Received 17 January 2003

Accepted 10 April 2003

Published online 3 July 2003

Dynamics of individual sarcomeres during and after

stretch in activated single myofibrils
Dilson E. Rassier1,2, Walter Herzog2* and Gerald H. Pollack1
1
Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
2
Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada
It is generally assumed that sarcomere lengths (SLs) change in isometric fibres following activation and
following stretch on the descending limb of the force–length relationship, because of an inherent insta-
bility. Although this assumption has never been tested directly, instability and SL non-uniformity have
been associated with several mechanical properties, such as ‘creep’ and force enhancement. The aim of
this study was to test directly the hypothesis that sarcomeres are unstable on the descending limb of the
force–length relationship. We used single myofibrils, isolated from rabbit psoas, that were attached to
glass needles that allowed for controlled stretching of myofibrils. Images of the sarcomere striation pattern
were projected onto a linear photodiode array, which was scanned at 20 Hz to produce dark–light patterns
corresponding to the A- and I-bands, respectively. Starting from a mean SL of 2.55 ± 0.07 m m, stretches
of 11.2 ± 1.6% of SL at a speed of 118.9 ± 5.9 nm s2 1 were applied to the activated myofibrils
( pCa2 1 = 4.75). SLs along the myofibril were non-uniform before, during and after the stretch, but with
few exceptions, they remained constant during the isometric period before stretch, and during the
extended isometric period after stretch. Sarcomeres never lengthened to a point beyond thick and thin
filament overlap. We conclude that sarcomeres are non-uniform but generally stable on the descending
limb of the force–length relationship.
Keywords: instability; sarcomere length non-uniformity; force–length relationship; sarcomere force;
sarcomere activation

1. INTRODUCTION evidence for the development of SL non-uniformities and

instability in a preparation in which each and all SLs were
When a muscle fibre is activated on the descending limb
observed continuously, and furthermore, the theoretical
of the force–length relationship, force has been found to
predictions of sarcomere instability have typically not been
‘creep’, i.e. force continuously increases at a slow rate (e.g.
observed experimentally.
Gordon et al. 1966; Edman & Reggiani 1984). Also, when
Creep and force enhancement, and the corresponding
a muscle or single fibre is stretched on the descending
issue of sarcomere instability, have played a significant
limb of the force–length relationship, the steady-state
role in muscle mechanics. Therefore, it is surprising that
force following stretch is greater than the corresponding
no systematic efforts have been devoted to investigate this
force obtained in a purely isometric contraction (Abbott &
issue in a preparation in which all SLs can be recorded
Aubert 1952; Edman et al. 1978, 1982; Julian & Morgan
continuously while activated and stretched on the
1979a; Sugi & Tsuchiya 1988; Edman & Tsuchiya 1996;
descending limb of the force–length relationship. With the
Linari et al. 2000; Morgan et al. 2000; Herzog & Leonard
development of techniques to study single myofibrils, and
2002). This phenomenon is called force enhancement
the possibility to track the lengths of each sarcomere con-
following stretch. Creep and force enhancement have
tinuously (Bartoo et al. 1993, 1997; Blyakhman et al.
typically been assumed to be caused by the development
2001), the issue of SL non-uniformity and instability can
of non-uniformities in sarcomere lengths (SLs) ( Julian
be addressed directly. We used this approach to measure
& Morgan 1979a; Morgan 1990, 1994). These non-
the length changes of all sarcomeres on the descending
uniformities in SLs were thought to occur on the
limb of the force–length relationship during and after
descending limb of the force–length relationship exclus-
stretch of activated myofibrils. In accordance with the idea
ively, because of its presumed instability and the associa-
of instability, we proposed that upon activation and fol-
ted negative slope (Hill 1953).
lowing stretch on the descending limb of the force–length
Theoretical predictions based on an unstable
relationship, individual sarcomeres would continuously
descending limb of the force–length relationship show
diverge, i.e. some sarcomeres would continuously elongate
that, in a fixed-end contraction, only one sarcomere can
at the expense of other sarcomeres that would continu-
reside on the descending limb: the remaining sarcomeres
ously shorten.
are predicted to either shorten onto the ascending limb of
the force–length relationship, or elongate until they reach
a positive passive force–length slope (Allinger et al. 1996; 2. MATERIAL AND METHODS
Zahalak 1997). However, there is no direct experimental
(a) Specimens
Small strips of rabbit psoas muscle were carefully dissected
and tied to small wooden sticks. These samples were stored in
*
Author for correspondence ([email protected]). rigor solution (see § 2b) for 12 h. The specimens were then

