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Title: [Animation] - Sarcomere Contraction Post by: bio_man on May 6, 2011 What limits the extent to which muscles can contract?
Muscle contractions occur through the sliding of actin and myosin filaments past one another. The filaments themselves do not contract and the other elements of an individual sarcomere are not compressed. The sarcomere is able to contract without seriously bending or distorting itself. Contraction ends when the actin filaments on opposite sides of the sarcomere come into contact and the myosin comes into contact with the Z-lines forming the boundaries of the sarcomere. http://glencoe.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/9834092339/291136/sarcomere_contraction.swf |