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Addis Ababa Science and Technology University

College of Biological and Chemical Engineering

ANIMAL ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY

(BIOT2108)

CHAPTER 2
 Neuromuscular Anatomy and physiology
 Biological psychology (neuropsychologists)  biological mechanisms involved in behaviour and
mental activity

 Attempt to understand how the neural circuits and connections are formed and put together during the
development of the brain

 We cannot answer all of the questions  best possible tools for studying the brain, but the questions
do stir up curiosity and a better understanding of the biological processes that play a role in behavior

 It can be hard to remember the complicated names of nerve cells and brain areas

 However, to develop theories of behaviour regarding the brain, a psychologist must know something
about brain structure

 Nervous system: organisation, its cell composition, and the type of chemical signals that make it
possible for us to process an incredible amount of information on a daily basis.
 HOW THE NERVOUS SYSTEM IS ORGANISED?

 In vertebrates, the nervous system has two divisions: the peripheral nervous
system (PNS) and the central nervous system (CNS)

 CNS  consists of the brain and spinal cord, is surrounded by another nervous
system called the PNS

 The PNS gathers information from our surroundings and environment and
relays it to the CNS; it then acts on the signals or decisions that the CNS returns
 Cont…
 PNS consists of two parts: somatic nervous system & autonomic nervous system

 Autonomic nervous system is divided into two subsystems: the parasympathetic

nervous system and the sympathetic nervous system.

 Parasympathetic system is responsible for slowing the heart rate, increasing the
intestinal and gland activity and undertaking actions when the body is at rest

 sympathetic nervous system responsible for controlling actions associated with

the fight-or-flight response

 Somatic system contains the sensory receptors and motor nerves which activate
the skeletal muscles, and it is concerned with detecting and responding to
environmental stimuli
 Cognitive domain

Motor movement

Connect brain to the spinal cord 

message transmission

Information directed away from brain

towards muscles and glands

Transmit information from sensory

receptors to the CNS

Fig. 1: Components of the nervous system

 CELLS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
A. THE NEURON

 Core apparatus of the nervous system

 The basic information processing structures in the CNS.

 They are electrically excitable cells that process and transmit information around
the nervous system

 Transmit information either by electrical or by chemical signaling

 Common features of the Neurons
 Enclosed in a cell membrane  nucleus contains chromosomes and genetic
information
 Neurons consist of cytoplasm, mitochondria and other organelles
 Basic cellular processes occur in a neuron
 Ribosomes  proteins are produced, and mitochondria  metabolic activities

 Neurons contain a Golgi complex  a network of vesicles that get hormones and
other products ready to be secreted
Neurons/nerve cells different from other body cells?

 Extensions originate from the central body of the neuron. These as

dendrites and axons  Dendrites carry information to the cell body while
axons transmit information away from the cell body

 Neurons transmit and receive information via an electrochemical

mechanism

 Neurons have some distinct and specialised structures like the synapse
(junction between one neuron and the next)
 Neurons synthesise chemicals that serve as
neurotransmitters and neuromodulators.

 Neurotransmitters  chemicals released from neurons that act on specific

receptors

 Neuromodulators released from other cells, such as adenosinetriphosphate

(ATP), adenosine, and prostaglandin  affect neuronal signaling
 Neuron structure

 Neuron possesses a cell body, dendrites and an axon

 Dendrites are filaments that emanate from the cell body, branch numerous
times and give rise to a complex dendritic tree

 An axon is like the wire in an electrical cable

 It starts at the cell body at a site called the axon hillock and travels to the
site in the nervous system where it connects with another nerve cell or
different type of cell, such as muscle
 Cont…
 The cell body of a neuron frequently gives rise to multiple dendrites, but never
to more than one axon

 Why neurons contain only one axon; Because neurons have evolved to be
highly specialized in their connections and functions

 Having one axon allows neurons to focus their energy and resources on
transmitting information to one specific target cell
 • A layer of fatty cells
called the myelin
sheath segmentally
encloses the fibres of
many neurons that
greatly increase the
transmission speed of
neutral impulses.

Fig. 2: Neuron structure

 Inside the neuron
 Nucleus: contains genetic material within the chromosomes  information for
development and maintenance of the cells as well as the production of proteins

 Nucleolus: produces ribosomes, which are essential for translating genetic

information into proteins.

 Lysosomes: contain enzymes that reduce chemicals to their individual

components.

 Centrosome: This microtubule regulates the cells and the cell cycle.