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B (2003) 270, 1735–1740 1735 Ó 2003 The Royal Society
DOI 10.1098/rspb.2003.2418
1736 D. E. Rassier and others Sarcomere dynamics in activated myoŽ brils

lamp
condenser lens
micromanipulator micromanipulator

myofibril

lens
data acquisition needle

mirror
CCD camera

linear photodiode array

Figure 1. Schematic drawing of the apparatus used for the experiments. CCD, charge-coupled device.

transferred to a rigor : glycerol (50 : 50) solution for 12 h. Both of the undisturbed myofibrils positioned at the bottom of the
procedures were carried out on ice throughout. After a new 12 h chamber.
period, the specimens were transferred to a fresh rigor : glycerol Myofibrils (n = 8) were attached to two glass needles that
(50 : 50) solution and stored in a freezer at 220 °C for could be moved independently by two micromanipulators
7–15 days. On the day of the experiment, the muscle strips were (figure 1). One glass needle was connected to a motor arm that
placed in a rigor solution for at least 1 h before use. Small pieces allowed for fine displacement of the needle, and therefore pre-
of muscle tissue (ca. 2 mm length) were cut using a fine razor cise changes in myofibril length. Under low magnification, the
blade, and subsequently blended (Sorvall Omni Mixer) in rigor glass needles were centred in the optical field, and the micro-
solution using the following sequence: twice for 5 s at scope’s phase-contrast system was adjusted. Under high magni-
1100 r.p.m., twice for 1 s at 1800 r.p.m., once for 1 s at fication, provided by an oil-immersion phase-contrast lens
2500 r.p.m., and once for 1 s at 3100 r.p.m. (Zeiss, ´ 100, numerical aperture 1.3), a myofibril was chosen for
experimentation, based on its appearance and striation pattern.
(b) Solutions The image of the myofibril was projected onto a linear, 1024-
The rigor solution (pH 7.4) was composed of (in mM): 50 element photodiode array (Reticon, Santa Clara, CA, USA),
Tris, 100 NaCl, 2 KCl, 2 MgCl2 and 10 EGTA. The following which was scanned (20 Hz) to produce tracings of intensity ver-
protease inhibitors were added to the solution (in m M): 10 leu- sus position along the myofibril. Because of the contrast between
peptin, 5 pepstatin A, 0.2 phenylmethylsulphonyl fluoride, 0.5 dark (A-band) and light (I-band) regions, the photodiode array
NaN 3 and 0.5 dithiothreitol. The relaxing solution (pH = 7.0; output generates a signal representing the sarcomere-banding
pCa21 = 8) was composed of (in mM): 10 MOPS, 64.4 K1 pro- pattern. SL was calculated by a minimum average risk algorithm
pionate, 5.23 Mg21 propionate, 9.45 Na2SO4, 10 EGTA, 7 method, based on the span between A-band centroids (figure
ATP, 10 creatine phosphate. The activating solution (pH 2). This system can detect SL changes with an accuracy of 2 nm
= 7.0; pCa2 1 = 4.75) was composed of (in mM): 10 MOPS, (Blyakhman et al. 2001).
45.1 K1 propionate, 5.21 Mg21 propionate, 9.27 Na2SO4, 10
EGTA, 7.18 ATP, 10 creatine phosphate. All experiments were
performed at room temperature (20–22 °C). (d ) (In)stability
Nominally, sarcomeres were defined as stable if their lengths
(c) Sarcomere length measurements remained constant, and were defined as unstable if their lengths
The apparatus used for force and SL measurements is shown changed unidirectionally (either shortening or lengthening, but
schematically in figure 1. A small amount of blended muscle not both) while the myofibril was held at a constant (isometric)
mixture was placed in a chamber whose bottom was made of a length. Practically, because of potential noise in the SL traces,
glass cover-slip. The chamber was positioned on top of a mov- the following criteria were made to define a sarcomere as stable:
able stage mounted on an inverted microscope (Zeiss, Axiovert (i) the range of length change (i.e. the difference between the
35, Germany). After allowing 5 min for stabilization, some longest and shortest SL) must be smaller than 0.1 m m (ca. 4%
myofibrils settled on the bottom of the chamber, while most of any SL encountered); and (ii) length changes for a given sar-
myofibrils remained in suspension. The rigor solution was then comere must be random, i.e. shortening and lengthening phases
slowly replaced with the relaxing solution, and the myofibrils in during the isometric contraction of the myofibril. If a sarcomere
suspension were washed away, allowing for better visualization had a maximal excursion of more than 0.1 m m, or if it changed

