Contraction of skeletal muscle arises from interaction of the proteins actin and myosin. The myosin filaments contain tiny �head� pieces that crawl along depressions in the actin filaments.  This study models the actin/myosin interaction as a stochastic ratchet similar to a plastic cable tie.  The �one-way� nature of the head groups acting as a ratchet causes motion in only one direction to be captured, resulting in the steady contraction of the muscle.  The contraction is powered by random thermal energy and the energy released by ATP hydrolysis at the head groups.  Simulation results track energy used as a function of time as the fiber contracts.  Modulation of the specific directional forces also allows us to determine the effectiveness of a purely random motion as opposed to a model with largely directional forces. These simulations were performed in the graphical modeling software MapleSim.

Modeling muscle contraction as a stochastic ratchet

244th National Meeting (2012)

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