André Tomalka

  Peer-Review articles

2026

• Vahle B, Weidner S, Tomalka A, Schauer A, Augstein A, Männel A, Barthel P, Friedrich J, Beck G, Labeit S, Bowen TS, Siebert T, Linke A, Adams V. Targeting Mitochondrial Dysfunction With Elamipretide (SS-31) Improves Skeletal Muscle Performance in a HFpEF Rat Model. Circ Heart Fail. 2026 Jun 15:e014397. doi: 10.1161/CIRCHEARTFAILURE.126.014397 [link]
• Tomalka, A., Weidner, S., Rode, C. and Siebert, T. (2026). Effects of chemical myosin II cross‐bridge inhibitors on eccentric force production in skinned muscle fibres. Exp Physiol., DOI 10.1113/EP093831 [link]
• Kühn, T., Tomalka, A., Siebert, T., Heymann, M. (2026) Two-photon 3D-printed BSA hydrogel fibers resemble native muscle contraction dynamics. Biofabrication, DOI 10.1088/1758-5090/ae4272 [link]

2025

• Danesini, P. C., Tomalka, A., Siebert, T., & Ates, F. (2025). The impact of endomysium integrity on skeletal muscle fiber bundle mechanics. Journal of Biomechanics, doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiomech.2025.112957 [link]
• Elst T, Weidner S, Tomalka A, Hahn D, Paternoster FK, Seiberl W, Siebert T (2025). Consecutive SSCs increase the SSC effect in skinned rat muscle fibres. Pflugers Arch - Eur J Physiol. May 8. [link]
• Emond, W., Tomalka, A., Bektas, A., & Zare, M. (2025). Can We Estimate Motion Sickness Severity in Car Passengers Based on Individual Head Dynamics? Human Factors, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/00187208251326683 [link]

2024

• Tomalka, A., Weidner, S., Hahn, D., Seiberl, W., & Siebert, T. (2024). Force re-development after shortening reveals a role for titin in stretch-shortening performance enhancement in skinned muscle fibres. J Exp Biol. Aug 9:jeb.247377. doi: 10.1242/jeb.247377. [link]
• Bubeck, F., Tomalka, A., Siebert, T., Roehrle, O., Gizzi, L. (2024). Altered muscle fibre activation in an antagonistic muscle pair due to perturbed afferent feedback caused by blood flow restriction. Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology, 79, 102922. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jelekin.2024.102922 [ link]
• Weidner, S., Tomalka, A., Rode, C., & Siebert, T. (2024). Impact of lengthening velocity on the generation of eccentric force by slow-twitch muscle fibers in long stretches.  Pflugers Arch. European Journal of Physiology. doi10.1007/s00424-024-02991-4 [link]
• Danesini, P. C., Heim, M., Tomalka, A., Siebert, T., & Ates, F. (2024). Endomysium determines active and passive force production in muscle fibers. Journal of Biomechanics, 168.10.1016/j.jbiomech.2024.112134 [link]

2023

• Rode C, Tomalka A, Blickhan R and Siebert T, 2023. Structurally motivated models to explain the muscle’s force-length relationship. Biophys. Journal 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2023.05.026 [link]
• Tomalka A, 2023. Eccentric muscle contractions: from single muscle fibre to whole muscle mechanics. Pflugers Arch. 2023 Apr;475(4):421-435.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s00424-023-02794-z [link]

2022

• Tomalka A ^†, Heim M ^†, Klotz A, Rode C, Siebert T, 2022. Ultrastructural and kinetic evidence support that thick filaments slide through the Z-disc. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, doi: 10.1098/rsif.2022.0642 [link]
• Weidner, S, Tomalka, A, Rode, C, Siebert, T, 2022. How velocity impacts eccentric force generation of fully activated skinned skeletal muscle fibers in long stretches. J Appl Physiol [ link]

2021

• Tomalka, A, Weidner S, Hahn D, Seiberl W, Siebert T, 2021. Power amplification increases with increasing contraction velocity during stretch-shortening cycles of skinned muscles fibers. Front. Physiol., doi: 10.3389/fphys.2021.644981 [link]

2020

• Tomalka, A, Weidner S, Hahn D, Seiberl W, Siebert T, 2020. Cross-bridges and sarcomeric non-cross-bridge structures contribute to increased work in stretch-shortening cycles. Front. Physiol., doi: 10.3389/fphys.2020.00921  [link]

2019

• Tomalka, A, Röhrle, O, Han, J-C, Pham T, Taberner, AJ, Siebert, T (2019). Extensive eccentric contractions in intact cardiac trabeculae : revealing compelling differences in contractile behaviour compared to skeletal muscles.  Proc Biol Sci, 286.  [link]
• Borsdorf M, Tomalka A, Stutzig N, Morales-Orcajo E, Böl M, Siebert T (2019). Locational and directional dependencies of smooth muscle properties in pig urinary bladder. Front. Physiol. 10.3389/fphys.2019.00063 [link] 

