Biomedical subjects

A F Leung

Publications and source records attributed to A F Leung.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1989

Light diffraction intensity from muscle fibres in different osmotic solutions: measurement of equilibration time.

A new method for evaluating the osmotic equilibration time of striated muscle fibres is described. Single fibres from the semitendinosus muscles of frog were illuminated normally with a He-Ne laser. The first-order diffraction intensity was measured continuously after the tonicity of the fibre's bathing solution was changed abruptly. Hypertonicity decreased while hypotonicity increased the intensity. The time course of the intensity decrease or increase followed closely a simple exponential with a single time constant. It is proposed that the time constant associated with the diffraction intensity transient is a true representation of the equilibration process. A simple diffraction model provides a relationship between diffraction intensity and the diameter of the muscle fibre. This relationship is used to explain the diffraction intensity of fibres in different osmotic solutions.

Animals↗

PubMed1988

Decrease in light diffraction intensity of contracting muscle fibres.

Single fibres from the semitendinosus muscle of frog were illuminated normally with a He-Ne laser. The intensity transient and fine structure pattern of light diffracted from the fibre undergoing isometric twitches were measured. During fibre shortening, the intensity decreased rapidly and the fine structure pattern preserved its shape and moved swiftly away from the undiffracted laser beam. The fine structure patterns of the contracting and resting fibre were nearly identical. The ratio of intensities of the contracting and resting fibre of the same sarcomere length was determined as a function of the time elapsed after fibre stimulation. The time-resolved intensity ratio increased with sarcomere length and became unity when sarcomere length was between 3.5 micron and 3.7 micron. A diffraction theory based on the sarcomere unit was developed. It contained a parameter describing the strength of filament interaction. The comparison between the theory and data shows that the initial intensity drop during contraction is primarily due to filament interactions. At a later stage of contraction, sarcomere disorder becomes the major component causing the intensity to decrease. Diffraction models which use the Debye-Waller formalism to explain the intensity decrease are discussed. The sarcomere-unit diffraction model is applied to previously reported intensity measurements from active fibres.

Animals↗

PubMed1987

Polarization changes in light diffracted from contracting muscle fibers.

Single fibers were isolated from the semitendinosus muscle of frog and illuminated with an He-Ne laser. The polarization of the laser beam was varied by a photoelastic modulator. The time course of the degree of polarization of light diffracted from the muscle fiber during an isometric contraction was measured directly with a time resolution of 1 ms. Tension, sarcomere length, and diffraction intensity were also measured. During the contraction cycle, the degree of polarization of the active fiber exhibited a biphasic variation relative to that of the resting fiber. Analysis identifies the movement of heavy meromyosin toward actin and the rise in myoplasmic calcium ion concentration as the main contributors to the polarization transient of active fibers. A quantitative theory describing the polarized diffraction from muscle fibers is formulated. There is good agreement between the theory and measurements.

Actins↗

PubMed1987

Degree of polarization of light diffracted from resting striated muscle.

A laser light diffractometer has been developed to measure directly the total degree of polarization of (alpha t) of light diffracted and randomly scattered from striated muscle fibers. From alpha t the degree of polarization (alpha d) of light diffracted from the periodically arranged contractile filaments is determined. Measurements on single muscle fibers and small fiber bundles indicate that both alpha t and alpha d of the first-order diffraction decrease monotonically with sarcomere length. For the second-order diffraction, alpha t and alpha d exhibit a peak at sarcomere length of about 3.0 micron. A proposed theory based on the anisotropic light scattering efficiencies of the thick and thin filaments can account for the measurements. The comparison between the theory and measurements indicates that the A-band, as well as the I-band, are optically anisotropic.

Animals↗

PubMed1987

Optical diffraction intensity of computer-simulated muscle fibers.

A computer program which calculates the Fraunhofer diffraction intensity of a simulated skeletal muscle fiber is described. The intensity calculation contains several adjustable parameters. Some of the parameters are related to the myofibrillar arrangement within the muscle fiber and the angle of incident light. The variations of the left and right first-order diffraction intensities with different incident angles are determined. Their profiles exhibit features related to Bragg reflections from planes formed by the myofibrils. The calculations provide the relationship between the observed intensity profile and the myofibrillar arrangement in a real muscle fiber.

Animals↗

PubMed1987

Theoretical Fraunhofer light diffraction patterns calculated from three-dimensional sarcomere arrays imaged from isolated cardiac cells at rest.

Sarcomere striation positions have been obtained throughout the volumes of calcium-tolerant resting heart cells by direct computer interfaced high-resolution optical imaging. Each sarcomere position is stored in a three-dimensional (3-D) matrix array from which Fraunhofer light diffraction patterns have been calculated using numerical methods based on Fourier transforms. Diffraction patterns have been calculated from heart cell data arrays oriented normal to a theoretical laser beam. Twelve characteristic features have been identified and described from these diffraction patterns that correlate to diffraction phenomena observed from both cardiac and skeletal muscle. This numerical approach provides the means to directly assess diffraction pattern formulation, the precision of layer line angular separation, layer-line intensity and angular asymmetries, line widths and fine structures in terms of the known diffracting source structures. These results confirm that theoretical calculations can predict real muscle diffraction patterns and their asymmetries.

Animals↗

PubMed1985

A scanning light diffractometer for muscle studies.

A light diffractometer with a cosecant drive is described. It can provide the intensity spectrum of the fine structures within the first-order laser light diffraction from striated muscle. In addition, the sarcomere length associated with each fine structure can be obtained. The accuracy of the sarcomere length determination is discussed.

Animals↗