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Explain sliding filament theory of muscle contraction with neat sketches

Explain sliding filament theory of muscle contraction with neat sketches

Grade:12th pass

1 Answers

Rituraj Tiwari
askIITians Faculty 1792 Points
3 years ago
The sliding filament theory explains the process of muscle contraction during which the thin filaments slide over the thick filaments, which shortens the myofibril.
[Relaxed Sarcomere]
Each muscle fibre has an alternate light and dark band, which contains a special contractile protein, called actin and myosin respectively. Actin is a thin contractile protein present in the light band and is known as the I-band, whereas myosin is a thick contractile protein present in the dark band and is known as the A-band. There is an elastic fibre called z line that bisects each I-band. The thin filament is firmly anchored to the z line. The central part of the thick filament that is not overlapped by the thin filament is known as the H-zone.
During muscle contraction, the myosin heads or cross bridges come in close contact with the thin filaments. As a result, the thin filaments are pulled towards the middle of the sarcomere. The Z line attached to the actin filaments is also pulled leading to the shortening of the sarcomere. Hence, the length of the band remains constant as its original length and the I-band shortens and the H-zone disappears.657-1030_Annotation 2020-09-19 145615.png

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