The relationship between form and function throughout the history of excitation-contraction coupling

J Gen Physiol. 2018 Feb 5;150(2):189-210. doi: 10.1085/jgp.201711889. Epub 2018 Jan 9.

Abstract

The concept of excitation-contraction coupling is almost as old as Journal of General Physiology It was understood as early as the 1940s that a series of stereotyped events is responsible for the rapid contraction response of muscle fibers to an initial electrical event at the surface. These early developments, now lost in what seems to be the far past for most young investigators, have provided an endless source of experimental approaches. In this Milestone in Physiology, I describe in detail the experiments and concepts that introduced and established the field of excitation-contraction coupling in skeletal muscle. More recent advances are presented in an abbreviated form, as readers are likely to be familiar with recent work in the field.

Publication types

  • Historical Article
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Calcium Signaling
  • Electrophysiology / history*
  • Excitation Contraction Coupling*
  • History, 18th Century
  • History, 19th Century
  • History, 20th Century
  • History, 21st Century
  • Humans
  • Muscle Proteins / metabolism
  • Muscle, Skeletal / metabolism*
  • Muscle, Skeletal / physiology
  • Muscle, Skeletal / ultrastructure

Substances

  • Muscle Proteins