Hong Qian*
Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.5, No.2, pp. 107-118, 2008, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2008.005.107
Abstract At the molecular and cellular level, mechanics and chemistry are two aspects of the same macromolecular system. We present a bottom-up approach to such systems based on Kramers' diffusion theory of chemical reactions, the theory of polymer dynamics, and the recently developed models for molecular motors. Using muscle as an example, we develop a viscoelastic theory of muscle in terms of an simple equation for single motor protein movement. Both A.V. Hill's contractile component and A.F. Huxley's equation of sliding-filament motion are shown to be special cases of the general viscoelastic theory of the active More >