Abstract-Reductions in sarcomere length (SL) and concomitant increases in interfilament lattice spacing have been shown to decrease the Ca 2ϩ sensitivity of tension in myocardium. We tested the idea that increased lattice spacing influences the SL dependence of isometric tension by reducing the probability of strong interactions of myosin crossbridges with actin, thereby decreasing cooperative activation of the thin filament. Single ventricular myocytes were isolated by enzymatic digestion of rat hearts and were subsequently rapidly skinned. Maximal tension and Ca 2ϩ sensitivity of tension (ie, pCa 50 ) were measured in the absence and presence of N-ethylmaleimide-modified myosin subfragment 1 (NEM-S1) at both short and long SLs. NEM-S1, a strong-binding non-tension-generating derivative of the myosin head, was applied to single skinned myocytes to cooperatively promote strong binding of endogenous myosin crossbridges. Compared with control myocytes at SL of Ϸ1.90 m, application of NEM-S1 markedly increased submaximal Ca 2ϩ -activated tensions and thereby increased Ca 2ϩ sensitivity; ie, pCa 50 increased from 5.40Ϯ0.02 to 5.52Ϯ0.02 pCa units in the presence of NEM-S1. Furthermore, NEM-S1 treatment reversibly eliminated the SL dependence of the Ca 2ϩ sensitivity of tension, in that the ⌬pCa 50 between short and long lengths was 0.02Ϯ0.01 pCa units in the presence of NEM-S1 compared with a ⌬pCa 50 of 0.10Ϯ0.01 pCa units in control myocytes. From these results we conclude that the decrease in the Ca 2ϩ sensitivity of tension at short SL results predominantly from decreased cooperative activation of the thin filament due to reductions in the number of strong-binding crossbridges. (Circ Res. 1998;83:602-607.) Key Words: Ca 2ϩ sensitivity Ⅲ muscle length Ⅲ ventricular myocyte W ithin normal physiological limits, alterations in ventricular end-diastolic volume result in marked changes in cardiac output. Since the heart normally operates on the positive slope of the pressure-volume relationship, increases in end-diastolic volume induce the heart to increase either stroke volume, ejection pressure, or both in a way that closely matches myocardial work to the load on the heart. This intrinsic ability of the heart to alter ventricular peak systolic pressure due to beat-to-beat variations in end-diastolic volume constitutes the basis for the well-known Frank-Starling relationship. The present study was performed to investigate molecular mechanisms underlying this relationship.Twitch tension and Ca 2ϩ sensitivity of tension (ie, pCa 50 ) in cardiac muscle preparations are known to decrease as sarcomere length (SL) is shortened within its working range (ie, from Ϸ2.30 m to Ϸ1.80 m).1,2 The regulation of myocardial contraction requires the binding of Ca 2ϩ to a low-affinity site on troponin C, which permits strong interactions of myosin crossbridges with actin.3 However, experimental evidence has shown that Ca 2ϩ alone is unable to fully activate the thin filament: complete activation, in terms of force and the kinetics of for...