Calcium plays a role during contraction of both skeletal and cardiac muscle, but there are important...

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Biology

Calcium plays a role during contraction of both skeletal andcardiac muscle, but there are important differences in themechanisms leading to increased calcium concentration andcontraction between both muscle types. Could you explain them?

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AnswerThe essential role of calcium in the initiation and developmentof contraction in heart muscle has become well established sincethe early experiments of Ringer who showed an absolute dependenceof myocardial contraction on an extracellular source of calcium Itwas later reported that in calciumfree solutions isolated cardiacmuscle retained excitability and could initiate and propagateaction potentials although contractility was abolished Thesefindings established that extracellular calcium acted as anessential coupler of the excitationcontraction processLttgau and Niedergerke postulated that the calcium needed forcontraction was stored in a specific pool in the myocardium whichwas somehow related to an extracellular compartment with eachaction potential a fraction of the stored calcium was released toparticipate in the contractile processThe mobilization of calciumfrom See Answer

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