EXCITABLE

TISSUE:MUSCLE
OBJECTIVES
• To describe the three types of muscles.

• To describe the structural components of each muscle type.

• Describe the physiological processes of muscle excitation

• The differences among the three major muscle groups.

TYPES OF MUSCLE
There are three types of muscles
1. Skeletal muscle
2. Cardiac muscle
3. Smooth muscle
Baseline….
• Muscles like neurones can be excited chemically, electrically and
mechanically to produce an action potential transmitted along the cell
membrane.

• Contractile proteins; actin and myosin are in abundance in muscle

hence the contractions.
SKELETAL MUSCLE

Skeletal muscle makes the greatest mass of somatic musculature.

It has well developed cross striations and does not normally contract in
the absence of nervous stimulation.
It lacks anatomic and functional connection between individual muscle
fibers and generally it is under voluntary control.
Cardiac muscle
• It also has cross striations but it is functionally syncytial.
• Contracts rhythmically in the absence of external innervation; owing
to the presence in the myocardium of pacemaker cells that discharge
spontaneously.
Smooth Muscle
• Lacks cross striations.
• The type found in hollow viscera is functionally syncytial and contains
pacemakers that discharge irregularly.
• The type found in the eye and some other locations is not
spontaneously active and thus acts as skeletal muscle.
SKELETAL MUSCLE MORPHOLOGY
AND ORGANIZATION
• Made up of individual muscle fiber arranged in parallel.
• Muscle fibers are made up of myofibrils which are divisible into
individual filament.
• The filaments are made up of contractile proteins.
• No syncytial bridges between fibers
• Myofilaments consist of contractile proteins:
Thick filament:- myosin II
Thin filament:-actin
-tropomyosin
-troponin I,C, T
THICK FILAMENT
• Made up of myosin II.
• Myosin II has two globular heads and a long tail.
• The heads form cross bridges with actin.
• The head contains actin binding site and a catalytic site that
hydrolyzes ATP.
THIN FILAMENT
• Polymers made up of two chains of actin that form a double helix.
• Tropomyosin are long filaments located in the groove between the two
chains of actin.
• Troponin molecules are small globular units located at intervals along the
tropomyosin molecule.
• Consists of:
Troponin T: binds troponin to tropomyosin.
Troponin I: inhibits interaction of myosin with actin.
Troponin C: contains the binding site for calcium that initiates contraction.
Demonstrating other structural
proteins
MOTOR UNIT
• Each single motor neuron and the muscle fibers it innervates
constitute a motor unit.
• The number of muscle fibers in a motor unit varies.
• Average is 80 -100 fibers in a motor unit.
MOTOR UNIT
MOTOR UNIT
NEUROMUSCULAR JUNCTION
• Its also known as motor end plate.
• Junction at which each nerve fiber makes contact with the muscle
fiber.
• It is located near midpoint of the muscle fiber.
• Action potential initiated in the muscle fiber, travels in both directions
towards the muscle fiber ends.
NEUROMUSCULAR JUNCTION
DISCHARGE FROM MOTOR NEURON
• Each nerve impulse will release acetylcholine from synaptic vesicles.
• The acetylcholine released binds to nicotinic muscarinic receptors in
the motor endplate.
• The attachment causes influx of Na+ producing end plate potential.
• Action potential generated is transmitted is via the T system to all
fibrils.
Discharge from motor neuron
Excitation contraction coupling
illustration
Steps in contraction
Steps in relaxation
POWER STROKE
• In resting muscle, troponin I is bound to actin and tropomyosin covers
the sites where myosin heads interact with actin.
• At rest, myosin contains tightly bound ADP.
• Released Ca2+ binds troponin C resulting in weakening of troponin I
and conformational change which exposes actin binding sites.
• Exposed Actin binding site allows for the formation of actin myosin/
cross bridges.
• Upon formation of cross bridge, ADP is released causing conformational
change in the myosin head that moves the thin filament relative to
