The Muscular System Skeletal Muscle Characteristics

✓ Muscles are responsible for all types of body movement ✓ Most are attached by tendons to bones
✓ Three basic muscle types are found in the body ✓ Cells are multinucleate
o Skeletal muscle ✓ Striated—have visible banding
o Cardiac muscle ✓ Voluntary—subject to conscious control
o Smooth muscle Connective Tissue Wrappings of Skeletal Muscle
✓ Skeletal and smooth muscle cells are elongated (muscle cell = muscle ✓ Cells are surrounded and bundled by connective tissue
fiber) o Endomysium—encloses a single muscle fiber
✓ Contraction and shortening of muscles is due to the movement of o Perimysium—wraps around a fascicle (bundle) of muscle
microfilaments fibers
✓ All muscles share some terminology o Epimysium—covers the entire skeletal muscle
o Prefixes myo and mys refer to “muscle” o Fascia—on the outside of the epimysium
o Prefix sarco refers to “flesh”
Skeletal Muscle Attachments

✓ Epimysium blends into a connective tissue

attachment
o Tendons—cord-like structures
▪ Mostly collagen fibers
Comparison of Skeletal, Cardiac, ▪ Often cross a joint due to
and Smooth Muscles • toughness and
small size
o Aponeuroses—sheet-like structures
▪ Attach muscles indirectly
to bones, cartilages, or
connective tissue coverings
✓ Sites of muscle attachment
o Bones
o Cartilages
o Connective tissue coverings
Smooth Muscle Characteristics
• Lacks striations
• Spindle-shaped cells
• Single nucleus
• Involuntary—no conscious control
• Found mainly in the walls of hollow organs
Cardiac Muscle Characteristics
• Striations
• Usually has a single nucleus
• Branching cells
• Joined to another muscle cell at an
intercalated disc
• Involuntary
• Found only in the walls of the heart
Skeletal Muscle Functions
• Produce movement
• Maintain posture
• Stabilize joints
• Generate heat
Microscopic Anatomy of Skeletal Muscle
• Sarcolemma—specialized plasma membrane
• Myofibrils—long organelles inside muscle cell
• Sarcoplasmic reticulum—specialized smooth endoplasmic reticulum
Stimulation and Contraction of
Microscopic Anatomy of Skeletal Muscle
Single Skeletal Muscle Cells
✓ Myofibrils are aligned to give distinct bands
✓ Excitability (also called responsiveness or irritability)—ability to receive
o I band = light band
and respond to a stimulus
▪ Contains only thin filaments
✓ Contractility—ability to shorten when an adequate stimulus is received
o A band = dark band
✓ Extensibility—ability of muscle cells to be stretched
▪ Contains the entire length of the thick filaments
✓ Elasticity—ability to recoil and resume resting length after stretching
✓ Skeletal muscles must be stimulated by a motor neuron (nerve cell) to
contract
✓ Motor unit—one motor neuron and all the skeletal muscle cells
stimulated by that neuron
The Nerve Stimulus and Action Potential
✓ Neuromuscular junction
o Association site of axon terminal of the motor neuron and
✓ Sarcomere—contractile unit of a muscle fiber muscle
✓ Organization of the sarcomere ✓ Synaptic cleft
o Myofilaments o Gap between nerve and muscle
▪ Thick filaments = myosin filaments o Nerve and muscle do not make contact
▪ Thin filaments = actin filaments o Area between nerve and muscle is filled with interstitial fluid
✓ Thick filaments = myosin filaments ✓ Action potential reaches the axon terminal of the motor neuron
o Composed of the protein myosin ✓ Calcium channels open and calcium ions enter the axon terminal
o Has ATPase enzymes Transmission of Nerve Impulse to Muscle
o Myosin filaments have heads (extensions, or cross bridges) ✓ Calcium ion entry causes some synaptic vesicles to release their
o Myosin and actin overlap somewhat contents (acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter) by exocytosis
✓ Thin filaments = actin filaments ✓ Neurotransmitter—chemical released by nerve upon arrival of nerve
o Composed of the protein actin impulse in the axon terminal
o Anchored to the Z disc o The neurotransmitter for skeletal muscle is acetylcholine (ACh)
✓ At rest, within the A band there is a zone that lacks actin filaments ✓ Acetylcholine attaches to receptors on the sarcolemma of the
o Called either the H zone or bare zone muscle cell
✓ Sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) ✓ In response to the binding of ACh to a receptor, the sarcolemma
o Stores and releases calcium becomes permeable to sodium (Na+)
o Surrounds the myofibril ✓ Sodium rushes into the cell generating an action potential and
potassium leaves the cell
✓ Once started, muscle contraction cannot be stopped
The Sliding Filament Theory ✓ Unfused (incomplete) tetanus
of Muscle Contraction o Some relaxation occurs between contractions but nerve
• Activation by nerve causes myosin heads (cross bridges) to attach to stimuli arrive at an even faster rate than during summing of
binding sites on the thin filament contractions
• Myosin heads then bind to the next site of the thin filament and pull o Unless the muscle contraction is smooth and sustained, it is
them toward the center of the sarcomere said to be in unfused tetanus
• This continued action causes a sliding of the myosin along the actin ✓ Fused (complete) tetanus
• The result is that the muscle is shortened (contracted) o No evidence of relaxation before the following contractions
o Frequency of stimulations does not allow for relaxation
between contractions
o The result is a smooth and sustained muscle contraction
Muscle Response to Strong Stimuli
✓ Muscle force depends upon the number of fibers stimulated
✓ More fibers contracting results in greater muscle tension
✓ Muscles can continue to contract unless they run out of energy
Energy for Muscle Contraction
✓ Initially, muscles use stored ATP for energy
o ATP bonds are broken to release energy
o Only 4–6 seconds worth of ATP is stored by muscles
✓ After this initial time, other pathways must be utilized to produce
ATP
✓ Direct phosphorylation of ADP by creatine phosphate (CP)
o Muscle cells store CP
▪ CP is a high-energy molecule
o After ATP is depleted, ADP is left
Contraction of Skeletal Muscle o CP transfers a phosphate group to ADP, to regenerate
✓ Muscle fiber contraction is “all or none” ATP
✓ Within a skeletal muscle, not all fibers may be stimulated during the o CP supplies are exhausted in less than 15 seconds
same interval o About 1 ATP is created per CP molecule
✓ Different combinations of muscle fiber contractions may give differing ✓ Aerobic respiration
responses o Glucose is broken down to carbon dioxide and water,
✓ Graded responses—different degrees of skeletal muscle shortening releasing energy (about 32 ATP)
✓ Graded responses can be produced by changing: o A series of metabolic pathways occur in the
o The frequency of muscle stimulation mitochondria
o The number of muscle cells being stimulated at one time o This is a slower reaction that requires continuous oxygen
Types of Graded Responses o Carbon dioxide and water are produced
✓ Twitch ✓ Anaerobic glycolysis and lactic acid formation
o Single, brief contraction o Reaction that breaks down glucose without oxygen
o Not a normal muscle function o Glucose is broken down to pyruvic acid to produce
✓ Summing of contractions about 2 ATP
o One contraction is immediately followed by another o Pyruvic acid is converted to lactic acid
o The muscle does not completely return to a resting state due ✓ This reaction is not as efficient, but is fast
to more frequent stimulations o Huge amounts of glucose are needed
o The effects are added o Lactic acid produces muscle fatigue
Muscle Fatigue and Oxygen Deficit o Origin
✓ When a muscle is fatigued, it is unable to contract even with a ▪ Attachment to a moveable bone
stimulus o Insertion
✓ Common cause for muscle fatigue is oxygen debt ▪ Attachment to an immovable bone
o Oxygen must be “repaid” to tissue to remove oxygen Types of Body Movements
deficit ✓ Flexion
o Oxygen is required to get rid of accumulated lactic acid o Decreases the angle
✓ Increasing acidity (from lactic acid) and lack of ATP causes the of the joint
muscle to contract less o Brings two bones
Types of Muscle Contractions closer together
✓ Isotonic contractions o Typical of bending
o Myofilaments are able to slide past each other during hinge joints like knee
contractions and elbow or ball-
o The muscle shortens and movement occurs and-socket joints like
o Example: bending the knee; rotating the arm the hip
✓ Isometric contractions ✓ Extension
o Tension in the muscles increases o Opposite of flexion
o The muscle is unable to shorten or produce movement o Increases angle between two
o Example: push against a wall with bent elbows bones
Muscle Tone o Typical of straightening the
• Some fibers are contracted even in a relaxed muscle elbow or knee
• Different fibers contract at different times to provide muscle tone and o Extension beyond 180° is
to be constantly ready hypertension
Effect of Exercise on Muscles ✓ Rotation
✓ Exercise increases muscle size, strength, and endurance o Movement of a bone around its
o Aerobic (endurance) exercise (biking, jogging) results in longitudinal axis
stronger, more flexible muscles with greater resistance to o Common in ball-and-socket joints
fatigue o Example is when you move atlas
▪ Makes body metabolism more efficient around
▪ Improves digestion, coordination the dens of axis (shake your head
o Resistance (isometric) exercise (weight lifting) increases “no”)
muscle size and strength ✓ Abduction
Five Golden Rules of Skeletal Muscle Activity o Movement of a limb away from the
1. With a few exceptions, all skeletal muscles cross at least one joint. midline
2. Typically, the bulk of a skeletal muscle lies proximal to the joint crossed. ✓ Adduction
3. All skeletal muscles have at least two attachments: the origin and the o Opposite of abduction
insertion. o Movement of a limb toward the midline
4. Skeletal muscles can only pull; they never push. ✓ Circumduction
5. During contraction, a skeletal muscle insertion moves o Combination of flexion, extension,
toward the origin. abduction, and adduction
Muscles and Body Movements o Common in ball-and-socket joints
✓ Movement is attained due to a muscle
moving an attached bone
✓ Muscles are attached to at least two points
 o Example: Temporalis (temporal bone)