 Cytoplasm: this is a partially transparent, gelatinous substance that fills the cell.
 produce energy,
store calcium for cell signal
ing activities, generate
heat, and mediate cell
growth and death.
Produce & assemble
the cells ribosome
cell metabolism

• used to move materials

around the cytoplasm Fig. 3: Cross-section of animal cell
 Cont…
 Vacuole: compartments bound by membranes that carry out various functions
including storage and secretion of neurotransmitters.

 Endoplasmic reticulum (ER): are made from ribosomes are called rough ER
(protein synthesis), whereas those which have no ribosomes are called smooth ER

 Golgi body or Golgi apparatus: a membrane-bound structure that is critical to the

process of encasing peptides and proteins into vesicles.

 Microfilaments or neurotubules: the system that moves materials within a neuron

 These elements can also be used for structural help.

 Neuron classification
 Neurons classified in a variety of ways, based on:

 function (sensor, motor, interneuron)

 location (cortical, subcortical)

 identity of the neurotransmitter they synthesise and release

(cholinergic, glutamatergic)

 shape (pyramidal, granule, etc.)

 Based on how axons and dendrite leave their cell body or
soma neurons can be grouped in to three

 Bipolar: two neuronal processes extending from opposite poles of the cell body:
one dendrite and one axon found in retina and olfactory system

 Unipolar: having only one process extending from the cell body (neurite), then
branches to form both dendritic and axonal processes

 Multipolar: multipolar neurons contain many processes that branch out from the
cell body  Contains a single axon and many dendrites
 Classification of neurons by identifying which way they
transmit information (Function):

 Efferent neurons (motor neurons): direct information away from the brain towards
muscles and glands.

 Afferent neurons (sensory neurons): transmit information to the central nervous

system from sensory receptors.

 Interneurons: found in the CNS, these pass information between motor neurons and
sensory neurons.
 Musculoskeletal system
 Utilizes the bones, joints, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, and muscles to give
the animal structure

 It is working in conjunction with the nervous system, allows movement

 The bones also have the added function of protecting vital internal organs

 Disorders of the musculoskeletal system are often associated with pain, limit
the animal’s mobility, and can be seen with the bones, joints, or muscles.
 Types of muscle tissue
 Nutrients that animals obtained are used for ATP production  fuels for the production
of work by muscles, among other physiological processes in the animal bodies

 Depending on what type of muscle tissues animals are using, they will use ATP
differently to generate work

 Overall, muscle cells are specialized for contraction

 Muscles allow for motions like walking, and also facilitate bodily processes such as
respiration and digestion

 The body contains three types of muscle tissue: skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, and
smooth muscle
short, tapered at each end, and
branched and
have only one plump nucleus in
striated, but short
each. The cytoplasm may
branch, and they have one
nucleus in the center of the cell
 Skeletal muscle tissue
 forms skeletal muscles, which attach to bones or skin and control locomotion and any
movement that can be consciously controlled

 Because it can be controlled by thought, skeletal muscle is also called voluntary muscle

 Skeletal muscles are long and cylindrical in appearance; when viewed under a
microscope, skeletal muscle tissue has a striped or striated appearance

 The striations are caused by the regular arrangement of contractile proteins (actin and
myosin)

 Actin is a globular multifunctional contractile protein that interacts with myosin for muscle
contraction

 Myosin  Motor protein responsible for muscle contraction

 Smooth muscle tissue
 occurs in the walls of hollow organs such as the intestines, stomach,
and urinary bladder, and around passages such as the respiratory
tract and blood vessels

 Smooth muscle has no striations, is not under voluntary control, has

only one nucleus per cell, is tapered at both ends, and is called
involuntary muscle.
 Cardiac muscle tissue
 It is only found in the heart, and cardiac contractions pump blood
throughout the body and maintain blood pressure

 Like skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle is striated, but unlike skeletal

muscle, cardiac muscle cannot be consciously controlled and is called
involuntary muscle

 It has one nucleus per cell, is branched, and is distinguished by the

presence of intercalated disks.
 Skeletal Muscle
 an organ that consists of various integrated tissues It includes the skeletal
muscle fibers, blood vessels, nerve fibers, and connective tissue

 Each skeletal muscle has three layers of connective tissue (called mysia) that
enclose it, provide structure to the muscle

 Each muscle is wrapped in a sheath of dense, irregular connective tissue called

the epimysium, which allows a muscle to contract and move powerfully

 The epimysium also separates muscle from other tissues and organs in the area,
allowing the muscle to move independently
Fig. 4:Three Connective Tissue Layers: Bundles of muscle fibers, called fascicles,
are covered by the perimysium. Muscle fibers are covered by the endomysium.
 Cont…
 Inside each skeletal muscle, muscle fibers are organized into bundles,
called fascicles, surrounded by a middle layer of connective tissue called
the perimysium

 Inside each fascicle, each muscle fiber is encased in a thin connective tissue layer
of collagen and reticular fibers called the endomysium

 The endomysium surrounds the extracellular matrix of the cells and plays a role in
transferring force produced by the muscle fibers to the tendons.