thick filament: powerstroke.
POWER STROKE
• ATP quickly binds to the free site on myosin which leads to
detachment of myosin head from the thin filament.
• ATP is the hydrolysed to ADP and Pi causing recorking of myosin head.
• Cycle repeats as long as there is free Ca2+ and ATP.
SMOOTH MUSCLES
• Lacks visible cross striations hence different from cardiac and skeletal muscle
• Spindle shaped
• Actin and myosin II are present but not in regular arrays hence no striations.
• Have dense bodies in the cytoplasm in place of Z lines. They are attached to cell
membrane
• Dense bodies are bound by α actinin to actin filaments
• Contains tropomyosin but troponin appears to be absent.
• SR is less extensive and have carveolae instead of T tubules
• Have fewer mitochondria and largely relies on glycolysis for metabolic needs.
• Under ANS and cells respond to hormones and other chemicals
Types of Smooth Muscle
• Unitary/visceral
Occur in large sheets
Has many low resistance gap junctional bridges that allow electrical communication
Function in syncytial fashion and are found primarily in walls of viscera; the
musculature of intestines, uterus and ureters.
• Multiunit
 Made up of individual units
Few or no gap junctions
E.g. iris of the eye for fine graded contractions.
Not under voluntary control but functionally similar to skeletal muscle.
• Blood vessels have both multiunit and visceral smooth muscle in their walls.
ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL
ACTIVITY
• Characterized by instability of membrane potential; no true resting value.
• Resting potential ranges from -20 to -60mv
• Shows continuous irregular contractions independent of nerve supply
• Some generate spontaneous electrical activity
• Action potential consists of spikes followed by plateau
• Can also be a series of spikes on to slow waves
• Some cells contract without action potential through junctional
potentials spreading via neurotransmitters or 2nd messengers
• Maintained state of partial contraction is called tonus or tone.
SMOOTH MUSCLE CELL
CONTRACTION
• Calcium is involved in the initiation of contraction of smooth muscle.
• Visceral smooth muscle has a poorly developed sarcoplasmic
reticulum hence intracellular ca2+ that initiates contraction:
Primarily from ECF.
Sources of Ca2+ released depend on the activating stimulus
Influx from ECF through voltage or ligand gated membrane channels
Efflux from intracellular stores through RyR
Efflux from intracellular stores through IP3R Ca2+ channels
LATCH BRIDGE MECHANISM
• Once smooth muscle has developed full contraction, myosin cross
bridges remain attached to actin for some time after cytoplasmic ca2+
concentration falls.
• This produces sustained contraction with little expenditure of energy
which is usually important in vascular smooth muscle.
• Latch Mechanism Facilitates Prolonged Holding of Contractions of
Smooth Muscle.
CARDIAC MUSCLE
• Striated like the skeletal muscles
• Muscle fibers branch and interdigitate
• Contains large number of elongated mitochondria
• Have intercalated discs
• Consists of extensive series of folds between muscle fibers
• Always at the Z line
• Provide strong union between fibers maintaining cell to cell cohesion
and enables muscle to act as a unit
• Gap junctions exist:
• Found along the muscle fiber next to the discs
• Formed by fusion of cell membranes of adjacent fibers
• Provide low resistance bridges for spread of excitation
• T system:
• T tubules are wider than in skeletal muscles
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES AND
CONTRACTION
• Resting membrane potential is -90mv
• Stimulation produces propagated action potential responsible for
contraction.
• Depolarization proceeds rapidly and an overshoot is present as in
skeletal muscle and nerve but this is followed by a plateau before the
membrane potential returns to the base line.
• Contraction requires Ca2+ entry through L type channels
• References:
• 1. Review of Medical Physiology – F. Ganong (25th ed).

• 2. Medical Physiology – Guyton and Hall (13th ed).

• 3. Histology Text and Atlas – Ross (6th Ed)