sarcomere

American

[sahr-kuh-meer] / ˈsɑr kəˌmɪər /

noun

Biology.

any of the segments of myofibril in striated muscle fibers.

sarcomere British

/ ˈsɑːkəʊˌmɪə /

noun

any of the units that together comprise skeletal muscle

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

sarcomere Scientific

/ sär′kə-mîr′ /

The contractile unit of a skeletal muscle fiber. Sarcomeres are divided into bands of filaments made of actin or myosin. During muscle contraction, the filaments slide over each other to cause shortening of the sarcomere.

Etymology

Origin of sarcomere

First recorded in 1890–95; sarco- + -mere

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

sarcomere

This suggests that these genetic variants may impact the sarcomere, the basic unit of heart muscle, influencing its structure and function.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 13, 2024

Titin chains intertwine with myosin, acting as a scaffold for its assembly and probably orchestrating a length-depending activation of the sarcomere.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 1, 2023

The sarcomere is subdivided in several regions, called zones and bands, in which these filaments are arranged in different ways.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 1, 2023

Instead, they slide by one another, causing the sarcomere to shorten while the filaments remain the same length.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022

The combined activity of many binding sites and repeated movements within the sarcomere causes it to contract.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 25, 2013

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023