Ultrastructure of the contractile system of striated skeletal muscle and the processes of muscular contraction. I. Ultrastructure of the myofibril and source of energy.

1) The contractile system consists of thick and thin filaments arranged side by side in a double network of hexagonal cross-section. 2) The thick filaments are principally made up of myosin and the thin ones of actin, tropomyosin and troponin. 3) Myosin is an enzyme catalysing the hydrolysis of ATP; actin increases the specific activity of this enzyme, converting it from a Ca+2 sensitive ATPase to a Mg+2 sensitive ATPase. 4) Hydrolysis of the last phosphoryl group of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) salts is the energy source for muscle contraction. 5) The adenosine diphosphate (ADP) salts, formed by ATP splitting, are rephosphorylated and reinjected into the myofibril.