AJP - Cell Physiology, Vol 253, Issue 3 C349-C363, Copyright © 1987 by American Physiological Society
Isolated muscle cells as a physiological model
M. Lieberman, S. D. Hauschka, Z. W. Hall, B. R. Eisenberg, R. Horn, J. V. Walsh, R. W. Tsien, A. W. Jones, J. L. Walker, M. Poenie and al. et
Summary of a symposium presented by the American Physiological Society
(Cell and General Physiology Section and Muscle Group) at the 70th Annual
Meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology,
St. Louis, Missouri, April 15, 1986, chaired by M. Lieberman and F. Fay.
This symposium reflects a growing interest in seeking new technologies to
study the basic physiological and biophysical properties of cardiac,
smooth, and skeletal muscle cells. Recognizing that technical and
analytical problems associated with multicellular preparations limit the
physiological significance of many experiments, investigators have
increasingly focused on efforts to isolate single, functional embryonic,
and adult muscle cells. Progress in obtaining physiologically relevant
preparations has been both rapid and significant even though problems
regarding cell purification and viability are not fully resolved. The
symposium draws attention to a broad, though incomplete, range of studies
using isolated or cultured muscle cells. Based on the following reports,
investigators should be convinced that a variety of experiments can be
designed with preparations of isolated cells and those in tissue culture to
resolve questions about fundamental physiological properties of muscle
cells.
