2: Force generation by the heart Flashcards
Cardiac muscle has a streaky appearance - what are these streaks called?
Striations
So cardiac muscle is described as ‘striated’
Why is cardiac muscle striated?
Alternating actin and myosin proteins
(Actin has a lighter colour and myosin has a darker colour)
Do muscles have a nerve supply?
Why?
No
Autorhythmicity - heart can generate its own nerve impulses
What allows for cell-to-cell conduction of impulses between cardiac myocytes?
Gap junctions
What property of gap junctions allows for electrical communication between cardiac myocytes?
Low resistance
What is the All-or-none Law of the Heart?
All cardiac myocytes will respond to an action potential, no matter its strength
The low resistance of gap junctions ensures that excitation reaches ___ cardiac myocytes.
all
What is the function of desmosomes?
Provide mechanical adhesion - sticks cardiac myocytes together so they all tense up together
Within a muscle fibre, fascicles contain ___ which are made up of sarcomeres.
myofibrils
Myofibrils have alternating __ and __ protein segments.
thick , thin
What is the smallest unit of contractile muscle?
Sarcomere
What are the thin, lighter segments of myofibril made of?
Actin
What are the thicker, darker sections of myofibril called?
Myosin
What are the smaller functional units found within myofibrils called?
Sarcomeres
Actin filaments ___ along myosin filaments to cause muscle ___.
slide along
muscle contraction
The interactions between actin and myosin are dependent on what two molecules?
ATP
Ca2+
ATP binds to myosin to trigger what?
Detachment of myosin cross bridge from actin
Cross bridge then slides along actin and rebinds
Ca2+ triggers (binding / detachment) of myosin-actin.
Binding
What ion is required to switch on myosin cross-bridge formation?
Ca2+
So ATP binds to myosin to detach it from actin, it then slides forward and if calcium is present, it rebinds (and the muscle has contracted)
Name the two regulatory proteins found on actin filaments.
Tropomyosin
Troponin
What is the name of the rope-like protein structure found on actin filaments?
Tropomyosin
What protein blocks myosin binding sites on actin filaments until it is disabled by calcium ions?
Troponin
Calcium binds to troponin causing a _____ change, moving the protein away and exposing the ___ binding sites on the ___ filaments.
conformational change
myosin-binding sites on actin filaments
Ca2+ is released from the ____ ____ depending on the extracellular presence of Ca2+.
sarcoplasmic reticulum
What triggers the release of Ca2+ ions from the sarcoplasmic reticulum of myofibrils?
Extracellular calcium - i.e Calcium-dependent Calcium release
During systole…
- Contractile machinery activated
- Ca2+ influx during plateau phase of action potential
- Ca2+ released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum
- Ca2+ binds to troponin and allows myosin-actin cross-bridge binding
Arrange these statements in the correct order.
2 → 3 → 4 → 1