Calcium-stimulated myofibrillar ATPase activity correlates with shortening velocity of muscle fibres in Xenopus laevis

Summary The iliofibularis muscle ofXenopus laevis is reported to contain five types of fibres which have different force—velocity relationships. Ten fibres of each type were selected on the basis of succinate dehydrogenase activity, cross-sectional area and location in the muscle, in order to assess the validity of the fibre type classification.Maximum calcium-stimulated myofibrillar ATPase activity (V _max) and apparent Michaelis constant (K _m) for ATP were determined for these 50 fibres from serial sections. The values obtained varied according to the type of fibre. Type 1 had the highest and type 5 the lowest values forK _m andV _max.In a separate experiment, single freeze-dried fibres were used to determine the relationship between their ATP content and apparentK _m for ATP. There was a tendency for high ATP concentrations in fibres with highK _m values.When myofibrillar ATPase activity was related to the maximum velocity of shortening of the five fibre types, a significant correlation was found. It is concluded that calcium-stimulated myofibrillar ATPase histochemistry allows an estimate of the maximum shortening velocity of muscle fibres fromXenopus laevis.     

Localization of alkaline phosphatase and NADH diaphorase in the principal cells of the guinea pig epididymis

The activities of alkaline phosphatase and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) diaphorase in the principal cells of the guinea pig epididymis were studied histochemically. Alkaline phosphatase activity was absent from the principal cells but was present in the basement membrane of the epididymal epithelium. NADH diaphorase activity was distributed throughout the cytoplasm of the principal cells in each epididymal segment. There was a gradual increase in NADH diaphorase activity from segments 1 through 7. Possible functions of alkaline phosphatase and NADH diaphorase in the epididymis are discussed.     

Implications of Two Different Types of Diffusion for Biological Membranes

AS it is not widely appreciated that diffusion within complex media can be strikingly and often qualitatively different from that in simple liquids such as water, there is confusion concerning transport processes across biological membranes^1,2. We would like to draw attention to some fundamental differences between the diffusion process in simple liquids and that in more complex media-non-porous networks of hydrophobic polymers and biological membranes.