Background to the discovery of troponin and Setsuro Ebashi's contribution to our knowledge of the mechanism of relaxation in striated muscle.

The discovery of the actomyosin system provided for the first time a model system that enabled the study of the role of the muscle protein components in the contraction and relaxation cycle to be undertaken. It soon became apparent that ATP was essential for both processes but progress really began when it became clear that components both in the myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic fractions were involved in relaxation. After it was apparent that a trace of calcium was required for the activation of the MgATPase of the myofibrils it was shown that an active calcium pump was located in the sarcoplasmic reticulum. The report by Ebashi in 1963 that a new myofibrillar protein, troponin, was the target for calcium opened up the investigation of the calcium control of the MgATPase. Troponin was shown to be a complex of troponin C, I and T, each protein being under individual genetic control and existing in isoforms specific for the muscle type. The unique forms of troponin I and T in cardiac muscle make them the biomarkers of choice for cardiac injury.