You are a brilliant (but evil) biochemist who is developing a toxin that can be used to paralyze skeletal muscle. Using your knowledge of how muscle contraction happens at the cellular and molecular levels, identify two steps in the sequence of events necessary for the contraction that could be disrupted to cause paralysis, and explain why each disruption would prevent muscle contraction.

You are a brilliant (but evil) biochemist who is developing a toxin that can be used to paralyze skeletal muscle. Using your knowledge of how muscle contraction happens at the cellular and molecular levels, identify two steps in the sequence of events necessary for the contraction that could be disrupted to cause paralysis, and explain why each disruption would prevent muscle contraction.

BIOLOGY:CONCEPTS+APPL.(LOOSELEAF)

10th Edition

ISBN:9781305967359

Author:STARR

Publisher:STARR

Chapter32: Structural Support And Movement

Section: Chapter Questions

Problem 2CT: After death, a person no longer makes ATP, so calcium stored in the sarcoplasmic reticulum diffuses...

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With regard to muscle contraction, which of the following is an INCORRECT statement with regard to the interactions of filaments that occur in the sarcomere? A. When muscles are relaxed tropomyosin blocks binding sites on actin subunits, which keeps cross-bridges from forming. B. The myosin heads conduct a power stroke motion to slide when bound to actin, to move the "thin" filaments towards the center of the sarcomere. C. During contraction, actin subunits are removed from the ends of the "thin" filaments to shorten actin polymers, thus reducing the length of the sarcomere. D. "Thick" filaments are anchored at the M-line, while "thin" filaments are anchored at the Z-line. E. Numerous myosin heads engage with the actin filaments simultaneously, such that there is no back-slipping during the contraction process.
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From the following choices, choose the THREE, that would result in prevention of muscle contraction (in other words, which three descriptive changes below would result in flaccid paralysis of a muscle). exocytosis of acetylcholine is constant, even without action potential injection of botulinum toxin calcium cannot be pumped back into the terminal cisternae acetylcholine receptor remains open to sodium active sites on actin a permanently exposed dramatically increase the activity of acetylcholinesterase calcium cannot bind troponin
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