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Educational Programs and Outreach

Metea Valley High School ESRP 2022

Sarcomere Structure and Porcine Myocardium

Authors:

  • Students:
    • Jonathan Barker
    • Aditya Dave
    • Abhav Garde
    • Summer Leung
    • Shreya Mukunthan
    • Pravallika Padyala
    • Satwika Paul
    • Dhruv Syngol
  • Teachers:
    • Vanessa Troiani
  • Mentors:
    • Thomas Irving (Illinois Institute of Technology, Advanced Photon Source, Biophysics Collaborative Access Team)

Advanced Photon Source Sector 18: BioCAT

Our proposed experiment will shed light on the functioning of the sarcomere structure in porcine myocardium—a structure with proven similarities with the human heart. We will explore how the sarcomere structure responds in resting and contracting porcine myocardium by varying the temperature at which the sample is maintained (between 10°C and 37°C). X-ray diffraction analysis will be utilized at the BioCAT beamline 18ID at the Advanced Photon Source to look at the relative degree of association of myosin heads with the actin filaments. The porcine myocardium used for this experiment has been previously prepared and supplied. The sample is stretched to slack length using aluminum clips attached to stainless steel wire hooks, and the fiber bundle length and cross sectional area are measured.

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