A Method to Measure the Diffusion Coefficient of Myoglobin in Intact Skeletal Muscle Cells

Abstract

A new method was developed to measure the diffusion coefficient of myoglobin in intact muscle cells, a quantity that allows one to estimate the contribution of myoglobin to facilitated oxygen transport. So far, the diffusion coefficient of myoglobin in mammalian muscle cells has been estimated from results obtained from muscle homogenates (Moll, 1968) or from measurements performed on frog muscle cells, into which myoglobin was injected (Baylor and Pape, 1988). With these data no reliable estimate can be made of the extent to which myoglobin diffusion facilitates oxygen transport within mammalian muscle cells.