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thick filament

(Science: cell biology) bipolar myosin II filaments (12-14nm diameter, 1.6m long) found in striated muscle.

myosin filaments elsewhere are often referred to as thick filaments, although their length may be considerably less. The myosin heads project from the thick filament in a regular fashion. There is a central bare zone without projecting heads, the core being formed from antiparallel arrays of LMM regions of the myosin heavy chains. Thick filaments will self assemble in vitro under the right ionic conditions.