A comparative study of the effect of carnosine on myofibrillar-ATPase activity of vertebrate and invertebrate muscle

• 1.

  1. Carnosine and anserine activate rabbit skeletal muscle myofibrillar-ATPase activity.

• 2.

  2. The total carnosine plus anserine found varies from species to species but is of the order of 20 μmoles per gram of tissue or greater.

• 3.

  3. Invertebrate muscle, however, contains little or no carnosine or anserine.

• 4.

  4. The effects of carnosine on the ATPase activity of myofibrils from rabbit and chicken skeletal muscle and from the muscle of eartworm, lobster and clam were compared.

• 5.

  5. Carnosine had no activiating effect on the ATPase activity of the invertebrate systems in contrast to a two-fold activation of rabbit and chicken skeletal muscle myofibrillar-ATPase activity.

• 6.

  6. The results indicate that carnosine activiation of myofibrillar-ATPase activity may be limited to myorfibrils from muscles that normally contain carnosine and/or anserine as major constituents.