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B (2003)

 Sarcomere dynamics in activated myoŽ brils D. E. Rassier and others 1737

(a)

A-bands Z-lines

(b)

(c)

SL
time

position of intensity peaks

Figure 2. Procedures used to analyse sarcomere length. (a) Phase-contrast image of a myofibril. (b) Intensity peaks collected
from the linear photodiode array. (c) Scans of the striation pattern of a myofibril during an imposed stretch. The span
between the A-band centroids is defined as the sarcomere length (SL).

length unidirectionally (i.e. continuous shortening or continuous were random and contained shortening and stretching
lengthening), the sarcomere was designated as unstable. phases. Therefore these sarcomeres were considered
stable. The mean maximal dispersion of all sarcomeres in
(e) Experimental protocol this myofibril was 0.016 ± 0.001 m m.
Once a myofibril was set up for mechanical testing, and a clear In two out of the eight tested myofibrils, two or three
striation pattern was obtained, a 10 min rest period was given. sarcomeres changed length in a directional manner and
Then, the relaxing solution was replaced by the activating sol- they were classified as unstable. Figure 4a shows one of
ution, and the myofibril contracted. After full activation, starting these two examples, in which two sarcomeres (arrows)
from a mean SL of ca. 2.55 m m, stretches of a nominal ampli- changed length directionally by 0.153 m m and 0.167 m m,
tude of 4–10% of myofibril length (actual, 4.8–17.0% of SL) respectively, during the 8 s isometric period following
were applied, with a nominal velocity of 100 nm s2 1 (actual, stretch. These two sarcomeres were adjacent to one
118.9 ± 15.9 nm s 2 1). another, they were next to the attachment point of the
The lengths of the thick and thin filaments of rabbit skeletal myofibril on the glass needle, and their combined SL
muscle are 1.63 m m and 1.12 m m, respectively (Sosa et al. 1994), change would have been classified as stable, with a maxi-
and the width of the bare zone is 0.15 m m (Squire 1981). There- mal non-directional length change of 0.0285 m m (figure
fore, the descending limb of the force–SL relationship begins at 4b).
2.39 m m and extends to 3.87 m m. All stretches were initiated at Table 1 shows results from the eight myofibrils. SLs in
average SLs along the descending limb of the force–length all myofibrils were non-uniform upon activation. When
relationship. the myofibrils were stretched, all sarcomeres elongated,
albeit by different amounts. After the stretch, 105 out of
110 observed sarcomeres remained at nearly constant
3. RESULTS
length; that is, length changes were randomly bi-direc-
Upon activation, but before stretching, sarcomeres had tional and their maximal excursion was less than 0.1 m m.
non-uniform lengths, but remained at a constant length We found evidence of slow, systematic lengthening or
(figure 3; 0–2 s). During stretching of the active myofibril, shortening in five sarcomeres (two and three sarcomeres
all sarcomeres (n = 14; figure 3; 2–5 s) elongated, albeit to in two different myofibrils). These sarcomeres were always
a different degree. During the isometric phase following next to each other and next to the attachment of the myo-
myofibril stretch (figure 3; last 8 s), individual SL changes fibril to the glass needle.
were smaller than 0.1 m m, and any small length changes From the 110 sarcomeres recorded in this study, none

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B (2003)

1738 D. E. Rassier and others Sarcomere dynamics in activated myoŽ brils

(a) (a)
3.2
3.2

sarcomere length (m m)
3.0
sarcomere length (m m)

