An electrostatic mechanism of muscular contraction.

The electrostatic mechanism proposed in the theory of muscular contraction propounded by Iwazumi is the force produced between an electric dipole and induced dipoles on a high dielectric rod. This force is similar to one between a short bar magnet and an iron rod. The force is always attractive and unidirectional and the rod orients itself to the direction pointing to the centre of the magnet. In muscle, the active cross-projection of myosin is analogous to the bar magnet, but an electric field is created by the dipole properties of myosin which are amplified during activation by the action of calcium ions and adenosine triphosphate. The filaments of actin are analogous to the iron rod. Detailed mathematical application of this principle to the array of filaments found in muscle, with incorporation of the troponin/tropomyosin complex, yields a complete theory of muscular contraction which provides explanations for many as yet unexplained phenomena, and provides a set of specific predictions for test.