Myofibrillens finstruktur i tvärstrimmig skelettmuskulatur

Sammanfattning: The detailed structure of the myofibrillar material in fibres from different muscles has been studied. Specimens have been obtained from human muscles and from different muscles frequently examined in experimental studies. Both light- and electron microscopical techniques have been used. Of central importance has been the method, which makes it possible to prepare ultrathin sections of frozen tissue, i.e. cryo-ult- ramicrotomy. A number of techniques for image analysis have been applied in order to obtain objektive data from the micrographs.In Paper I the present knowledge about muscle fibre structure, cryo-- sectioning and image analysis is summarized and relevant methodological problems are discussed. Paper II describes the detailed structure of the C-zone of the A-band and shows, above all, that structures occur with different repeats along the long axis of the myofibril. Paper III describes the subcellular organization of different fibres in a homogeneous (based on enzyme histochemical mATPase) population, and shows that different structural characteristies can vary independently of each other. Paper IV describes the structural diversity of the myofibrillar M-band, and paper V the diversity of the myofilament fine structure in different fibres. The results show that there is a most sophisticated, and previosly unrealized, structural specialization both within the myofibrils and between myofibrils from different fibres and muscles, even if the fibres are of the same fibre type. The findings suggest that generally used models, showing the structural organization within myofibrils and myofilaments, are oversimplifications. The fibre population is more heterogeneously built up than the common systems for fibre type classification makes one to belive.