Professional Documents
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Muscles
Muscles
Muscular System
Introduction
There are 3 types of muscle tissue in the muscular system:
◦ Skeletal muscle
◦ Attached to bones of skeleton
◦ Under conscious control
◦ Striated
◦ Cardiac muscle
◦ Wall of heart
◦ Not under conscious control
◦ Striated
◦ Smooth muscle
◦ Walls of most viscera, blood vessels, skin
◦ Not under conscious control
◦ Not striated
Muscle Functions
1. Produce skeletal movements
2. Maintain body posture and position
3. Support soft tissues
4. Peristalsis
5. Pumping blood
6. Heat production
Structure of a Skeletal Muscle
Skeletal muscles:
◦ Attach to bones, and skin of face
◦ Under conscious control (voluntary)
◦ A skeletal muscle is an organ of the muscular system
Composed of:
◦ Skeletal muscle tissue
◦ Nervous tissue
◦ Blood
◦ Connective tissues
Connective Tissue
Coverings
Epimysium
◦ Surrounds whole muscle
Perimysium
◦ Surrounds fascicles within a muscle
Endomysium
◦ Surrounds muscle fibers (cells) within a fascicle
Skeletal
Muscle Fibers
Skeletal muscle fiber = muscle cell
Mutinucleated
Sarcolemma
Sarcoplasma
Myofibrils:
◦ Thin filaments
◦ Actin, tropomyosin, and troponin
◦ Thick filaments
◦ Myosin
Sarcoplasmic
Reticulum and Triad
Sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR)
Transverse (T) tubule
Triad:
◦ 1 T tubule and 2 SR cisternae
Myofibrils and
Sarcomeres
Myofibrils consist of sarcomeres
connected end-to-end
Sarcomeres contain:
◦ I band (thin filament)
◦ A band (thick and thin filament)
◦ H zone (thick filament)
◦ Z line (or Z disc)
◦ M line
Skeletal Muscle
Fibers
Thick filaments:
◦ Composed of myosin
◦ Myosin heads form cross-bridges
Thick filaments:
◦ Composed of actin protein, which serves as
myosin-binding site
◦ Associated with troponin and tropomyosin
proteins, which prevent cross-bridge formation
when muscle is not contracting
Neuromuscular
Junction
Neuromuscular Junction (NMJ):
◦ Type of synapse
◦ Also called myoneural junction
◦ Site where an axon of motor neuron and skeletal muscle
fiber interact
◦ Skeletal muscle fibers contract only when stimulated by a
motor neuron
Parts of a NMJ:
◦ Motor neuron
◦ Motor end plate
◦ Synaptic cleft
◦ Synaptic vesicles
◦ neurotransmitters
Stimulus for
Contraction
Acetylcholine (ACh) is the neurotransmitter
Nerve impulse causes release of ACh from synaptic
vesicles
ACh binds to ACh receptors on motor end plate
(folded area of the sarcolemma with ACh receptors)
ACh causes changes in membrane permeability to
Na+ and K+ which generates a muscle impulse (action
potential)
Impulse causes release of Ca2+ from SR, which leads
to muscle contraction
NMJ Animation
Clinical Application: Myasthenia
Gravis (MG)
MG is an autoimmune disorder
Antibodies attach ACh receptors on the skeletal muscle fibers (motor end plate) in NMJs
Person may have only 1/3 normal number of ACh receptors
Leads to widespread muscle weakness and muscle fatigue
Treatment:
◦ Drugs that inhibit acetylcholinesterase
◦ Immunosuppressant drugs
◦ Administering antibodies that inactivate harmful antibodies
◦ Plasma exchange
Excitation-Contraction Coupling
Excitation-Contraction Coupling:
◦ Connection between muscle fiber stimulation and muscle contraction
Excitation Animation
Excitation-
Contraction Coupling
Oxygen Debt:
◦ Amount of oxygen needed by liver cells to convert the accumulated lactic acid to glucose, and to restore
muscle ATP and creatine phosphate concentration
Oxygen Debt
Heat Production
Heat is a by-product of cellular respiration in active cells
Muscle cells are major source of body heat
More than half the energy released in cellular respiration becomes heat; less than half is
transferred to ATP
Blood transports heat throughout body core
Recording of a
Muscle Contraction
Twitch: contractile response of a
single muscle fiber to a single
impulse
◦ Latent period
◦ Period of contraction
◦ Period of relaxation
Length-Tension
Relationship
Length of muscle fiber before stimulation
determines amount of force it can develop
Certain motor units are activated first, and others are activated only when the intensity of
stimulus increases
As intensity of stimulation increases, recruitment of motor units continues until all motor units
are activated
Types of Contractions
Isotonic: muscle contracts and changes length; equal force
◦ Concentric: shortening contraction
◦ Eccentric: lengthening contraction
Isometric: muscle contracts but does not change length, change in force
(a) Muscle contracts with (b) Muscle contracts with (c) Muscle contracts but
force greater than resistance force less than resistance does not change length
and shortens (concentric and lengthens (eccentric (isometric contraction)
contraction) contraction)
Clinical Application: Use and Disuse of
Skeletal Muscles
Hypertrophy: Enlargement of skeletal muscle that is exercised
Atrophy: Decrease in size and strength of skeletal muscle that is unused
Aerobic exercise stimulates slow-twitch fibers. In response, fibers increase their capillaries and
mitochondria.
Forceful exercise stimulates mainly fast-twitch fibers. In response, fibers produce new actin and
myosin filaments, and the muscle enlarges.
Skeletal Muscle Actions
Skeletal muscle generates a great variety of body movements
The action of each muscle mostly depends upon:
◦ The type of joint it is associated with
◦ The way the muscle is attached on either side of the joint
Origin and Insertion
One end of a skeletal muscle is more fixed, and
the other end is more movable:
◦ Origin: less movable end
◦ Insertion: more movable end