Cell Language Theory, The: Connecting Mind And Matter

The Bhopalator 165

“6x9” b2861 The Cell Language Theory: Connecting Mind and Matter

Figure 3.47 A simplified version of the conformon mechanism of muscle contraction first

proposed in [6] on the basis of the GFCP. (a) A schematic representation of one turnover of

the actomyosin system. A 1 , A 2 , and A 3 are the actin monomers that are linearly arranged, the

center-to-center distance between adjacent actin monomers being about 5 nm or 50 Å.

M stands for the myosin head (also called the S-1 subfragment of myosin) bound to an actin

(A) through noncovalent bond indicated by a vertical bar, |. The figure indicates that the

hydrolysis of one molecule of ATP to ADP and Pi results in the movement of the myosin head

from A 1 to A 3 across a distance of about 10 nm or 100 Å. (b) The muscle contraction mecha-

nism based on the conformon theory consists of four main steps. The numbers in the paren-

theses refer to the states of the actomyosin system that have been actually measured (see

Figure 3.48d) using the single-molecule manipulation techniques [232]. Step 1 = The actin

(A 1 ) bound to myosin (see state a) is displaced by ATP to produce the myosin–ATP complex

(see state b); Step 2 = The myosin–actin complex fluctuates between two conformational

states — the ground state, c, in which the potential energy is stored in ATP and the energized

state, d, in which the potential energy is stored in mechanical strains or conformons (denoted

as two superscripts *, each symbol indicating one conformon). In other words, it is assumed

that the hydrolysis of one molecule of the bound ATP to ADP and Pi generates two confor-

mons in this step; Step 3 = One conformon is used to translocate the myosin head from A 1 to

A 2 , with a concomitant release of ADP into the medium; Step 4 = The second conformon is

used to translocate the myosin head from A 2 to A 3 , releasing Pi into the medium.

(a)

(b)

in Figure 3.49]. The essential content of this mechanism is depicted in

Figure 3.47(b) in terms of symbols rather than pictures. In Figure 3.49,

conformons are represented as a stretched spring attached to the myosin

head (also called subfragment-1 of myosin, or S-1).

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