Mimicking Muscle Elasticity

Over the summer, researchers at the University of British Columbia designed an engineered version of the muscle protein titin that accurately mimics the elastic properties of muscle. Titin is a very large protein molecule that works in a very similar manner to a spring. Within a muscle, it connects the Z and M line within a sarcomere, and in response to stress, it shortens. When it is stretched, it becomes resilient to high stretching forces by dissipating energy over its length, and thus prevents damage by making it harder to over-stretch other muscle tissues. As the largest known single polypeptide, titin is a key molecule within a muscle.
Researchers have figured out a way to engineer a material very similar to this one, that is about 100 times smaller than titin itself. The mechanical properties, described above, that titin exhibits make it a fundamental protein in muscle contraction and relaxation. This specific material can be adapted to mimic different muscles throughout the body, and has a promising future for use in people with muscular degeneration or weakness due to a genetic defect.

This an extremely interesting advancement in biomaterials engineering. As an athlete and a biomedical engineer, muscle physiology provides a mechanism for knowledge on what goes on during a workout as well as a possibility for work in the future. This specific design is eye-catching in that the engineered muscle protein has the same exact mechanics as titin, and although it cannot mimic its action in all muscles, it can do so in many. This could hold the key to several irreversible muscle problems, and perhaps be used one day to create prosthetic limbs that look more like real ones.