Molecular and Cellular Aspects of Muscle Contraction, 2003 Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology Series, Vol. 538

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.

I. Molecular Factors Influencing Cardiac and Smooth.- Myosin Light Chain Composition in Non-Failing Donor and End-Stage Failing Human Ventricular Myocardium.- Study of the Vertebrate MHC Multigene Family during Heart Development.- Myosin-binding Protein C (MYBP-C) in Cardiac Muscle and Contractility.- The Endocardial Endothelial Na+/K+ ATPase and Cardiac Contraction.- KLF5/BTEB2, a Krüppel-like Zinc-finger Type Transcription Factor, Mediates both Smooth Muscle Cell Activation and Cardiac Hypertrophy.- Regulation of the Rho Signaling Pathway by Excitatory Agonists in Vascular Smooth Muscle.- Human Heart Failure: Dilated Versus Familial Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.- Regulation of Smooth Muscle Contraction by Calcium, Monomeric GTPases of the Rho Subfamily, and their Effector Kinases.- II. Molecular Mechanism of Actin-Myosin Interaction.- Bio-nanomuscle Project: Contractile Properties of Single Actin Filaments in an A-band Motility Assay System.- Development of an Apparatus to Control Load by Electromagnet for a Motility System In Vitro.- High-Resolution Imaging of Myosin Motor in Action by a High-Speed Atomic Force Microscope.- Translation Step Size Measured in Single Sarcomeres and Single Filament Pairs.- Motor Function of Unconventional Myosin.- Switch 1 Opens on Strong Binding to Actin.- Gene Transfer of Troponin I Isoforms, Mutants and Chimeras.- A Hypothesis about Myosin Catalysis.- In Vitro Actomyosin Motility in Deuterium Oxide.- III. Molecular Basis for Regulatory Mechanism of Muscle.- NMR Structural Study of Troponin C C-terminal Domain Complexed with Troponin I Fragment from Akazara Scallop.- Calcium Binding to Troponin C as a Primary Step of the Regulation of Contraction.- Isolation and Characterization of 190K Protein from Aorta Smooth Muscle.- SeveralAspects of Calcium Regulator, Mechanisms Linked to Troponin.- IV. Structural Changes During Contraction.- X-ray Interference Evidence Concerning the Range of Cross-Bridge Movement, and Backbone Contributions to the Meridional Pattern.- Modeling Analysis of Myosin-Based Meridional X-ray Reflections from Frog Skeletal Muscles in Relaxed and Contracting States.- Myosin Filament Structure and Myosin Cross-bridge Dynamics in Fish and Insect Muscles.- Use of Sinusoidal Length Oscillations to Detect Myosin Conformation by Time-Resolved X-ray Diffraction.- Orientation and Motion of Myosin Light Chain and Troponin in Reconstituted Muscle Fibers as Detected by ESR with a New Bifunctional Spin-Label....- Molecular Organizations of Myofibrils of Skeletal Muscle Studied by Atomic Force Microscopy.- Three-dimensional Structural Analysis of Individual Myosin Heads under Various Functional States.- Helical Order in Myosin Filaments and Evidence for One Ligand Inducing Multiple Myosin Conformations.- Evidence for the Involvement of Myosin Subfragment 2 in Muscle Contraction.- V. Nonmuscle Motile Systems.- A Study of Lamellipodial Membrane Dynamics by Optical Trapping Technique: Implication of Motor Activity in Movements.- Actin Dynamics in Neuronal Growth Cone Revealed with a Polarized Light Microscopy.- Thermodynamic Mechano-Chemistry of Single Motor Enzymes.- VI. Excitation-Contraction Coupling.- Cooperative Activation of Skeletal and Cardiac Muscle.- Measurement of Force Developed by a Single Cardiac Myocyte Using Novel Carbon Fibers.- The Special Structure and Function of Troponin I in Regulation of Cardiac Contraction and Relaxation.- Pharmacological Calcium Sensitivity Modulation of Cardiac Myofilaments.- 20-Hydroxyeicosatetraenoic Acid Potentiates Contractile Activation of Canine Basilar Artery in Response to Stretch via Protein Kinase C?-Mediated Inhibition of Calcium-Activated Potassium Channel.- Distinct Contractile Systems for Electromechanical and Pharmacomechanical Coupling in Smooth Muscle.- VII. Muscle Mechanics.- Force Response to Stretches in Activated Frog Muscle Fibres at Low Tension.- Molecular Step(s) of Force Generation: Temperature-Perturbation Experiments on Muscle Fibres.- Rates of Force Generation in Drosophila Fast and Slow Muscle Types Have Opposite Responses to Phosphate.- Does Cross-Bridge Activation Determine the Time Course of Myofibrillar Relaxation?.- Inter-Sarcomere Dynamics in Muscle Fibres. A Negrected Subject ?.- Stretch-induced Force Enhancement and Stability of Skeletal Muscle Myofibrils.- Adaptations in Titin’s Spring Elements in Normal and Cardiomyopathic Hearts.- An X-ray Diffraction Study on Contraction of Rat Papillary Muscle with Different Afterloads.- VIII. Muscle Fatigue and Energetics.- Role of the T-system and the Na-K Pump on Fatigue Development in Phasic Skeletal Muscle.- Mitochondrial Ca2+ in Mouse Soleus Single Muscle Fibres in Response to Repeated Tetanic Contractions.- Cellular Mechanisms of Skeletal Muscle Fatigue.- Myofibrillar Determinants of Rate of Relaxation in Skinned Skeletal Muscle Fibers.- Force, Sarcomere Shortening Velocity and ATPase Activity.- Evidence for the High Mechanical Efficiency of Cross-Bridge Powerstroke in Skeletal Muscle.- Rate of Actomyosin ATP Hydrolysis Diminishes during Isometric Contraction.- Energy Storage during Stretch of Active Single Fibres.- Three Dimensional Ultrasound Analysis of Fascicle Orientation in Human Tibialis Anterior Muscle Enables Analysis of Macroscopic Torque at the Cellular Level.- General Discussion Part I.- Special Talk: The Beginning ofLow-Angle X-ray Diffraction Work on Living Muscles.- General Discussion Part II.- General Discussion Part III Chaired by R. C. Woledge.- Concluding Remarks: Progress in Determining the Detailed Mechanism of Muscle Contraction.- Participants Photos.- Participants.