 In skeletal muscles that work with tendons to pull on bones

 At the other end of the tendon, it fuses with the periosteum coating the bone
 Cont…
 The tension created by contraction of the muscle fibers is then transferred
though the connective tissue layers, to the tendon, and then to the
periosteum to pull on the bone for movement of the skeleton

 In other places, the mysia may fuse with a broad, tendon-like sheet called
an aponeurosis, or to fascia, the connective tissue between skin and bones

 Every skeletal muscle is also richly supplied by blood vessels for

nourishment, oxygen delivery, and waste removal
 Skeletal Muscle Fibers
 Because skeletal muscle cells are long and cylindrical, they are commonly
referred to as muscle fibers (myofibers)

 Nuclei allows for production of the large amounts of proteins and enzymes

 Mitochondria and ER are additional organelles other than nucleus

 However, some of these structures are specialized in muscle fibers

 The specialized smooth ER, called the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), stores,
releases, and retrieves calcium ions (Ca++).
 Cont…
 Myofibrils are composed of smaller structures called myofilaments

 Two main types of filaments: thick and thin filaments:

 Thick filaments occur only in the A band of a myofibril

 Thin filaments attach to a protein in the Z disc called alpha-actinin and occur across the entire
length of the I band and partially into the A band

 This central region of the A band looks slightly lighter than the rest of the A band and is called the
H zone

 The middle of the H zone has a vertical line called the M line, at which accessory proteins hold
together thick filaments

 Both the Z disc and the M line hold myofilaments in place to maintain the structural arrangement
and layering of the myofibril.
 Cont…
 Thick filaments are composed of the protein myosin
 The tail of a myosin molecule connects with other myosin molecules to form the
central region of a thick filament near the M line, whereas the heads align on either
side of the thick filament where the thin filaments overlap
 The primary component of thin filaments is actin protein  tropomyosin and troponin
are additional protein component
 Actin has binding sites for myosin attachment
 Strands of tropomyosin block the binding sites and prevent actin-myosin interactions
when the muscles are at rest
 Troponin consists of three globular subunits. One subunit binds to tropomyosin, one
subunit binds to actin, and one subunit binds Ca2+ ions.
 Cont…
 The plasma membrane of muscle fibers is the sarcolemma and the cytoplasm is
referred to as sarcoplasm

 Within a muscle fiber, proteins are organized into organelles (myofibrils) that run
the length of the cell and contain sarcomeres connected in series

 Because myofibrils are only ~ 1.2 μm in diameter, hundreds to thousands can be

found inside one muscle fiber

 The sarcomere is the smallest functional unit of a skeletal muscle fiber and is a
highly organized arrangement of contractile, regulatory, and structural proteins

 It is the shortening of these individual sarcomeres that lead to the contraction of

individual skeletal muscle fibers (and ultimately the whole muscle).
  H zone - area between
the M line and Z disc 
contains only myosin

middle of sarcomere and

contains protein myomesin

Muscle Fiber: A skeletal muscle fiber is surrounded by a plasma membrane called the sarcolemma,
which contains sarcoplasm (cytoplasm of muscle cells)
A muscle fiber is composed of many myofibrils, which contain sarcomeres with light and dark regions
that give the cell its striated appearance.
 Farm animals for studying muscle development
and metabolism

 In animal production, skeletal muscle provides meat for human

consumption

 Skeletal muscle comprised of muscle fibers, connective tissues, and

intramuscular adipose tissues

 Characteristics of muscle fibers and connective tissues determine meat

tenderness, whereas intramuscular adipose content (marbling fat) is the
major factor determining the flavor and juiciness of meat
 Cont…
 Since myocytes, adipocytes, and fibroblasts all derived from the same pool of
mesenchymal stem cells in dermomyotome during early embryonic
development, their commitments to different lineages can be considered as a
competitive process