✓ By number of origins

o Example: Triceps (three heads)

✓ By location of the muscle’s origin and insertion

o Example: Sterno (on the sternum)

Special Movements
• Dorsiflexion ✓ By shape of the muscle
• Lifting the foot so that the superior surface approaches the
o Example: Deltoid (triangular)
shin (toward the dorsum)
• Plantar flexion ✓ By action of the muscle
• Depressing the foot (pointing the toes)
• “Planting” the foot toward the sole o Example: Flexor and extensor (flexes or extends a bone
• Inversion
• Turn sole of foot medially
• Eversion
• Turn sole of foot laterally
• Supination
• Forearm rotates laterally so palm faces anteriorly
• Radius and ulna are parallel
• Pronation
• Forearm rotates medially so palm faces posteriorly
• Radius and ulna cross each other like an X
• Opposition
• Move thumb to touch the tips of other fingers on the same
hand
Types of Muscles
• Prime mover—muscle with the major responsibility for a certain
movement
• Antagonist—muscle that opposes or reverses a prime mover
• Synergist—muscle that aids a prime mover in a movement and helps
prevent rotation
• Fixator—stabilizes the origin of a prime mover

Naming Skeletal Muscles

✓ By direction of muscle fibers

o Example: Rectus (straight)

✓ By relative size of the muscle

o Example: Maximus (largest)

✓ By location of the muscle