Final Report Summary - FLIGHT MUSCLE (Mechanistic dissection of myofibrillogenesis and sarcomerogenesis in insect muscle)
In the course of this grant we have established live imaging of the formation and maturation of the contractile apparatus, a process called myofibrillogenesis. Using a laser knife, we found that before the contractile apparatus can assemble mechanical tension is being generated in the muscle. In turn, this tension is important for the correct assembly and maturation of the contractile apparatus, we led to the tension-driven self-organization model of myofibrillogenesis. Thus, myofibrillogenesis is coordinated with the attachment status of the muscle, ensuring proper attachment before high forces are built up. Finally, we have managed to quantify molecular forces across proteins at the muscle attachment site and found that too high individual forces across the attachment protein Talin are avoided by recruiting large amounts of Talin, which can share the mechanical loads.