Force-Generating Cross-Bridges during Ramp-Shaped Releases: Evidence for a New Structural State

Mechanical and two-dimensional (2D) x-ray diffraction studies suggest that during isometric steady-state contraction, strongly bound cross-bridges mostly occupy early states in the power stroke, whereas rigor or rigor-like cross-bridges could not be detected. However, it remained unclear whether cross-bridges accumulate, at least transiently, in rigor or rigor-like states in response to rapid-length releases. We addressed this question using time-resolved recording of 2D x-ray diffraction patterns of permeabilized fibers from rabbit psoas muscles during isometric contraction and when small, ramp-shaped length-releases were applied to these fibers. This maneuver allows a transient accumulation of cross-bridges in states near the end of their power stroke. By lowering the temperature to 5°C, force transients were slowed sufficiently to record diffraction patterns in several 2–4-ms time frames before and during such releases, using the RAPID detector (Refined ADC Per Input Detector) at beam line ID02 of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (Grenoble, France). The same sequence of frames was recorded in relaxation and rigor. Comparisons of 2D patterns recorded during isometric contraction, with patterns recorded at different [MgATP γS] and at 1°C, showed that changes in intensity profiles along the first and sixth actin layer lines (ALL1 and ALL6, respectively) allowed for discernment of the formation of rigor or rigor-like cross-bridges. During ramp-shaped releases of activated fibers, intensity profiles along ALL1 and ALL6 did not reveal evidence for the accumulation of rigor-like cross-bridges. Instead, changes in the ALL6-profile suggest that during ramp-shaped releases, cross-bridges transiently accumulate in a structural state that, to our knowledge, was not previously seen, but that could well be a strongly bound state with the light-chain binding domain in a conformation between a near prepower-stroke (isometric) orientation and the orientation in rigor.