MF. S100A1 promotes action potential-initiated calcium release flux and force production in skeletal muscle. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 299: C891-C902, 2010. First published August 4, 2010; doi:10.1152/ajpcell.00180.2010.-The role of S100A1 in skeletal muscle is just beginning to be elucidated. We have previously shown that skeletal muscle fibers from S100A1 knockout (KO) mice exhibit decreased action potential (AP)-evoked Ca 2ϩ transients, and that S100A1 binds competitively with calmodulin to a canonical S100 binding sequence within the calmodulinbinding domain of the skeletal muscle ryanodine receptor. Using voltage clamped fibers, we found that Ca 2ϩ release was suppressed at all test membrane potentials in S100A1 Ϫ/Ϫ fibers. Here we examine the role of S100A1 during physiological AP-induced muscle activity, using an integrative approach spanning AP propagation to muscle force production. With the voltage-sensitive indicator di-8-aminonaphthylethenylpyridinium, we first demonstrate that the AP waveform is not altered in flexor digitorum brevis muscle fibers isolated from S100A1 KO mice. We then use a model for myoplasmic Ca 2ϩ binding and transport processes to calculate sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca 2ϩ release flux initiated by APs and demonstrate decreased release flux and greater inactivation of flux in KO fibers. Using in vivo stimulation of tibialis anterior muscles in anesthetized mice, we show that the maximal isometric force response to twitch and tetanic stimulation is decreased in S100A1 Ϫ/Ϫ muscles. KO muscles also fatigue more rapidly upon repetitive stimulation than those of wild-type counterparts. We additionally show that fiber diameter, type, and expression of key excitation-contraction coupling proteins are unchanged in S100A1 KO muscle. We conclude that the absence of S100A1 suppresses physiological AP-induced Ca 2ϩ release flux, resulting in impaired contractile activation and force production in skeletal muscle. S100; excitation-contraction coupling; calcium signaling; muscle IN SKELETAL AND CARDIAC MUSCLE, action potential (AP) depolarization triggers Ca 2ϩ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), which in turn enables actomyosin interaction and contractile force generation in a process termed excitationcontraction (EC) coupling. The small Ca 2ϩ -binding protein S100A1 positively modulates EC coupling in both skeletal and cardiac muscle (34,39,40,48). In skeletal muscle, S100A1 localizes to sarcolemmal invaginations known as transverse tubules (t-tubules) and the adjacent junctional faces of the SR (jSR) (7,14,40). This region is termed the triad junction and houses the Ca 2ϩ release machinery of the muscle fiber (11, 16). S100A1 binds to the Ca 2ϩ release channel of the jSR ryanodine receptor type-1 (RyR1) and enhances RyR1-mediated Ca 2ϩ release (17,39,40,48). We have recently demonstrated that S100A1 competes with calmodulin (CaM) for the previously well-characterized CaM binding domain (CaMBD) on RyR1 (40, 55), a site documented to sensitize RyR1 to activation (43,49). Furthermore, s...