A new efficient protocol for extraction and conservation of myosin II from frog skeletal muscle made it possible to preserve the myosin functionality for a week and apply single molecule techniques to the molecular motor that has been best characterized for its mechanical, structural and energetic parameters in situ. With the in vitro motility assay, we estimated the sliding velocity of actin on frog myosin II (VF) and its modulation by pH, myosin density, temperature (range 4–30°C) and substrate concentration. VF was 8.88 ± 0.26 μm s−1 at 30.6°C and decreased to 1.60 ± 0.09 μm s−1 at 4.5°C. The in vitro mechanical and kinetic parameters were integrated with the in situ parameters of frog muscle myosin working in arrays in each half-sarcomere. By comparing VF with the shortening velocities determined in intact frog muscle fibres under different loads and their dependence on temperature, we found that VF is 40–50% less than the fibre unloaded shortening velocity (V0) at the same temperature and we determined the load that explains the reduced value of VF. With this integrated approach we could define fundamental kinetic steps of the acto-myosin ATPase cycle in situ and their relation with mechanical steps. In particular we found that at 5°C the rate of ADP release calculated using the step size estimated from in situ experiments accounts for the rate of detachment of motors during steady shortening under low loads.
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