 Nutritional intervention which enhances myogenesis (muscular tissue

formation) and intramuscular adipogenesis while suppressing fibrogenesis may
improve animal production efficiency and meat quality
 Cont…
 Energy metabolism in skeletal muscle is precisely regulated to meet the energy
requirements for physiological functions such as growth, physical activity, and
thermogenesis

 Metabolic studies in farm animals have focused on increasing muscle growth

efficiency and meat quality, while decreasing production costs

 Enhancing energy expenditure in skeletal muscle contributes greatly to the

maintenance of whole-body energy homeostasis and metabolic health

 Though ruminants and humans exhibit different characteristics in carbohydrate and

lipid metabolism, they share similar regulatory mechanisms
 Cont…
 Understanding the roles of skeletal muscle and adipose tissue in the core
temperature maintenance and body weight control can help us to improve muscle
growth and alleviate metabolic disorders  pregnancy toxaemia (fatty liver
syndrome/kitosis), hypocalcemia, subacute ruminal acidosis…

 Collectively, studies to understand the biological processes of skeletal muscle

development and metabolism in farm animals will not only benefit animal and
meat production, but also human health
 Skeletal Muscle Development
 When tissues or organs are actively developing, they are susceptible to nutrient
fluctuations

 Fetal programming/developmental programming, describes the response of

organisms to challenges during a critical developmental time

 Improper maternal nutrition impairs fetal development, which affects the long-term
growth performance and health of offspring

 Understanding the intrinsic regulatory mechanisms and timeline of skeletal muscle

development during early life is essential for improving animal growth and the
efficiency of meat production as well as improving human health.
 Myogenesis

 Prenatal muscle development can be separated into embryonic and fetal stages

 Consequently, muscle development can be divided into primary (embryonic) and

secondary myogenesis (fetal stages)

 During embryonic development, mesenchymal stem cells in myotome commit to

the myogenic lineage through the expression of transcription factors including
paired box gene (Pax) 3 and Pax7
 Cont…
 Myoblasts proliferate and fuse to form primary muscle fibers under the control of
myogenic regulatory factors (MRFs), including Myf-5, Myo-D, myogenin, and
MRF-4

 Although a very limited number of muscle fibers are formed in this stage, these
primary muscle fibers serve as templates for the formation of secondary muscle
fibers during the fetal stage

 Myogenic precursor cells surrounding primary muscle fibers profoundly proliferate

to increase their numbers and then fuse to form secondary muscle fibers
 Cont…
 Thus, the population size of myogenic precursor cells not only determines the
number of muscle fibers formed but also affects the density of satellite cells in
postnatal muscle

 Because the number of muscle fibers does not increase after birth, myogenesis
during the fetal stage has profound impacts on production efficiency of animals,
as well as human health

 Most muscle fibers in adults are formed during the secondary myogenesis

 During the late fetal and neonatal stages, a portion of myogenic cells become
quiescent to form satellite cells
 Cont…
 Satellite cells fuse with the preexisting muscle fibers and contribute to the
postnatal muscle growth in size (muscle hypertrophy)

 In adult muscle, satellite cells are in a quiescent state and become activated in
response to external stimuli such as exercise and injury

 Activated satellite cells proliferate, differentiate, and fuse with preexisting muscle
fibers to repair damaged muscle fibers or regenerate new fibers in injured muscle

 Decreased density and disrupted function of satellite cells are associated with
impaired regenerative capacity and muscle degeneration due to diseases or
disorders
Fig. 6: Mesenchymal progenitor cells differentiate into myogenic and fibro-adipogenic cells during fetal muscle
development in humans and beef cattle. Impacts of early muscle development on animal production and human
health are indicated. Marbling is another term for intramuscular fat in skeletal muscle
(e.g., meat).
 Effects of Transcription Factors on Myogenic

 Myogenesis is controlled mainly by specific muscle-related transcription

factors, including MRFs (MYF5, MYOD, myogenin, and MRF4), PAX7, and
PAX3

 These factors act as terminal influencers of signaling procedures and

contribute to proper development of each stage specific transcripts

 Paired-box transcription factors are expressed first in mesoderm cells,

followed by the expression of MYF5 and MYOD
 Cont…
 PAX3 expression is indispensable for skeletal muscle development; it
upregulates the expression of MYOD during skeletal myogenesis

 PAX7 keeps satellite cells quiescent and, along with the expression of
MYF5, plays a critical role in the development of activated myoblasts

 MYOD and MYF5 are essential for the formation of muscle cell types,
whereas myogenin and MRF4 are needed to stimulate differentiation and
muscle fiber construction
End of the chapter