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( Troponin)
Troponin is a complex of three regulatory proteins that is integral to muscle contraction in skeletal and cardiac muscle, but not smooth muscle. Troponin is attached to the protein tropomyosin and lies within the groove between actin filaments in muscle tissue. In a relaxed muscle, tropomyosin blocks the attachment site for the myosin crossbridge, thus preventing contraction. When the muscle cell is stimulated to contract by an action potential, calcium channels open in the sarcoplasmic reticulum and release calcium into the sarcoplasm. Some of this calcium attaches to troponin, causing a conformational change that moves tropomyosin out of the way so that the cross bridges can attach to actin and produce muscle contraction. Troponin is found in both skeletal muscle and cardiac muscle, but the specific versions of troponin differ between types of muscle. The main difference is that the TnC subunit of troponin in skeletal muscle has four calcium ion binding sites, whereas in cardiac muscle there are only three. Discussions of troponin often pertain to its functional characteristics and/or to its usefulness as a diagnostic marker for various heart disorders. Both cardiac and skeletal muscles are controlled by changes in the intracellular calcium concentration. When calcium rises, the muscles contract, and when calcium falls the muscles relax.
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