3.0
2.8
2.8
2.6
2.6
2.4
2.4
2.2
2.2 2.0
2.0 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
(b)
time (s)
3.0

sarcomere length (m m)
(b)
2.8
length

2.6
isometric
2.4
stretch 2.2

time (s) 2.0

0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Figure 3. (a) Length–time histories of all individual
sarcomeres of a single activated myofibril during an
isometric–stretch–isometric test. The initial average SL was (c)
2.38 m m, and the average SL following stretch was 2.70 m m.
Velocity of stretch: 107.5 nm s2 1. (b) Time-length traces
length

during the experiment. isometric

stretch
stretched beyond myofilament overlap (i.e. SL .
3.87 m m). Three sarcomeres stretched to lengths of time (s)
3.34 m m, 3.33 m m and 3.27 m m, respectively, each from a Figure 4. Behaviour of individual sarcomeres during stretch
different myofibril. The remaining 107 sarcomeres did not in another activated myofibril. The thick line represents the
stretch beyond 3.22 m m. In the range of SLs between average SL. The initial average SL was 2.43 m m, and the
3.2 m m and 3.4 m m, the passive force contribution to the average SL following stretch was 2.81 m m. Velocity of
total force in rabbit psoas myofibrils is small: ca. 5% of stretch: 128.1 nm s2 1. (b) Same myofibril as shown in (a),
the active tension at full overlap of thick and thin filaments but in this case only the two sarcomeres that change length
(Bartoo et al. 1993). following stretch are plotted. Note that these two sarcomeres
are adjacent to each other and are at the end of the
myofibril, right next to the attachment to the glass needle.
4. DISCUSSION Note further that the average of these two SLs is constant,
suggesting that the apparent SL changes are caused by a
The main finding of this study was that activated sar- single A-band shift in a damaged sarcomere. (c) Time-length
comeres on the descending limb of the force–length traces during the experiment.
relationship are typically non-uniform in length but stable;
that is, during isometric contraction of the myofibril, SLs
remained virtually constant, and the minute length vari- that might affect the stability of the thick filaments in the
ations observed were small, random and bi-directional. sarcomeres. (ii) Progressive length changes were local
This was true upon activation, and during the isometric events involving two or three adjacent sarcomeres with no
period following myofibril stretch. Although the average measurable influence on remote sarcomeres; thus damage
SL during activation and length changes have been meas- of a sarcomere at the attachment site was contained
ured in several studies using single fibres (e.g. Ter Keurs locally. (iii) The combined length changes of two sets of
et al. 1978; Julian & Morgan 1979a,b; Edman & Reggiani ‘unstable’ sarcomeres gave a constant total length change
1984, 1987), in this study we evaluated the length changes (figure 4b), suggesting that the instability was produced
of each and all sarcomeres during and after stretch in sin- by the shift of one (two sarcomeres) or two (three
gle myofibrils. sarcomeres) A-bands from the centre of a damaged sarco-
Directional SL changes were observed in only two mere. Despite the great range of individual SLs before and
groups of sarcomeres. We believe that these directional after stretch (figures 3 and 4), it appears that 105 out of
length changes were artefacts of our technique for the fol- 110 measured sarcomeres from eight myofibrils were per-
lowing reasons. (i) They were only observed next to the fectly stable on the descending limb of the force–length
attachment sites of the myofibrils. Attachment of the relationship.
myofibrils involves a piercing of the needle tip into the Our findings are in contrast to the theoretically pre-
myofibril, thus possibly causing some mechanical damage dicted unstable SL behaviour on the descending limb of

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B (2003)

