Microscopic structure

of Muscles

Dr.Dilrukshi Thavin
Learning outcomes

1. Name the basic types of muscle tissues.

2. Describe the gross structure of skeletal muscles.
3. Describe the microscopic structure of the skeletal muscles.
4. Explain the sliding filament theory of muscle contraction.
5. Describe the motor unit and the motor end plate.
6. Describe the muscle spindle.
7. Describe the structure of cardiac muscles and smooth muscles.
8. Describe muscle regeneration, hypertrophy, hyperplasia and
atrophy
Muscle tissue ?

Basic tissue which has the special features of

1. Excitability – ability to receive & respond to a stimulus

2. Contractility –ability to shorten when stimulated

3. Extensibility – ability to stretch beyond the resting length

4. Elasticity – ability to come back to resting length after being

stretched
 Types of Muscle tissue

1. Skeletal muscle ( striated and voluntary)

2. Cardiac muscles ( striated and involuntary)
3. Smooth muscles ( nonstriated and involuntary)
Functional unit of the muscle tissue

Muscle cell = muscle fiber

Cell membrane Sarcolemma

Cytoplasam Sarcoplasam
Nucleus/Nuclei
Mitochondria
Endoplasmic reticulum Sarcoplasmic reticulum
Ribosomes
Myofilaments
Connective tissue in the muscle – arranged as
 Epimyseum – surrounding the whole muscle
 Perimyseum – surrounding each fascicle
 Endomyseum – surrounding each muscle fiber
Skeletal Muscle cells – Long & large diameter
Multi nucleated
Striated ( dark A bands & light
I bands )

Located peripherally
Myofibrils – Rod shaped & arranged parallel to each other
Densely packed - 80% cell volume

Striations – A bands ( dark) & I bands (light)

H - zone in the middle of

A band ( lighter)
M line bisecting the
H – zone (dark)
Myofibrils

Striations – A bands ( dark) & I bands (light)

Z disc bisecting the

I band (dark)
 Sarcomere – Region between two adjacent Z discs
A band & half of an I band at each end

Smallest contractile
unit
Composition of myofibrils

Three types of myofilaments

1. Thick filaments
2. Thin filaments
3. Elastic filaments
 Myofilaments

Thick & Thin

Central portion of the

Sarcomere
Mainly myosin

Sides of sarcomere
Actin,tropomoyosin &
troponin
 Myofilaments
A band – Thick & thin
filaments
I band – Thin
filaments

H zone – Only thick

filaments

M line – attachments
between thick filaments

Z line – attachment
between thin filaments
How do muscles contract ?
Relaxed muscle fiber – thick & thin
filaments overlap slightly
In muscle contraction – thin filaments
slide centrally thus making the overlap
greater.
• The length of the sacomere is
reduced.
• The I bands are shorten.
• The H zone disappear.
• The lengths of myofilaments remain
same.

Sliding filament theory

 Endoplasmic reticulum

Arranged as a interconnecting system of tubules

At the A and I band junctions dilated to form two parallel
terminal cisternae
 T-Tubules
The sarcolemma penetrates into the cell interior as a tubule at
A & I band junctions
It runs between the termianal cisternae
Transmits the electrical impulse from the sracolemma to the
terminal cisterns

Terminal cistern
T-tubule
Terminal cistern

Triads
Motor unit
A motor neuron and the group
of muscle fibers supplied by
that nerve

Motor neurons make

neuromuscular junctions
with muscle fibers
Neuromuscular junction – between the nerve ending and the
muscle fiber

Sarcolemma is highly folded – increase the surface area of

contact

Motor end plate

 Muscle spindle

Intrafusal fibers within a

connective tissue capsule
filled with fluid
Two types of fibers
• Long & Spindle
Two types of nerve endings
Spiral & sprinkled

Two types of functions

• Stretch receptors
• Maintains muscle tone
Cardiac muscles
• Striated
• Single nucleus
• Nucleus central
• Cells branch
• Branching cells are fixed
together at intercalated
discs
• Have actin & myosin
filaments
• Contraction by sliding
hypothesis
Intercalated discs
• Binds adjacent cells together by desmosomes

• Facilitate ionic exchange through gap junctions Intercalated disc

Desmasomes

Gap junctions
Cardiac muscle

T tubules at Z discs
One cistern of
sarcoplasmic reticulum
Parallel to T tubule

Diads
Smooth muscles : found in the walls of hollow viscera ( intestine, bladder,
blood vessels etc.)

 Elongated cells
 Non striated
 Tapering ends with central
bulging (fusiform)
 Single nucleus placed
centrally
 Actin and myosin filaments are
arranged in a crisscross
pattern
 Other than thick and thin
filament there is an
intermediate filament
 Major protein in
intermediate filament is
Desmin
 There are dense bodies
in the cell membrane
and cytoplasm.
 Thin filaments and
intermediate filaments
are attached to dense
bodies
 Contraction of these
filaments decreases the
size of the cell and
transmit the contractile
force to adjacent muscle
cells
 Regeneration

 Replacement of the tissue (when damaged) by the same type of tissue.

 Occurs by the division of the existing cells.

 Hypertrophy

 Increasing the size of the cells due to increase demand.

 Hyperplasia

 Increasing the number of cells due to increase demand.

 Occurs by the division of the existing cells.

 Atrophy

 Loss of muscle mass due to non use

 Occurs doe to reduced size of existing cells
Process Type of muscle cells
Skeletal Cardiac Smooth
Regeneration  Limited  Absent  Very active
 There are mononucleted spindle  Damage muscle  New muscle cells are
shaped cells is replaced by formed by the mitosis
 ( satellite cells) within basal lamina fibrous of existing cells
of each muscle cell. connective tissue
 They are normally inactive
 In muscle injury, the satellite cells
are activated to from new muscle
cells.

Hypertrophy  Present  Present  Present

 With increasing demand, the  Mechanism not  Mechanism not clear
satellite cells are activated. clear
 They fuse with the parent muscle
cell and increase the size of the cell
Hyperplasia  Absent  Absent  Present
 By the division of
existing muscle cells
Atrophy  Present  Absent  Absent
 Mechanism not clear