U.S.-Venezuela Cooperative Research: Ultrastructure of Contracting Muscle Studied by Rapid Freezing

该奖项将支持教授之间的合作研究 马萨诸塞州大学医学院的罗杰克雷格和 委内瑞拉研究所Raul Padron教授 委内瑞拉加拉加斯的科学院（IVIC）。 的目的 研究是为了研究收缩细胞的结构机制， 肌肉和非肌肉组织。 这些细胞能够通过 可收缩的细丝相互滑动而没有任何变化 在灯丝长度。 滑动力是由周期性的 肌球蛋白横桥与肌动蛋白丝的相互作用， 在每个过桥循环期间由ATP的分裂提供动力。 使用 超快速冷冻技术，调查人员能够逮捕 在循环中的过渡点处的横桥， 通过电子显微镜检查中间桥状态。 冷冻肌肉的生理技术和设备， 以及图像处理的设施和专业知识， 显微照片将在IVIC完成，而美国方面将进行 大部分的冷冻和随后的电子显微镜的 样品 这项研究应该提供深入了解分子 细胞运动的基础和更好地理解 在疾病状态下出现的结构。

This award will support collaborative research between Professor Roger Craig of the University of Massachusetts Medical School and Professor Raul Padron of the Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas (IVIC) in Caracas, Venezuela. The objective of this research is to study the structural mechanism of contractile cells in muscle and nonmuscle tissue. These cells are able to contract by the sliding of contractile filaments past one another without any change in filament length. The sliding force is generated by the cyclic interaction of myosin crossbridges with actin filaments and is powered by the splitting of ATP during each crossbridge cycle. Using ultrarapid freezing techniques, the investigators are able to arrest the crossbridges at transient points in the cycle and directly examine, via an electron microscope, intermediate crossbridge states. The physiological techniques and apparatus for freezing the muscles, as well as the facilities and expertise for image processing of the micrographs will be done at IVIC while the U.S. side will carry out most of the freezing and the subsequent electron microscopy of the samples. This research should provide insights into the molecular basis of cellular movement and a better understanding defects in structure that occur in diseased states.