Muscular System

 Made up of elastic tissue 2. Smooth Muscle

 Muscles contract for movement a. no striations but spindle-shaped
 Machines of the body fibers arranged in opposing layers
 Location: walls of hollow visceral
Muscles terminology: Prefixes myo- and mys- organs (such as stomach, urinary
refer to “muscle” bladder, respiratory passages)

 Muscles generate force required to Control: Involuntary

cause movement by contracting, where Contractions are slow and sustained
muscle fibers overlap more than when
at rest.

Three Basic Muscle types

1. Skeletal Muscle
a. Attached to the bones
b. Contraction and shortening of
muscles are due to movement
of microfilaments
c. Largest muscle fibers (length:
range 30cm to nearly 1 foot)
striated

Control: voluntary (Contract rapidly with great

force but tires easily hence, must rest)

Connective tissue Components of the Skeletal

Muscle
3. Cardiac Muscle
 Endomysium—encloses a single muscle  Striations, branching cells that fits closely
fiber together and are arranged in spiral bundles
 Perimysium—wraps around a fascicle of the heart.
(bundle) of muscle fibers Control: Involuntary
 Epimysium—covers the entire skeletal
muscle Contracts at a steady rate set
by pacemaker
Skeletal Muscle…

 Epimysium of skeletal muscle blends

into a connective tissue attachment
 Tendons*—cordlike structures
o Mostly collagen fibers
o Often cross a joint because of Characteristics Skeletal Cardiac Smooth
their toughness and small size
 Aponeuroses*—strong cordlike tendon
or sheet-like structures
Attached to Walls of
o Attach muscles indirectly to bones, some Walls of the hollow
bones, cartilages, or connective Body Location
facial muscles heart visceral
tissue coverings *anchors muscles to skin organs
to bones
Branching
Single, very chains of Single,
long, cells, fusiform,
Cell Shape and
cylindrical, uninucleate, uninucleate,
appearance
multinucleate striations; no
cells intercalated striations
discs
 B. Stabilize Joints
Characteristics Skeletal Cardiac Smooth  Ligaments help stabilize the joint
keeping it from moving outside of its
intended range of motion. Tendons
Cell Shape and
appearance connect the skeletal system to the
muscular system by attaching
muscle to bone. When muscle
contracts, the tendon acts on the
bone, causing movement.

C. Generate Heat
 Muscle activity generates heat as a
by-product
 Adenosine triphosphate (ATP)
energy source to power muscle
activity.
 Heat is vital for maintaining normal
body temperature
Microscopic Anatomy of Skeletal Muscle
Microscopic parts are
1. Sarcolemma—specialized plasma
membrane
2. Myofibrils—long organelles inside
muscle cell
 Light (I) bands and dark (A)
bands give the muscle its
striated (banded)
appearance

Functions of Muscles:
3. Sarcomere—contractile unit of a
a. Produce movement muscle fiber
b. Maintain posture and body  Structural and functional unit
position of skeletal muscl
c. Stabilize joints
Organization of the sarcomere
d. Generate heat
 Myofilaments produce
A. Produce Movement banding (striped) pattern
 Mobility – all locomotion and A. Thick filaments = myosin filaments
manipulating things with upper limbs B. Thin filaments = actin filaments
(posture & positions)
 Express emotions with silent
languages
 Movement within organs (blood
circulation, excretion and absorption
of fluids, swallowing of food)
Thick filaments = myosin filaments
 Composed of protein myosin
 Has ATPase enzymes
 Myosin filaments have heads
(extensions, or cross bridges)
 Myosin and actin overlap somewhat
Thin filaments = actin filaments
 Composed of the contractile protein
actin
 Actin is anchored to the Z
disc
 At rest, within the A band
there is a zone that lacks
actin filaments called the H
zone
 During contraction, H zones
disappear as actin and
myosin filaments overlap
4. Sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR)
 Specialized smooth endoplasmic
reticulum
 Surrounds the myofibril
 Stores and releases calcium
Contraction of a Skeletal Muscle as a
Whole
 Graded responses—different degrees of
skeletal muscle shortening
o Muscle fiber contraction is “all-or-
none,” meaning it will contract to
its fullest when stimulated
adequately
o Within a whole skeletal muscle,
not all fibers may be stimulated
during the same interval
o Different combinations of muscle
fiber contractions may give
differing responses
 Muscle response to increasingly rapid
stimulation
o Muscle twitch
o Single, brief, jerky contraction
o Not a normal muscle function
 In most types of muscle activity,
nerve impulses are delivered at a
rapid rate
 As a result, contractions are
“summed” (added) together, and one
contraction is immediately followed
by another
  When stimulations become more
frequent, muscle contractions get
stronger and smoother
 The muscle now exhibits unfused
(incomplete) tetanus
ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate)
 Only energy source that can be used
to directly power muscle contraction
 Stored in muscle fibers in small
amounts that are quickly used up
 After this initial time, other pathways
must be utilized to produce ATP

Muscle Fatigue and Oxygen Deficit

 If muscle activity is strenuous and
prolonged, muscle fatigue occurs
 Suspected factors that contribute to
muscle fatigue include:
o Ion imbalances (Ca2+, K+)
o Oxygen deficit and lactic acid
accumulation
 Fused (complete) tetanus is o Decrease in energy (ATP)
achieved when the muscle is supply
stimulated so rapidly that no o After exercise, the oxygen
evidence of relaxation is seen deficit is repaid by rapid, deep
 Contractions are smooth and breathing
sustained

 Muscle response to stronger stimuli

o Muscle force depends upon
the number of fibers stimulated
o Contraction of more fibers
results in greater muscle
tension
o When all motor units are active
and stimulated, the muscle
contraction is as strong as it
can get

Providing Energy for Muscle Contraction