Equilibrium of nucleotides in frog sartorius muscle during an isometric tetanus at 20 degrees C.

1. The concentrations of creatine, phosphorylcreatine (PC), ATP, ADP, AMP and IMP have been measured in frog sartorius muscles at 20 degrees C during isometric tetani lasting from 0.5 to 12 sec. Each muscle was tetanized once only for the chosen duration. The muscles were poisoned with iodoacetic acid and nitrogen to prevent oxidative and glycolytic activity.2. The rate of PC splitting decreased exponentially with the duration of the tetanus (alpha = 0.16 sec(-1)). Net ATP splitting began after 2 sec, accompanied by an increase in AMP and ADP; inosine monophosphate (IMP) also appeared both earlier and faster than adenosine monophosphate (AMP).3. On the basis of two equilibrium reactions, the Lohmann and myokinase reactions, the concentration of adenosine nucleotides should be a function of the ratio creatine/phosphorylcreatine.4. The agreement between nucleotide concentrations predicted by this equilibrium hypothesis and those observed experimentally was good provided it was assumed that 90% of the acid-labile ADP found in resting muscle was bound in vivo and remained so throughout the tetanus. The validity of this assumption is discussed.5. The IMP concentration was an exponential function of the ratio creatine/phosphorylcreatine.