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Contraction of Skeletal Muscle
Physiologic Anatomy of Skeletal Muscle
Skeletal Muscle Fiber: all skeletal muscles are composed
of numerous fibers and each of these fibers are made up of successi
vely smaller subunits
o
Sarcolemma: cell membrane of the muscle fiber
o
Myofibrils; Actin and Myosin Filaments
Each muscle fiber contains several hundred-thousand myofibrils.
Each myofibril is composed of about 1500 adjacent myosin filame
nts and 3000 actin filaments
Thick filaments= myosin
Thin filaments= actin
I-band : light band that contains only actin filaments; isotropic to
polarized light
A band : dark band that contains myosin filaments and overlapping end
s of actin filaments;anisotropic to polarized light
Z-disc : attachment point of actin filaments; composed of filamentous
proteins
Sarcomere : portion of the myofibril that lies between two successive Z
discs
o
What keeps the myosin and actin filaments in place: Titin Filament
ous Molecules
Titin: filamentous molecules of a protein that maintains side-by-
side relationship between myosinand actin filaments (act as a fram
ework that holds myosin and actin filaments in place so that thecon
tractile machinery of the sarcomere will work
o
Sarcoplasm
o
Sarcoplasmic reticulum
General Mechanism of Muscle Contraction
1.Action potential travels along motor nerve to muscle fiber.
2.At each ending, the nerve secretes a small amount of acetyl
choline.3.Acetylcholine acts on muscle fiber membrane to op
en acetylcholine-gated channels.
4.
Sodium ions diffuse into muscle fiber
action potential5.Action potential travels along muscle fiber.
6.
Action potential flows through center of muscle fiber
sarcoplasmic reticulum releases large quantities of calciumions.7.C
alcium ions initiate attractive forces between actin and myosin fila
ments, causing them to slide alongside eachother which is the contr
actile process.
8.
Calcium ions are pumped back into the sarcoplasmic reticulum
contraction ceases
Molecular Mechanism of Muscle Contraction
•
Sliding filament mechanism of muscle contraction
•
Molecular characteristics of the Contractile Filaments
o
Myosin filament : tails of the myosin molecules are bundled together to
form the body of the myosinfilament while many heads of the molec
ules hang outward to the sides of the body (protruding arms + head
s= cross-bridges)
ATPase activity of the myosin head: allows the head to cleave ATP an
d to use the energy derivedfrom the ATP’s high energy bond to energiz
e the contraction process
o
Actin filament : actin, tropomyosin, troponin; ADP molecules are the a
ctive sites on the actin filaments withwhich the cross-bridges of the m
yosin filaments interact to cause muscle contraction
Tropomyosin molecules : in the resting state, the tropomyosin molecule
s lie on top of the active sitesof the actin strands, so that attraction ca
nnot occur between actin and myosin filaments to causecontraction
Troponin and its role in muscle contraction: complex that attaches t
ropomyosin to actin; strongaffinity for calcium ions initiates contra
ction process
•
Interaction of One Myosin Filament, Two Actin Filaments and Cal
cium Ions to Cause Contraction
o
Inhibition of the Actin Filament by the Troponin-Tropomyosin Co
mplex; Activation by Calcium Ions
The active sites on the normal actin filament of the relaxed muscle
are inhibited or physicallycovered by the troponin-tropomyosin co
mplex (sites cannot attach to the heads of the myosinfilaments to c
ause contraction)
In the presence of large amounts of calcium ions, the inhibitor effe
ct of the troponin-tropomyosinon the actin filaments is itself inhibit
ed.