A&P Test 3 (Muscles and Joints) Flashcards
5 characteristics of Muscles
responsiveness, conductibility, contractibility, extensibility, elasticity
responsiveness
(excitability) capable of responses to chemical signals and stretch
conductibility
local electrical charges trigger a wave of excitation
contractibility
shortens when stimulated
extensibility
capable of being stretched
elasticity
returns to its original resting length after its stretched.
Skeletal Muscles
usually attached to 1 or more bones, myofibrils as long as 30 cm, give us striations, under conscious control
striations
light and ark transverse bands, due to the overlapping of contractile filaments
Connective Tissue
surrounds the muscle and holds it together but does not have same characteristics as muscle tissue; not excitable, not contractile, little elasticity. Main function is to give us a place for blood vessels and nerves
tendon
attaches muscle to bone
ligament
attaches bone to bone
fascia
connective tissue that covers the outside of a muslce
epimysium
thin layer of connective tissue around entire muscle
perimysium
wraps each bundle of fibers w/in the epimysium (wraps a fascicle)
endomysium
wraps each cell or fiber
Muscle Fibers
has many structures including a membrane around it like any cell
Sarcolemma
plasma membrane around the outside of a muscle cell
sarcoplasm
cytoplasm of muscle cell (contains ska organelles as a normal cell), holds glycogen for energy, holds myoglobin for binding oxygen
sarcoplasmic reticulum
smooth ER of muscle cell (stores calcium ions)
triad
2 terminal cistern and a T-tubule (located btwn the SR)
terminal cisternae
lager than tubes of SR, perpendicular to normal SR direction
T-tubule
connects to sarcolemma, has multiple nuclei due to fusion of myoblasts
myoblasts
each has 1 nucleus, fuse to form myotubes, they fuse due to internal membranes disappearing, now multi nucleic
satellite cells
(muscle stem cells) we don’t make more muscle, they just grow from use (hypertrophy). Only produce more muscle cells if injured.
myofilaments
bindles of parallel proteins
filaments
some thick and some thin, Z-line, M-line, striations
Z-line
goes all the way through the myofibril, like a protein pancake, thin filament are attached to to z-line, runs the length of the sarcomere
M-line
middle of the sarcomere where thick filaments are connected
striations
mixture of thick and thin filaments
titin
run through core of each thick filaments and connects to the z-line…helps keep sarcomere aligned.
thick filaments
made of myosin, have knobs that interact with thin filaments, a few hundred myosin molecules, globular heads and are hooked up shaft to shaft
thin filaments
made of actin, create strands that twist, have tropomyosin and troponin, each has an active site
tropomyosin
attached to actin and splits into 8 little proteins
troponin
protein thats attached to tropomyosin
motor neurons
skeletal muscle has to be stimulated to contract
neuron
individual nerve cells, each can go to a few different muscle cells (located in brain and spinal cord)
axons
long extensions of motor neurons that go to each muscle cell, about 200 terminal branches that supply 1 cell each.
motor unit
each neuron and cells that it connects. over 1000 muscle cells total, some need multiple neurons to contract. don’t all contract at once, more units involved, more control we have
postural control
motor units taking turns flexing and resting
fine control
smaller motor units so control is quick and accurate, we have fewer fibers per nerve
strength control
larger units w/ 1000 fibers/nerve. More broad and brute strength (big contractions)
Neuro Muscular Junctions
NMJ - synapse is region where nerve fibers make functional contact w. target cell
Neurotransmitters
ACh gets released from nerve fiber which causes the muscle cell to be stimulated
synaptic terminal
swollen end of the nerve (has vesicles of ACh)
motor end plate
region of muscle cell surface (has ACh receptors that bind to ACh released by the nerve, then AChE is enzyme that comes in to break down the ACh)
Shwann cells
envelopes and isolates the NMJ
Action potential
branch from neuron to axon muscle cells where signals are sent
Neuromuscular toxins
AChE breaks down ACh
cholinesterase inhibitor
keeps ACh from being broken down so muscles must stay contracted (seen in pesticides, kills insects)