Mechanical activation in slow and twitch skeletal muscle fibres of the frog.

1. Slow and twitch muscle fibres of the frog were studied with a two-micro-electrode point voltage-clamp method. Slow fibres were identified in pyriformis and cruralis muscles by their appearance in the light microscope, electrical characteristics, and rate of sarcomere shortening or of tension development. 2. The relation between the amplitude and duration of threshold depolarizing pulses was determined in sartorius twitch and pyriformis slow fibres. Strength-duration relations for contractile activation are very similar in the two fibre types. 3. The effect of a brief subthreshold pulse on the threshold voltage level decays with a half-time of 1-2 msec at 9 degrees C in both slow and twitch fibres. This fast decay, thought to reflect voltage-dependent deactivation of Ca2+ release following repolarization, is followed by a slower decay of greatly different rates in the two fibre types. the slower components of decay might reflect the rate of background Ca2+ removal by the sarcoplasmic reticulum. 4. Reducing external Ca2+ levels to about about 0.1 microM with 2.5 mM-EGTA has no effect on the shapes of strength-duration curves for both slow and twitch fibres, suggesting that activator Ca2+ in both fibre types originates entirely from intracellular stores. 5. "Tonic' contractions were studied using voltage-clamped short cruralis slow fibres at 20 degrees C. Reducing external Ca2+ to about 0.1 microM had no effect on the steepness of the steady-state tension-voltage relation or on the ability of slow fibres to maintain maximal tension during long (200 sec) depolarizations to membrane potentials of up to +50 mV. 6. Functional similarities in activation kinetics of slow and twitch fibres are discussed in relation to the sensing of tubular membrane potential by the sarcoplasmic reticulum, to Ca2+ release from it, and to possible mechanisms involved in these processes. Processes leading to the rapid turning on and off of Ca2+ release in response to changes in tubular membrane potential are probably similar in slow and twitch fibres. However, the apparent lack of voltage-and time-dependent inactivation of Ca2+ release in slow fibre points to a major difference in the two types of muscle.