 Sarcomere dynamics in activated myoŽ brils D. E. Rassier and others 1739

Table 1. Behaviour of all sarcomeres investigated in eight Julian & Morgan 1979a; Edman et al. 1982; Edman &
myofibrils. Tsuchiya 1996) and whole muscles (e.g. Morgan et al.
2000; Herzog & Leonard 2002). These preliminary results
sarcomeres suggest that force enhancement after stretch is also a pro-
perty observed in isolated myofibrils.
myofibril n stable unstable maximal dispersion (m m) We obtained two basic results in this study: SLs are
non-uniform, and sarcomeres are stable on the descending
1 16 16 0 0.017 ± 0.002 limb of the force–length relationship. In a myofibril, sar-
2 12 12 0 0.033 ± 0.004
comeres are arranged strictly in series. Therefore, the force
3 11 11 0 0.047 ± 0.015
exerted by all sarcomeres in steady-state configurations,
4 12 12 0 0.046 ± 0.009
5 14 14 0 0.016 ± 0.001 as observed here, must be the same. One of the most basic
6 30 30 0 0.045 ± 0.004 principles of the cross-bridge theory of muscle contraction
7 7 5 2a 0.075 ± 0.022 is that the isometric, steady-state force in each sarcomere
8 8 5 3a 0.109 ± 0.042 on the descending limb of the force–length relationship
is given by actin–myosin overlap (i.e. by SL). Here, this
a
Adjacent to each other and next to the attachment of the principle was violated. For example, in figure 3, we show
myofibril to the glass needle. a myofibril with 14 sarcomeres in series, and each of the
sarcomeres behaves in a perfectly stable manner following
stretching on the descending limb of the force–length
the force–length relationship (e.g. Morgan 1990, 1994; relationship. However, following stretch, the shortest sar-
Zahalak 1997), a concept introduced almost half a century comere is ca. 2.4 m m and the longest sarcomere is greater
ago by Hill (1953). The results also do not agree with the than 3.0 m m. The basic question that arises from this
notion of ‘popped’ sarcomeres that are supposed to occur result is: how can sarcomeres that are in series with each
immediately (1–2 s) following stretch of single fibres on other and are 2.4 m m and 3.0 m m in length be stable and
the descending limb of the force–length relationship at force equilibrium?
(Morgan 1994). Several possibilities exist to explain this result. The sar-
The notion of instability, and the corresponding con- comere at 3.0 m m (figure 3) may have more contractile
tinuous and uni-directional divergence of SLs, has been proteins (actin and myosin filaments) than the sarcomere
used to explain the steady-state force enhancement at 2.4 m m; thus its smaller overlap compared with the
observed after active stretch of muscles and fibres remaining sarcomeres might be compensated for by an
( Julian & Morgan 1979a; Morgan 1994; Morgan et al. increased amount of contractile proteins. However, if this
2000), as well as the force creep observed in some muscle possibility were correct, two sarcomeres of similar (equal)
and fibre preparations (e.g. Gordon et al. 1966; Edman & length prior to stretching should also be of similar (equal)
Reggiani 1984). Julian & Morgan (1979a) observed that length after stretching. Figure 3 reveals that this is not the
during stretch of activated muscle fibres, sarcomeres did case. Another possibility is that individual sarcomeres have
not stretch by the same amount. Sarcomeres toward the different passive properties, and a lack of active force in a
ends of the fibre stretched less than average, while sarco- long sarcomere might be compensated for by the corre-
meres near the centre stretched more than average. Our sponding passive force. However, the passive forces in the
observations on single myofibrils support the results of myofibril shown in figure 3 are probably less than 5% of
Julian & Morgan (1979a). However, they cannot be the maximal isometric force (Bartoo et al. 1993), whereas
explained with the idea of instability on the descending the difference in active force for sarcomeres at 2.4 m m and
limb of the force–length relationship because sarcomeres 3.0 m m should be ca. 40% of the maximal isometric force
did not exhibit continuous uni-directional length changes (Gordon et al. 1966), a discrepancy that seems too big to
during the isometric phase of myofibril contraction, as be accounted for by a difference in passive force. There-
expected in an unstable system (Allinger et al. 1996; fore, it appears that sarcomeres at vastly different lengths
Zahalak 1997). on the descending limb of the force–length relationship
Our results on SL non-uniformity are qualitatively simi- can produce the same force. It remains to be seen how
lar to those of Edman et al. (1982), who observed that all this surprising result, which was found in all myofibrils,
sections of isolated muscle fibre were elongated during can be explained. In the meantime, the current results
fibre stretch, and that the different segments were never stand as a challenge to the idea that sarcomeres are
stretched beyond filament overlap. The advantage of using unstable on the descending limb of the force–length
isolated myofibrils, rather than single fibres, is that the relationship.
lengths of all sarcomeres can be measured and analysed
individually and continuously. The authors thank Olga Yakovenko and Frederick Reitz for
One of the limitations of this study is that we did not their help during the experiments. This study was partly sup-
ported by NSERC of Canada.
measure force simultaneously with SL in the myofibrils.
However, we performed force measurements in five
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