AJP - Heart and Circulatory Physiology, Vol 244, Issue 2 167-H177, Copyright © 1983 by American Physiological Society
Cardiac muscle function: results from skinned fiber preparations
P. M. Best
During the last decade cardiac muscle preparations with disrupted surface
membranes (skinned fibers) have been used with increasing frequency to
study cardiac muscle function. Removal of the surface membrane as an
effective permeability barrier allows the experimenter to control the ionic
conditions surrounding the contractile proteins and intracellular
organelles. Several different techniques are used to disrupt or remove the
surface membranes of cardiac muscle. The resulting preparations differ
significantly in size, in the extent of membrane removal, and in some cases
in their physiological response. Skinned cardiac fibers have been used to
study the physiological properties of the contractile proteins and
sarcoplasmic reticulum. The influences of disease and pharmacologic agents
on normal muscle function have also been investigated.