2017

• Tomalka A, Borsdorf M, Böl M, Siebert T (2017) Porcine Stomach Smooth Muscle Force Depends on History-Effects. Front. Physiol. 8: 10.3389/fphys.2017.00802  [link]
• Siebert T, Tomalka A, Stutzig N, Leichsenring K, Böl M (2017) Changes in three-dimensional muscle structure of rabbit gastrocnemius, flexor digitorum longus, and tibialis anterior during growth. J Mech Behav Biomed Mater  74, 507-519   [link]
• Tomalka A, Rode C, Schumacher J & Siebert T. (2017). The active force-length relationship is invisible during extensive eccentric contractions in skinned skeletal muscle fibres. Proc. R. Soc. B 284: 20162497. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.2497  [link]

2016

• Rode C, Siebert T, Tomalka A & Blickhan R. (2016). Myosin filament sliding through the Z-disc relates striated muscle fibre structure to function.  Proc. R. Soc. B 283: 20153030. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.3030   [link]

long conference papers

• Vahle, B, Weidner, S, Tomalka, A., Schauer, A., Augstein, A., Maennel, A., Barthel, P., Siebert, T., Linke, A., Adams, V. (2026) Elamipretide improves skeletal muscle function in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction rats: a mitochondrial, physiological and molecular analysis. ESC Preventive Cardiology 2026, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 23.4.-25.4.2026.  European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, Volume 33, Issue Supplement_2, June 2026, zwag249.037, [ link]
• Farley, A., Yu, X., Tomalka, A., Siebert, T., & Sedlmair, M. (2025). LiftVR: A VR-Based Training System for Back-Friendly Lifting. 2025 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW), 671–678. [ link]
• Siebert T, Tomalka A. (2024) The relationship between muscle fibre structure, force generation, and muscle function. Vortragsreihe der Forschergruppe FOR2722 “musculoskeletal extracellular matrix”. 13.6.2024, University of Cologne, Faculty of Medicine.
• Tomalka A., Heim M., Klotz A., Rode C., Siebert T. (2023) The relationship between muscle fiber structure, force generation, and muscle function. GEST: 23 German Exercise Science & Training Conference 2023, German Sport University Cologne, 9.-10.11.2023 
• Tomalka A., Heim M., Klotz A., Rode C., Siebert T. (2023) Myosin filament sliding through the Z-disc. DVS-Tagung der Sektion Biomechanik. Magdeburg, September 27-29, 2023.
• Siebert T, Weidner S, Rode C, Tomalka A. (2023) Impact of velocity on muscle force generation during long eccentric contractions. 28th Congress of the European Society of Biomechanics (ESB), 9-12 July 2023, Maastricht, The Netherlands, Book of Abstracts, p652 [link]
• Tomalka A. (2023). Recent investigations of the muscle´s force-length relationship. Flash talk at the 3 ^rd BioMechBW - Workshop on Mechanobiology, March 28, Stuttgart, Germany
• Tomalka A., Heim M., Klotz A., Rode C., Siebert T. (2022) Myosin filament sliding through the Z-disc. Poster presentation at the SimTech Status Seminar, July 4-6, Bad Boll, Germany
• Heim M., Tomalka A., Klotz A., Rode C., Siebert T (2021) The delta-state is not an artefact but an expression of fundamental skeletal muscle fiber mechanics. Poster presentation at the SimTech Status Seminar, October 11-14, Bad Boll, Germany
• Maamir, M, Siebert, T, Tomalka, A, Lafon, Y, Frechede, B. A rat muscle finite-element model to account for transverse loading effects. CMBBE 2021, 17th International Symposium on Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering, Sep 2021, Bonn, Germany. p 134. [link]
• Tomalka, A, Weidner, S, Hahn, D, Seiberl, W, and Siebert, T (2020). Cross-Bridges and Sarcomeric Non-cross-bridge Structures Contribute to Increased Work in Stretch-Shortening Cycles, 12 ^th Munich Muscle Meeting, online conference, December, 15 ^th, 2020
• Tomalka A,  Röhrle O, Han JC, Pham T, Taberner AJ, Siebert T (2019) Differences between cardiac and skeletal musculature: eccentric force generation and muscle structure, 48th European Muscle Conference, Canterbury, UK, September 7-11, 2019.
• Tomalka A,  Röhrle O, Han JC, Pham T, Taberner AJ, Siebert T (2019) Differences between cardiac and skeletal musculature: eccentric force generation and muscle structure, Konstanz, April 10-12, 2019.
• Tomalka A, Rode C, Schumacher J, Siebert T (2017) Force-length relation of skeletal muscle fibres in long eccentric contractions. DVS-Tagung der Sektion Biomechanik und Kognition. Leipzig, March 29-31, 2017.
• Siebert T, Tomalka A, Leichsenring K, Böl M (2017) Changes in three dimensional muscle structure during growth. EUROMECH Colloquium 585: Advanced experimental methods in tissue biomechanics Burg Warberg, Germany, February 12-16, 2017.

^†These authors contributed equally to this study.

• Belastungen und Anpassungen des Bewegungsapparates (M.Sc.)
• Multiperspektivische Bewegungsanalyse (M.Sc.)
• Fortgeschrittenenpraktikum (M.Sc.)
• Forschungswerkstatt (B.Sc.)
• Naturwissenschaftliches Seminar A (M.Ed.)
• Didaktik der Individualsportarten (kond.-energ.) (B.Ed.)
• Handball Grundfach (B.Ed.)

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