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The Muscle Tissue

Functions:
- Produce body movements
- Stabilize body Positions
- Regulate organ volume
*Sphincter muscles surround hollow organ (eg.stomach)
*Esophageal Sphincter closes organ when relaxed; opens on the verge of vomiting
- Move substances within the body
*Peristalsis moves substance from one part to another through smooth muscles
- Heat production through contraction
Properties:
- Electrical excitability produce impulse
- Contractility
- Extensibility expand w/o breaking
- Elasticity
Types:
1. Skeletal/striated muscles
Attach to bones (muscles of limbs & body wall)
Elongated/filamentous, cylindrical in shape (muscle fibers)
Voluntary action
Innervation Somatic division of the PNS
Microscopic Anatomy:
Multiple Nuclei located beneath the sarcolemma
Sarcoplasm the cytoplasm of the muscle fiber enclosed by the sarcolemma;
contain abundant glycogen
T-tubules (transverse tubules) invagination of the sarcolemma towards the
cytoplasm of the muscle fibers; filled with extracellular fluid; Passageway for muscle
action potential
Myofibrils threadlike structure that transverse the sarcoplasm
Sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) fluid filled sacs that encircles each myofibrils
*Relaxed muscle fiber SR stores calcium ions
Muscle Contraction calcium ions are released from the SR
Filaments/myofilaments smaller threadlike structures within the myofibrils
Two types:
Thick filaments
Contractile protein- myosin
Thin filaments
Contractile protein actin
Regulatory proteins troponin & tropomyosin
Sarcomere the basic functional unit of a muscle fiber
Skeletal Muscle Physiology
The sliding filament mechanism of Muscle contraction
Neural Connections
Motor Neurons nerve cells that supply the needed stimulation for muscle cells to
contract
Neuromuscular junction(Myoneural Junction) crossroad between neuron and
muscle
- The site where motor nerve endings meet with a muscle fiber
- The site for stimulation of muscle fibers that leads to the formation of
an action potential.
Cellular Events during Contraction
Nerve impulse reaches the neuromuscular junction
Acetylcholine is released, and bind to receptors in the sarcolemma
The sarcolemma is depolarized generating an action potential

Action potential (AP) is transmitted along t-tubules to the cell interior


Upon arrival of an action potential the calcium ions are released from the
sarcoplasmic reticulum; muscle contraction is initiated
Calcium ions bind to troponin; tropomyosin moves aside to allow the binding of
myosin with actin
ATP bound to myosin is split to ADP and inorganic phosphate releasing energy to
fuel the myosin head
Phosphorylated myosin binds to actin forming cross bridges
Working stroke ADP and phosphate ion released from myosin causes the myosin
head to undergo conformational change
Myosin swivels, and pulls the actin filament past the myosin filament
Attachment of another ATP molecule detaches the myosin head from linkage to the
actin myofilament
With the linkage of another ATP to myosin, the process repeats, and muscle
contracts
*this cycle may repeat itself as long as calcium is bound to troponin
Calcium ions return to sarcoplasmic reticulum; tropomyosin returns to blocking
position
Connective Tissue Covering the Skeletal Muscles:
Endomysium C. tissue covering an individual muscle fiber
Perimysium C.tissue covering one fascicle(bundle) of muscle fiber
Epimysium C. tissue covering
several fascicles of muscle fibers
2. Cardiac Muscle the principal tissue in the heart wall
o Striated with actin and myosin
o Long and branching
o One centrally located nucleus per cell
o Intercalated disk connect each fiber
*this allows the muscle cells to function as a unit
o Involuntary action
o Innervation: autonomic division of the PNS
3. Smooth Muscle present in hollow organs, blood vessels and glands
o Spindle- shaped with one nucleus per cell
o Contain less actin and myosin are not organized into sarcomeres (no
striations)
o They contract more slowly than skeletal muscles
o Involuntary action
o Innervation: autonomic division of the PNS
Bases
Location
Cell Shape
# of nucleus &
Location of the cell
Intercalated Disk

Skeletal

Cardiac

Smooth

Limbs & Body wall

Heart wall

Hollow organs

Long, cylindrical

Long, branching

Long, tapered

Multiple; Periphery

Multiple; Central

Single; central

Absent

Present

Absent

Striations
Action

Present

Present

Absent

Voluntary

Involuntary

Voluntary

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