Molecular Mechanisms in Striated Muscle

Book excerpt: Striated muscle is the most common muscle type in the vertebrate body. This book describes in molecular terms the components and intracellular events responsible for the contraction and relaxation of striated muscle. The topic is introduced with a discussion of motile systems occurring throughout the biological world and their relation to the highly specialised contractile system of muscle. Professor Perry then goes on to discuss the mechanochemical process and the regulatory roles of calcium, I filament proteins and phosphorylation. The book ends with an examination of the role of dystrophin and its implications in Duchenne muscular dystrophy, the most common form of muscle disease. Molecular Mechanisms in Striated Muscle will provide an important source of information and current theory for researchers and postgraduate students in muscle physiology, biochemistry and medicine.