MUSCULAR SYSTEM MUSCLE

Major functions of Muscles PHYSIOLOGY

1. Body Movement
Skeletal Muscle Structure
2. Maintenance Posture
⮚ Composed of skeletal muscle
3. Respiration cells
⮚ Associated w/ small amounts of
4. Production of body heat
CT, blood vessels, and nerves
5. Communication ⮚ Single, long, cylindrical cell,
6. Constriction of organs and vessels several nuclei at the periphery
of the fiber near the plasma
7. Heartbeat membrane
General Functional ⮚ 1mm to 4cm in length
Characteristics of Muscle ⮚ 10 um 100 um in diameter
1. Contractility – abiliry to shorten
Connective Tissue Coverings
forcefully.
of Muscle
2. Excitability – capacity to respond to
stimuli. Fascia – CT sheets within the body

3. Extensibility – stretched beyond its Muscular fascia – separayes and

normal resting length and is still able to compartmentalizes individual muscles
contract. of group of muscles. Dense irregular
collagenous CT
4. Elasticity – ability to recoil to its
original resting length after it has been
stretched.

Epimysium – surrounds individual

muscle
Perimysium – surrounds muscle
fasciculi
Endomysium – surrounds muscle fiber

Muscle Fibers
⮚ Sarcolemma – plasma
membranes of muscle fiber
⮚ Sarcoplasm – cytoplasm
without myofibrils
 ⮚ Myofibril – actin myofilaments
and myosin filaments
⮚ Sarcomeres
ACTIN
⮚ Thin filaments
⮚ 2 minute strans of peals twisted
together
- Fibrous actin (F actin)
- Globular actin (G actin)
- Has an active site in which
myosin can bind during
muscle contraction
⮚ Troponin – have Ca2+ binding
sites
⮚ Tropomyosin – covers active
sites
MYOSIN MYOFILAMENTS
⮚ Thick filaments
⮚ Resemble bundles of minute
golf chubs
⮚ Consists of:
- Head
- Myosin ATPase (enzyme
that promotes breakdown of
ATP)
- Rod
- Cross-bridges
Sarcomeres
⮚ Extends from one Z disk to an
adjacent Z disk (filamentous
network of protein forming a
disk-like structure for the
attachment of actin
myofilament)
⮚ I band
- Light band contains actin
- Isotropic bands
- Actin only
⮚ A band
- Anisotropic band
- Darker bands containing
both actin and myosin
⮚ H-zone
- Middle zone of the A-band
containing myosin filaments
only
⮚ M line
- Bisects the H band
- Wide middle portion of thick
filament
- Consists of proteins that
keep the sarcomere in
proper orientation as it
lengthens or shortens
⮚ Titin
SLIDING FILAMENT
MODEL (RELAXED
MUSCLE)
⮚ Actin and Myosin filaments
length is equal in rested and
contracted state
SLIDING FILAMENT
MODEL (CONTRACTING)
⮚ Actin move toward each other
⮚ Sarcomere shortens as Z disks
move toward each other
⮚ The H zones and I bands
narrow
 ⮚ A Bands do NOT narrow
(because length of myosin do
not change)
⮚ SLIDING FILAMENT
MODEL (FULLY
CONTRACTED)
⮚ Ends of actin overlap at the
center of the sarcomere
⮚ H-zone = disappers
⮚ I-band = narrows further (inipit)
⮚ A-band = remains unchanged
PHYSIOLOGY OF
SKELETAL MUSCLE
FIBERS
Motor Neurons – nerve
muscles that connect the brain
and spinal cord to skeletal
muscle fibers
● Brain/SC + Axons +
Muscle Fibers =
Contraction
MEMBRANE POTENTIALS
1. Plasma membranes are
polarized – if there is an
electric charge difference
across the membrane
2. Resting membrane potential
= unstimulated cell
3. RMP of Nerve = -70mV
4. RMP of Muscle = -90mV
⮚ Ligand = is a molecule that
binds a receptor.
⮚ Receptor = a
protein/glycoprotein that has a
receptor site to which a ligand
can bind.
⮚ Ligand-gated ion channels =
are channels with gates that
open to a ligand binding
receptor that is part of the ion
channel.
⮚ Neurotransmitters
⮚ Acetylcholine – released by
motor neurons supplying
skeletal muscle; binds to
ligand-gated Na+ channels in
the membrane of muscle fibers;
as a result, the Na+ channels
open, allowing Na+ to enter the
cell
2. Voltage-gated ion channels
⮚ Open and close in response to
small voltage changes across
the plasma membrane
⮚ Na+, K+, Ca+
⮚ Na+ - K- Pump : moves Na out,
Moves K in

