Influence of crossbridge compliance on the force-velocity relation of muscle

It is shown that muscle models which describe force generation as being dependent on the extension of the individual crossbridges produce a force-velocity relation of the form: Vf= Visotonic--1/KHS dP/dt. The derivation of this equation is independent of the details of activation and the kinetics of the crossbridges. The velocity, Vf, represents the relative filament velocity, and Visontonic is the relative filament velocity which would maintain a constant muscle force. P. The quantity KHS is the net stiffness of all the force-generating crossbridges in one-half a sarcomere. Experimental methods for determining KHS are suggested . To study the force-velocity relation, computer simulations based on A. F.Huxley's 1957 kinetic model were conducted for isometric and isotonic twitch contractions. The relative filament velocity is found to depend on the contraction mode, exhibiting a sudden increase in an isometric-to-isontonic changeover and a decrease in the reverse process.

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