Abstract
A new model for the mechanochemical response of smooth muscle is
presented. T he focus is on the response of the actin myosin complex and
on the related generation of force (or stress). The chemical (kinetic)
model describes the cross-bridge interactions with the thin filament in
which the calcium-dependent myosin phosphorylation is the only
regulatory mechanism. The new mechanical model is based on Hill's
three-component model and it includes one internal state variable that
describes the contraction/relaxation of the contractile units. It is
characterized by a strain-energy function and an evolution law
incorporating only a few material parameters with clew physical meaning.
The proposed model satisfies the second law of thermodynamics. The
results of the combined coupled model are broadly consistent with
isometric and isotonic experiments on smooth muscle tissue. The
simulations suggest that the matrix in which the actin myosin complex is
embedded does have a viscous property. It is straightforward for
implementation into a finite element program in order to solve more
complex boundary-value problems such as the control of short-term
changes in lumen diameter of arteries due to mechanochemical signals.
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