Scientists at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in the Helmholtz Association say they have developed a mouse model that enables them to look inside a working muscle and identify the proteins that allow the sarcomere to contract, relax, communicate its energy needs, and adapt to exercise.
Their study “Deconstructing sarcomeric structure–function relations in titin-BioID knock-in mice” appears in Nature Communications.
Specifically, they were able to map proteins in defined subregions of the sarcomere, starting from the Z-disc, the boundary between neighboring sarcomeres. This in and of itself was a significant step forward in the study of striated muscle, according to the team.
