Anatomy and Microanatomy of Muscles Flashcards
What are the four types of tissue?
- connective
- muscle
- nerve
- epithelial
What are the four properties of muscles?
- contractibility
- excitability
- extensibility
- elasticity
What are the functions of muscles?
- movement
- maintenance of posture
- respiration and digestion
- heat generation
- communication
- constriction of organs and blood vessels
- pumping blood
- protection
What are the three types of muscle?
- smooth
- cardiac
- skeletal
Describe skeletal muscles
- striated
- somatic
- voluntary
- attached indirectly or directly to bone
What is fascicle?
a group of muscle fibres/cells
What is a muscle fibre?
groups of myofibrils
Where is perimysium found?
wrapped around fascicles
Where is endomysium found?
wrapped around individual fibre
Where is epimysium found?
surrounding a muscle
Describe a muscle cell anatomically
long, cylindrical unbranched multinucleate contractile cell
How are the muscle cells arranged?
parallel
Can muscle cells be regenerated if damaged?
yes by proliferation and differentiation of stem cells
What is the myofibril composed of?
longitudinal myofilaments
- actin
- myosin
Is actin thin or thick?
thin
What is the M line?
the line in the middle of the sarcomere
What is the A band?
the length of the thick filament (myosin)
What is the I band?
the space between thick filaments
What is the Z line?
lines that separate sarcomeres
What does myosin consist of?
heavy chain tail
light chain head
What does actin consist of?
- tropomyosin
- troponin (Ca binding site)
What is the T tubule system?
a transverse extension of sarcolemma around each myofibril
Describe the sliding filament mechanism
- myosin heads hydrolyse ATP and become reorientated and energised
- myosin heads bind to actin forming crossbridges
- Myosin heads rotate towards the centre of the sarcomere (power stroke)
- As myosin heads bind ATP the cross bridges detach from actin
Describe how muscle contraction occurs?
- sarcolemma becomes depolarised
- rapid dissemination by T tubule system
- Release of Ca^2+ ions from terminal cisternae into sarcoplasm surrounding myofilaments
- Ca^2+ ions bind to troponin which changes shape, moving tropomyosin on actin to reveal actin binding sites
- Myosin head attaches to form cross bridge
- pivots and slides thin filament towards the sarcomere centre which causes a muscle contraction