarcomere length, s, and temperature, T, according to the Arrhenius equation See PDF for Equation for temperatures between 1 and 20 degrees C and for sarcomere lengths 2.0-2.8 microm. The energy of activation, E, does not vary significantly with s; E = 13.9 +/- 2.4 kcal/mole. A(s) decreases monotonically with s; A(2.1 microm) is about three times greater than A(2.8 microm). Late in relaxation active tension approaches zero exponentially with rate constant r. r decreases exponentially with increasing duration of tetanus, D, from r(0) in a twitch to r(infinity) for large D. The rate constant for decrease of r with D increases with s and with T. r(0) and r(infinity) obey the Arrhenius equation and decrease with increasing s.

Animals↗
PubMed1969

Translational and rotational diffusion constants of tobacco mosaic virus from Rayleigh linewidths.

The translational and rotational diffusion constants of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) have been determined from homodyne and heterodyne measurements of the spectrum of laser light scattered from dilute aqueous solutions of TMV. Our results for the translational and rotational constants respectively, reduced to 20 degrees C, are: D(T) = 0.280 +/- 0.006 x 10(-7) cm(2)/sec, and D(R) = 320 +/- 18 sec(-1). We include a theoretical derivation of the spectrum of light scattered from rod-shaped molecules which reproduces results obtained previously by Pecora, but which is specialized at the outset to the problem of dilute solutions so that simple single-particle correlation functions may be utilized. An analysis of the photocurrent spectrum for both the homodyne and heterodyne detection schemes is given. Various data reduction schemes utilized in the analysis of our spectra are described in some detail, and our results are compared with values of the diffusion constants obtained from other experiments.

Biophysical Phenomena↗