This volume presents the proceedings of a muscle symposium, which was held as the Fourth Fujihara seminar on October 28 - November 1, 2002, at Hakone, Japan. This volume covers all fields of muscle biology, from molecules to humans. This book provides information about recent progress of muscle research as well as the problems that remain to be investigated. This volume will stimulate muscle investigators to design and perform novel experiments to clarify the mysteries in muscle contraction.

Smooth muscles line many internal organs and, in general, are involved in moving fluids and slurry around the body. They are controlled by the action of hormones, by nervous stimulation, and can be influenced by drugs. This 1997 book provides a review of our understanding of smooth muscle and integrates molecular, cellular and physiological information with tissue and anatomical studies. Well-known researchers have written chapters giving detailed reviews of our current knowledge of the biochemistry, pharmacology, physiology and anatomy of smooth muscle. In particular, they cover the seven most important areas of smooth muscle function including morphology, electrophysiology, mechanisms of electromechanical and pharmacomechanical coupling, calcium homeostasis, signal transduction, mechanics of contraction, and the contractile proteins. All those interested in muscular contraction will find this book worthwhile, whether they are biochemists, physiologists, or cell biologists.

This book describes the evolution of ideas relating to the mechanism of muscular contraction since the discovery of sliding filaments in 1954. An amazing variety of experimental techniques have been employed to investigate the mechanism of muscular contraction and relaxation. Some background of these various techniques is presented in order to gain a fuller appreciation of their strengths and weaknesses. Controversies in the muscle field are discussed along with some missed opportunities and false trails. The pathway to ATP and the high energy phosphate bond will be discussed, as well as the discovery of myosin, contraction coupling and the emergence of cell and molecular biology in the muscle field. Numerous figures from original papers are also included for readers to see the data that led to important conclusions. This book is published on behalf of the American Physiological Society by Springer. Access to APS books published with Springer is free to APS members.

This volume presents the proceedings of a muscle symposium, which was supported by the grant from the Fujihara Foundation of Science to be held as the Fourth Fujihara Seminar on October 28 -November 1, 2002, at Hakone, Japan. The Fujihara Seminar covers all fields of natural science, while only one proposal is granted every year. It is therefore a great honor for me to be able to organize this meeting. Before this symposium, I have organized muscle symposia five times, and published the proceedings: " Cross-bridge Mechanism in Muscle Contraction (University of Tokyo Press, 1978), "Contractile Mechanisms in Muscle" (plenum, 1984); "Molecular Mechanisms of Muscle Contraction" (plenum, 1988); "Mechanism of MyofIlament Sliding in Muscle contraction" (plenum, 1993); "Mechanisms of Work Production and Work Absorption in Muscle" (plenum, 1998). As with these proceedings, this volume contains records of discussions made not only after each presentation but also during the periods of General Discussion, in order that general readers may properly evaluate each presentation and the up-to-date situation of this research field. It was my great pleasure to have Dr. Hugh Huxley, a principal discoverer of the sliding fIlament mechanism in muscle contraction, in this meeting. On my request, Dr. Huxley kindly gave a special lecture on his monumental discovery of myofIlament-lattice structure by X-ray diffraction of living skeletal muscle. I hope general readers to learn how a breakthrough in a specific research field can be achieved.

Muscle contraction has been the focus of scientific investigation for more than two centuries, and major discoveries have changed the field over the years. Early in the twentieth century, Fenn (1924, 1923) showed that the total energy liberated during a contraction (heat + work) was increased when the muscle was allowed to shorten and perform work. The result implied that chemical reactions during contractions were load-dependent. The observation underlying the “Fenn effect” was taken to a greater extent when Hill (1938) published a pivotal study showing in details the relation between heat production and the amount of muscle shortening, providing investigators with the force-velocity relation for skeletal muscles. Subsequently, two papers paved the way for the current paradigm in the field of muscle contraction. Huxley and Niedergerke (1954), and Huxley and Hanson (1954) showed that the width of the A-bands did not change during muscle stretch or activation. Contraction, previously believed to be caused by shortening of muscle filaments, was associated with sliding of the thick and thin filaments. These studies were followed by the classic paper by Huxley (1957), in which he conceptualized for the first time the cross-bridge theory; filament sliding was driven by the cyclical interactions of myosin heads (cross-bridges) with actin. The original cross-bridge theory has been revised over the years but the basic features have remained mostly intact. It now influences studies performed with molecular motors responsible for tasks as diverse as muscle contraction, cell division and vesicle transport.