THE ANATOMICAL RECORD 297:1537–1538 (2014)
EDITORIAL Special Issue: Recent Advances in Muscle Research The function of muscle is to pull and not to push, except in the case of the genitals and the tongue. Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo da Vinci’s quotation sets the stage for this Special Issue entitled “Recent Advances in Muscle Research,” guest-edited by Jean M. Sanger and Joseph W. Sanger, and coordinated by Cynthia Jensen, Associate Editor. The origin of this Special Issue was the 2012 annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) in San Francisco, at which The Anatomical Record sponsored a Special Interest Subgroup session entitled “Muscle Cytoskeletal Protein Assembly in Normal and Diseased Muscles.” Appreciation is expressed to the leadership of the ASCB for letting The Anatomical Record sponsor the session. One of the reasons for this Special Issue is that structural and functional attributes of muscle have long been a subject of anatomic papers. One notable early paper, published in a sister journal of the American Association of Anatomists, the American Journal of Anatomy (now Developmental Dynamics), describes and illustrates the fine structure of mammalian skeletal muscle of young adult rats (Pease and Baker, 1949). Ultrastructural features were compared among relaxed, contracted, or stretched muscle, and between lyophilized muscle and chemically fixed muscle. Lyophilized preparations were thin sectioned by modifying a cryostat. Chemically fixed preparations, embedded in collodion followed by paraffin, were cut with a microtome, the design of which was reported a year earlier by the same scientists (Pease and Baker, 1948). The authors’ description of their thinsectioning success is delightful because it expresses innovation and persistence: “Small blocks then can be sectioned at 0.2 m with comparative ease. With experience we have been able to cut and mount sections 0.1 m thick, although the technique became wasteful and tedious for only an occasional section of this thickness could be obtained. However, the results have been worth the additional effort.” Results reported by Pease and Baker focused on description and illustration of the Z line, M line, N band, internal structure of the myofibril, and sarco-
C 2014 WILEY PERIODICALS, INC. V
lemma (Pease and Baker, 1949). The figures, while not pretty by today’s standards, are nonetheless informative and impacted the field. The 1940s and 1950s brought important technological advances in transmission electron microscopy. Two notable advances were improvements in specimen preparation and ultramicrotome design for cutting thin sections. A report of advances in microtome design is in the archive of The Anatomical Record: “A Study in Microtomy for Electron Microscopy” by two giants in the field, Porter and Blum (1953). Their paper emphasizes the convergence of efforts by microscopists that led to three key technological improvements: better embedding media, cutting edges, and microtomes. A year later, two papers described further improvements in embedding media and ultramicrotomes (Hodge et al., 1954a, b). Muscle biology, including structure and function, is richly represented in the archive of The Anatomical Record. More than 100 papers report results on muscle biology in the Journal, far too many to mention here. We invite readers to leaf through the electronic archive of The Anatomical Record for important advances in muscle biology. One paper, by Dale Smith, warrants callout (Smith, 1950). The paper’s title is “Studies on Rigor Mortis.” Most befitting for an anatomical journal! Appearance of adult rat gastrocnemius muscle was evaluated histologically at 2– 10 hr post mortem, 10–20 hr post mortem, 20–30 hr post mortem, and 30–50 hr post mortem. Principal among the results are that in skeletal muscle post mortem, (1) no changes in striations appear until putrefaction occurs, (2) birefringence gradually decreases, and (3) negatively birefringent areas gradually appear. The Journal is delighted to continue its rich heritage of publishing cutting edge science and contemporary reviews on muscle. The papers in this Special Issue bring focus on myofibrillar proteins, their interactions, and their involvement in muscle diseases. Other papers address a variety of aspects of muscle structure and function, and place the new knowledge in the context of understanding the requirements for the assembly and maintenance of muscle. Kurt H. Albertine* Editor-in-Chief The Anatomical Record
1538
EDITORIAL
Cynthia Jensen Associate Editor The Anatomical Record
LITERATURE CITED Hodge AJ, Huxley HE, Spiro D. 1954a. Electron microscope studies on ultrathin sections of muscle. J Exp Med 99:201– 206. Hodge AJ, Huxley HE, Spiro D. 1954b. A simple new microtome for ultrathin sectioning. J Histochem Cytochem 2:54–61. Pease DC, Baker RF. 1948. Sectioning techniques for electron microscopy using a conventional microtome. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 67:470–474. Pease DC, Baker RF. 1949. The fine structure of mammalian skeletal muscle. Am J Anat 84:175–200.
Porter KR, Blum J. 1953. A study in microtomy for electron microscopy. Anat Rec 117:685–710. Smith RD. 1950. Studies on rigor mortis. Part I. Observations on the microscopic and submicroscopic structure. Anat Rec 108:185–205.
*Correspondence to: Kurt H. Albertine, Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Utah, Williams Building, PO Box 581289, Salt Lake City, UT. Fax: 801-585-7395. E-mail: [email protected] Received 15 June 2014 Accepted: 15 June 2014. DOI 10.1002/ar.22982 Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary. com).
