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H E HUXLEY

Publications and source records attributed to H E HUXLEY.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1963

FILAMENT LENGTHS IN STRIATED MUSCLE.

Filament lengths in resting and excited frog muscles have been measured in the electron microscope, and investigations made of the changes in length that are found under different conditions, to distinguish between those changes which arise during preparation and the actual differences in the living muscles. It is concluded that all the measured differences in filament length are caused by the preparative procedures in ways that can be simply accounted for, and that the filament lengths are the same in both resting and excited muscles at all sarcomere lengths greater than 2.1 micro, viz., A filaments, 1.6 micro; I filaments, 2.05 micro. The fine periodicity visible along the I filaments also has been measured in frog, toad, and rabbit muscles and found to be 406 A.

Aldehydes↗
PubMed1961

Preferential staining of nucleic acid-containing structures for electron microscopy.

Oriented fibres of extracted nucleohistone were employed as test material in a study of satisfactory fixation, embedding, and staining methods for structures containing a high proportion of nucleic acid. Fixation in buffered osmium tetroxide solution at pH 6, containing 10(-2)M Ca(++), and embedding in Araldite enabled sections of the fibres to be cut in which the orientation was well preserved. These could be strongly stained in 2 per cent aqueous uranyl acetate, and showed considerable fine structure. Certain regions in the nuclei of whole thymus tissue could also be strongly stained by the same procedure, and were identical with the regions stained by the Feulgen procedure in adjacent sections. Moreover, purified DNA was found to take up almost its own dry weight of uranyl acetate from 2 per cent aqueous solution. Strongest staining of whole tissue was obtained with very short fixation times-5 minutes or so at 0 degrees C. Particularly intense staining was obtained when such tissue stained in uranyl acetate was further stained with lead hydroxide. Although the patterns of staining by lead hydroxide alone and by uranyl acetate were similar in tissues fixed for longer times ((1/2) hour to 2 hours, at 0 degrees C or 20 degrees C), in briefly fixed material the DNA-containing regions appeared relatively unstained by lead hydroxide alone, whilst often there was appreciable staining of RNA-containing structures. Observations on the staining of some viruses by similar techniques are also described.

Coloring Agents↗
PubMed1957

The double array of filaments in cross-striated muscle.

The conditions under which one might expect to see the secondary filaments (if they exist) in longitudinal sections of striated muscle, are discussed. It is shown that these conditions were not satisfied in previously published works for the sections were too thick. When suitably thin sections are examined, the secondary filaments can be seen perfectly easily. It is also possible to see clearly other details of the structure, notably the cross-bridges between primary and secondary filaments, and the tapering of the primary filaments at their ends. The arrangement of the filaments and the changes associated with contraction and with stretch are identical to those already deduced from previous observations and described in terms of the interdigitating filament model in previous papers. There are therefore excellent grounds for believing that this model is correct. The alternative models which have been proposed appear to be incompatible both with the present observations and with much of the other available evidence.

Cytoskeleton↗
PubMed1954

Electron microscope studies on ultrathin sections of muscle.

Thin sections of striated muscle from frog (sartorius), rabbit (psoas), rat (heart), and fly (flight muscle), and of smooth muscle from clam (adductor) have been obtained using a new microtome. Electron micrographs of them are presented. The sections are sufficiently thin to achieve a resolution of 30 to 40 A. In fly flight muscle, the myofibrils are distinct and well separated morphological units. In frog and rabbit muscle the myofibrils appear to be so closely packed under normal conditions that their identity as separate units is almost lost. In all types of striated muscle examined, it was found that the filaments are arranged within the myofibrils in a continuous and highly regular hexagonal array. The diameter of the filaments in embedded, sectioned muscle appears to be significantly less than that observed in dried shadowed material. The 400 A axial period, observed in frog and rabbit muscle, and in rat heart muscle, was found to extend across the interstitial material between the filaments. The significance of these findings is discussed.

Animals↗