ION CHANNELS
Action Potential is a reversal of the
resting membrane potential; inside of
the plasma membrane; Inside of the
plasma membrane becomes positively
charged, compared with the outside

2 TYPES OF GATED ION

CHANNELS
1. Ligand-gated ion channels

ALL-OR-NONE PRINCIPLE
⮚ Action potentials either will
not occur, or if they do, are
all the same.
⮚ Subthreshold stimulus =
too weak
⮚ Threshold stimulus =
minimum stimulus strength
required
⮚ Propagate
NEUROMUSCULAR JUNCTION
⮚ a.k.a “Synapse”
⮚ Pre-synaptic terminal
⮚ Synaptic cleft
⮚ Post-synaptic membrane/Motor
end-plate
⮚ Synaptic vesicles
Sarcoplasmic reticulum
⮚ Actively transports Ca2+ into its
lumen
⮚ Concentration of Ca2+ is
approximately 2000 times
higher within the sarcoplasmic
reticulum than in sarcoplasm of
testing membrane
⮚ NMJ → AP @ sarcolemma →
T-tubules → Ca+2 channels @
terminal cisternae opens →
sarcoplasm → myofibrils (actin
and myosin) → cross-bridge
formation → contraction
Breakdown of ATP and
Cross-Bridge Movement
During Muscle Contraction
1. Exposure of active sites
2. Cross-bridge formation
3. Power stroke
4. Cross-bridge release
5. Breakdown of ATP
6. Recovery stroke
Muscle relaxation
⮚ Calcium ions are transported
into sarcoplasmic reticulum
⮚ Calcium ions diffuse away from
troponin and tropomyosin
moves, preventing further
cross-bridge formation
Physiology of Skeletal Muscle
Muscle twitch = is the contraction of a
muscle in response to a stimulus that
causes an action potential in one or
more muscle fibers.
• Lag/Latent phase
• Contraction phase
• Relaxation phase
Strength of Muscle
Contraction
The force of contraction produced by a
muscle is increased in two ways:
1. Multiple motor unit
summation = increasing the #
of muscle fibers contracting.
2. Multiple-wave summation =
increasing the force of
contraction of the muscle fibers.
***Graded fashion = can range from
weak to strong
• Subthreshold stimulus = (-)
AP nerve, (-) cxn mm
• Threshold stimulus = (+) AP
on single motor unit (+) cxn on
all mm fiber
• Submaximal stimuli = (+) AP
on addtl motor unit (+) cxn
• Maximal stimuli = (+) AP of all
motor unit (+) cxn
• Supramaximal stimuli = No
additional effect
***Recruited
Multiple-Wave Summation
• AP = 1-2 milliseconds
• Skeletal muscle twitch = 10
milliseconds up to 100
milliseconds (1 second)
• Summation
• Incomplete tetanus = muscle
fibers partially relax between
contractions.
• Complete tetanus = AP are
produced so rapidly in muscle
fibers that no relaxation
between them.
• Multiple wave summation =
increased tension resulting from
increased frequency of
stimulation.
• Treppe = Staircase effect
Types of Muscle
Contraction
• Isometric = no change in mm
length, but there is increase in
tension.
• Isotonic = constant mm
tension, length of mm changes
• Concentric = mm
tension ↑, mm shortens.
• Eccentric = mm tension
maintains, as mm
lengthens.
Muscle tone - is the constant
tension produced by muscles of the
body over a long period of time.
• State of partial contraction
throughout whole muscle
• Maintains pressure on
abdominal contents
• Helps maintain blood pressure
• Aids digestion
The Naming and Actions of
Skeletal Muscles
• Action
• Shape
• Origin and insertion
• Location
• Direction of fibers
• Origin: more fixed attachment
of muscle
• Insertion: movable attachment
of muscle
• Tendons: attach muscle to
bone
• Aponeurosis: wide flat tendon
• Flexors: bend limb at a joint
• Extensor: straighten limb at a
joint
• Abductors: move limb away
from midline
• Adductors: bring limb toward
midline
• Rotators: revolve limb around
axis
• Levators: raise a part of the
body
• Depressors: lower a part of the
body
• Prime movers or agonists:
bring about an action
• Antagonists: oppose agonists
• Synergists: assist prime
movers