2007 年 74 巻 1 号 p. 4-10
Muscle contraction is one of the molecular motions in the living body. The elemental process of muscle contraction is a mutual sliding of two kinds of filaments of proteins, myosin and actin, using energy liberated by ATP hydrolysis. Myosin enzymatically hydrolyzes ATP and interacts with actin. This article reviews previous quantum chemical studies to help determine how the chemical energy of ATP hydrolysis is converted to mechanical energy during sliding.