Studies on biomechanics of skeletal muscle based on the working mechanism of myosin motors: An overview

Skeletal muscle is the source of human body motion. Many scholars have been studying in this field to reveal its contraction mechanism, and relevant achievements have been awarded the Nobel Prize. This paper reviewed the current researches on biomechanics of skeletal muscle, and concluded two strategies (top-down and bottom-up methods) for the biomechanical research of skeletal muscle. Moreover, this paper generalized two major aspects of muscle research: (1) the multi-force coupling mechanism and the collective operation mechanism of molecular motors; (2) the bioelectrochemical driving and control principium of muscle contraction. We discussed the solution for experimental verification and induced a novel idea to study the biomechanics of skeletal muscle based on the microscopic working mechanism of molecular motor, which is the origin of muscle contraction. Finally we analyzed the disadvantages in existent researches and explored future directions that need further studies.