Rigor mortis

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Rigor mortis

Rigor mortis is one of the recognizable signs of death

Death

Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that define a life organism. It refers to both a particular event and to the condition that results thereby....
(Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
mors, mortis) that is caused by a chemical change in the muscle

MUSCLE

MUSCLE is public domain, multiple sequence alignment software for protein and nucleotide sequences.MUSCLE is integrated into UGENE bioinformatics tool as a plugin....
s after death

Death

Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that define a life organism. It refers to both a particular event and to the condition that results thereby....
, causing the limbs of the corpse to become stiff (Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
rigor) and difficult to move or manipulate.

r death, respiration in organisms ceases to occur, depleting the corpse of oxygen used in the making of ATP

Adenosine triphosphate

This article is about the chemical used by cells as an energy carrier. For other uses, see ATP .Adenosine-5'-triphosphate is a multifunctional nucleotide, and plays an important role in cell biology as a coenzyme that is the "molecule unit of currency" of intracellular energy transfer....
. ATP is no longer provided to operate the SERCA

SERCA

SERCA stands for sarcoplasmic reticulum/endoplasmic reticulum Calcium2+-ATPase. It is a P-ATPase#P-ATPase of the calcium ATPase type....
pumps in the membrane of the Sarcoplasmic Reticulum, which pump Calcium

Calcium

Ion

An ion is an atom or molecule which has lost or gained one or more electrons, giving it a positive or negative electrical charge. According to the Bohr_model this will be from or in the outer shield 'n'....
into the Terminal Cisternae

Terminal cisternae

Terminal cisternae are enlarged areas of the sarcoplasmic reticulum surrounding the transverse tubules. They store calcium and release it when an action potential courses down the transverse tubules, eliciting muscle contraction....
.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Rigor mortis'

Start a new discussion about 'Rigor mortis'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

Rigor mortis is one of the recognizable signs of death

Death

Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that define a life organism. It refers to both a particular event and to the condition that results thereby....
(Latin

Latin

MUSCLE

MUSCLE is public domain, multiple sequence alignment software for protein and nucleotide sequences.MUSCLE is integrated into UGENE bioinformatics tool as a plugin....
s after death

Death

Latin

Biochemistry

After death, respiration in organisms ceases to occur, depleting the corpse of oxygen used in the making of ATP

Adenosine triphosphate

SERCA

Calcium

Ion

Terminal cisternae

Diffusion

Molecular diffusion, often called simply diffusion, is a net transport of molecules from a region of higher concentration to one of lower concentration by random molecular motion....
from the area of higher concentration

Concentration

In chemistry, concentration is the measure of how much of a given chemical substance there is mixed with another substance. This can apply to any sort of chemical mixture, but most frequently the concept is limited to homogeneous solutions, where it refers to the amount of solute in the solvent....
(in the Terminal Cisternae and extracellular fluid

Extracellular fluid

Extracellular fluid usually denotes all body fluid outside of cells. The remainder is called intracellular fluid.In some animals, including mammals, the extracellular fluid can be divided into two major subcompartments, interstitial fluid and blood plasma....
) to an area of lower concentration (in the Sarcomere

Sarcomere

"A-band" redirects here. For other uses of the term see A band.A sarcomere is the basic unit of a muscle's cross-striated myofibril. Sarcomeres are multi-protein complexes composed of three different filament systems....
), binding with Troponin

Troponin

Troponin is a complex of three regulatory proteins that is integral to muscle contraction in skeletal muscle and cardiac muscle, but not smooth muscle....
and allowing for crossbridging to occur between Myosin

Myosin

Myosins are a large family of motor proteins found in eukaryotic Biological tissue. They are responsible for actin-based motility.Following the discovery, by Pollard and Korn, of enzymes with myosin-like function in Acanthamoeba, a large number of divergent myosin genes have been discovered throughout eukaryotes....
and Actin

Actin

Actin is a Globular_protein, roughly 42-kDa protein found in all Eukaryote where it may be present at concentrations of over 100 ?M. It is also one of the most highly-Conservation proteins, differing by no more than 20% in species as diverse as algae and humans....
proteins.

Unlike normal muscle contractions, the body is unable to complete the cycle and release the coupling

Coupling

A coupling is a device used to connect two shafts together at their ends for the purpose of transmitting power. Couplings do not normally allow disconnection of shafts during operation, though there do exist torque limiter couplings which can slip or disconnect when some torque limit is exceeded....
between the Myosin and Actin, creating a perpetual state of muscular contraction

Muscle contraction

Muscle fiber generates tension through the action of actin and myosin cross-bridge cycling. While under tension, the muscle may #Eccentric contraction, #Concentric contraction or #Isometric contraction....
, until the breakdown of muscle tissue by digestive

Digestion

Digestion is the mechanical and chemical breaking down of food into smaller components, to a form that can be Absorption, for instance, by a blood stream....
enzymes during decomposition

Decomposition

Decomposition refers to the process by which tissues of dead organisms break down into simpler forms of matter. Such a breakdown of dead organisms is essential for new growth and development of living organisms because it recycles the finite chemical constituents and frees up the limited physical space in the biome....
.

Applications in Industry

Rigor mortis is very important in meat technology. The onset of rigor mortis and its resolution partially determines the tenderness of meat

Meat

In modern English usage, meat most often refers to animal biological tissue used as food, mostly skeletal muscle and associated fat, but it may also refer to offal, including livers, skin, brains, bone marrow, kidneys, in some countries lungs, and a variety of other internal organs as well as blood....
. If the post-slaughter meat is immediately chilled to 15 °C, a phenomenon known as cold shortening occurs, where the muscle shrinks to a third of its original size. This will lead to the loss of water from the meat along with many of the vitamins, minerals, and water soluble proteins. The loss of water makes the meat hard and interferes with the manufacturing of several meat products like cutlet

Cutlet

Cutlet refers to:# a thin slice of meat from the leg or ribs of veal, pork or mutton # a frying cutlet# a croquette made of minced meat# various preparations using fried cutlets or croquettes...
and sausage

Sausage

A sausage is a prepared food, usually made from ground meat, animal fat, salt, and spices , typically packed in a casing . Sausage making is a traditional food preservation technique....
.

Cold shortening is caused by the release of stored calcium

Calcium

Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft grey alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth most abundant element by mass in the earth's Crust ....
ions from the sarcoplasmic reticulum of muscle fibers in response to the cold stimulus. The calcium ions trigger powerful muscle contraction aided by ATP molecules. To prevent cold shortening, a process known as electrical stimulation is carried out, especially in beef carcass, immediately after slaughter and skinning

Skinning

Skinning, a gerund from the verb to skin, commonly refers to the act of skin removal. Skinning is often done with a hunting knife.The process is usually done with dead animals, mainly as preparation for consumption of the meat beneath and/or use for the fur....
. In this process, the carcass

Carcass

Carcass may refer to:* Carcase the body of slaughtered animal after the removal of the offal etc.*Carcass A term for a dead body, typically that of an animal....
is stimulated with alternating current

Alternating current

In alternating current the movement of electric charge periodically reverses direction. An electric charge would for instance move forward, then backward, then forward, then backward, over and over again....
, causing it to contract and relax, which depletes the ATP reserve from the carcass and prevents cold shortening.

Rigor mortis

Biochemistry

Applications in Industry

See also