Myosin and adenosinetriphosphatase

Abstract

The major protein component of muscular tissue, myosin, has occupied the attention of many investigators because of its extreme importance as the contractile element of living. muscle. When isolated from the tissue it has many of the properties of the globulins, but its extreme molecular asymmetry gives rise to interesting properties which on the whole are anomalous to the corpuscular proteins. Past research has been devoted mainly to physico-chemical studies, and amongst these the investigation of double refraction of flow [Muralt & Edsall, 1930; Edsall & Mehl, 1940] and the interpretation of structure by X-ray methods [e.g. Boehm, 1931; 1933; Some work has also been carried out upon its solubillty [Bate