Wednesday, November 3, 2021

BIO310 Lecture 14

Cardiac Muscle Contraction and Conducting System

The actin and myosin filaments within the cardiac muscles are not efficient in creating
an action potential, instead they are involved in propagation of the signal throughout
the heart.

Why is the Bundle of hiss necessary?

- This is because the propagation from the Atrioventricular node cannot pass through
from the atrium to the ventricles itself. As mentioned before this is due to the fibrous
ring that surround the valves along with separates the lateral chambers of the heart,
does not allow for this action potential to pass.

There is a slight delay between the

contractions in the atrium and ventricles,
this is because the SA node is the
dominant pace maker as it creates a
quicker (not larger) action potential which
creates a quick propagation to the AV
node. The AV node will then have no time
to create an action potential (as it can
create the same potential of AP but not
at the same rate).

When an action potential is propagated

throughout the heart, due to this delay
there will already be a relaxation in the
atrium by the time that the ventricle will
contract. (Atrium will contract and relax
prior to the contraction of the ventricle).

The first muscles of the ventricles that will contract are the papillary muscles, which are
connected by tendons to the cusps of the valves.

Pacemaker potential- The SA node, AV node, bundle of hiss, left/right branches are all
conducting components of the heart and are able to propagate action potentials
automatically, this is because they don’t have a resting membrane potential!

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Instead, they have something called a pacemaker potential. These cells at negative
charges, they do have some certain sodium channels, that are only open if there is a
negative charge (hyper polarization sodium channels).

Also called, “funny” sodium channels as they are voltage activated but they are unique
in the sense that the sodium channel will open at a hyper polarization. The funny
channel will close when the threshold is reached.

Once this has occurred, a brief calcium channel (T-type) will open due to the slight
positive charges as a result of the influx, these channels will also close when the
threshold is reached. As soon as the as the membrane reaches the threshold potential,
a rapid depolarization will occur with an influx of calcium channel openings (L-type).

Repolarization by voltage-gated potassium channels, which also causes the closing of

the calcium channels that are responsible for repolarization. The cycle may then restart,
this is called the automatic action potential.

In the following figure, it is observed

the differences of the three stimuli
applied to the pace maker action
potential.

They all occur at the same amplitude,

the only difference between the three
is the rates of which they are all
occur.

The cell membrane of the pacemaker

cells have a muscarinic acetylcholine
receptors, as they respond to the
acetylcholine receptors. One molecule
of acetylcholine will bind to the G coupled receptors, then binding to the seven
membrane bind sub units.

Epinephrine increases heart rate by increasing the sodium and calcium conductance,
this will occur through the stimulation of the beta1 receptors on the cell membrane of
the pace-maker cell. The pace-maker cells do not rest, they express on their cell
membranes the muscarinic and Beta1 receptors.

The action potential runs through the conducting system and cardiac muscles, which
are coupled with each other by gap junctions in the cells. The action potential travels
through the gap junction, which generates a second action potential. Traveling through

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the membrane and T tubules.Cardiac muscles do not generate the action potentials,
they depend on the pace maker cells to propagate the signal.

Latent period is the time required for the cation potential to travel through the t tubules,
it is often much longer than a refractory period which is the time that it takes to
propagate a new action potential.

A difference between the skeletal and cardiac muscles, is that the skeletal muscles get
their calcium form the
intracellular spaces
(there is less available
than in the sarcoplasmic
reticulum) and the
cardiac muscles will get
it from both the
extracellular and
intracellular spaces.

The parasympathetic
cells will only act on the
pacemaker cells, while
the sympathetic will act
on both the pacemaker
and the cardiac
muscles.

** both the mitral and tricuspid valves are closed during the contraction of the apex, all
the four valves of the heart are closed and the blood is being pumped but cannot
escape… this called isovolumetric pressure that builds up the pressure in the heart
which allows for the blood to be pumped round the body, by being ejected. **

The relation that occurs later is important in creating the negative pressure, when the
blood comes back to fill the ventricles when the valves open as a result of relaxation in
the heart. Because the atrium is empty, it will follow gravity and will fill the left and right
ventricles of the heart.

**BONUS QUESTION ON EXAM: will be based on the last slide!! “Summary of events
in the left atrium, left ventricle, and aorta during the cardiac cycle” This is somewhere
in the textbook, this will be the last bonus of the course…**

Term Test II is Based on Lecture 8 till the figures that I put below!

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