EDITORIAL Special Issue: Recent Advances in Muscle Research The function of muscle is to pull and not to push, except in the case of the genitals and the tongue. Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo da Vinci’s quotation sets the stage for this Special Issue entitled “Recent Advances in Muscle Research,” guest-edited by Jean M. Sanger and Joseph W. Sanger, and coordinated by Cynthia Jensen, Associate Editor. The origin of this Special Issue was the 2012 annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) in San Francisco, at which The Anatomical Record sponsored a Special Interest Subgroup session entitled “Muscle Cytoskeletal Protein Assembly in Normal and Diseased Muscles.” Appreciation is expressed to the leadership of the ASCB for letting The Anatomical Record sponsor the session. One of the reasons for this Special Issue is that structural and functional attributes of muscle have long been a subject of anatomic papers. One notable early paper, published in a sister journal of the American Association of Anatomists, the American Journal of Anatomy (now Developmental Dynamics), describes and illustrates the fine structure of mammalian skeletal muscle of young adult rats (Pease and Baker, 1949). Ultrastructural features were compared among relaxed, contracted, or stretched muscle, and between lyophilized muscle and chemically fixed muscle. Lyophilized preparations were thin sectioned by modifying a cryostat. Chemically fixed preparations, embedded in collodion followed by paraffin, were cut with a microtome, the design of which was reported a year earlier by the same scientists (Pease and Baker, 1948). The authors’ description of their thinsectioning success is delightful because it expresses innovation and persistence: “Small blocks then can be sectioned at 0.2 m with comparative ease. With experience we have been able to cut and mount sections 0.1 m thick, although the technique became wasteful and tedious for only an occasional section of this thickness could be obtained. However, the results have been worth the additional effort.” Results reported by Pease and Baker focused on description and illustration of the Z line, M line, N band, internal structure of the myofibril, and sarco-
C 2014 WILEY PERIODICALS, INC. V
lemma (Pease and Baker, 1949). The figures, while not pretty by today’s standards, are nonetheless informative and impacted the field. The 1940s and 1950s brought important technological advances in transmission electron microscopy. Two notable advances were improvements in specimen preparation and ultramicrotome design for cutting thin sections. A report of advances in microtome design is in the archive of The Anatomical Record: “A Study in Microtomy for Electron Microscopy” by two giants in the field, Porter and Blum (1953). Their paper emphasizes the convergence of efforts by microscopists that led to three key technological improvements: better embedding media, cutting edges, and microtomes. A year later, two papers described further improvements in embedding media and ultramicrotomes (Hodge et al., 1954a, b). Muscle biology, including structure and function, is richly represented in the archive of The Anatomical Record. More than 100 papers report results on muscle biology in the Journal, far too many to mention here. We invite readers to leaf through the electronic archive of The Anatomical Record for important advances in muscle biology. One paper, by Dale Smith, warrants callout (Smith, 1950). The paper’s title is “Studies on Rigor Mortis.” Most befitting for an anatomical journal! Appearance of adult rat gastrocnemius muscle was evaluated histologically at 2– 10 hr post mortem, 10–20 hr post mortem, 20–30 hr post mortem, and 30–50 hr post mortem. Principal among the results are that in skeletal muscle post mortem, (1) no changes in striations appear until putrefaction occurs, (2) birefringence gradually decreases, and (3) negatively birefringent areas gradually appear. The Journal is delighted to continue its rich heritage of publishing cutting edge science and contemporary reviews on muscle. The papers in this Special Issue bring focus on myofibrillar proteins, their interactions, and their involvement in muscle diseases. Other papers address a variety of aspects of muscle structure and function, and place the new knowledge in the context of understanding the requirements for the assembly and maintenance of muscle. Kurt H. Albertine* Editor-in-Chief The Anatomical Record
1538
EDITORIAL
Cynthia Jensen Associate Editor The Anatomical Record
LITERATURE CITED Hodge AJ, Huxley HE, Spiro D. 1954a. Electron microscope studies on ultrathin sections of muscle. J Exp Med 99:201– 206. Hodge AJ, Huxley HE, Spiro D. 1954b. A simple new microtome for ultrathin sectioning. J Histochem Cytochem 2:54–61. Pease DC, Baker RF. 1948. Sectioning techniques for electron microscopy using a conventional microtome. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 67:470–474. Pease DC, Baker RF. 1949. The fine structure of mammalian skeletal muscle. Am J Anat 84:175–200.
Porter KR, Blum J. 1953. A study in microtomy for electron microscopy. Anat Rec 117:685–710. Smith RD. 1950. Studies on rigor mortis. Part I. Observations on the microscopic and submicroscopic structure. Anat Rec 108:185–205.
*Correspondence to: Kurt H. Albertine, Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Utah, Williams Building, PO Box 581289, Salt Lake City, UT. Fax: 801-585-7395. E-mail: [email protected] Received 15 June 2014 Accepted: 15 June 2014. DOI 10.1002/ar.22982 Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary. com).
