Chapter 9 Muscles And Muscle Tissue Flashcards
Define Muscle Fibers:
Elongated Skeletal and Smooth muscle Cells
Name the Prefixes that come before words referring to muscle
Myo-
Mys-
and Sarco-
Components of Skeletal Muscle Tissue:
o Longest muscle cells o Striated o Voluntary muscle but also activated by the reflexes. o Responsible for overall body mobility. o Exhausts quickly. o Very Adaptable
Components of Cardiac Muscle Tissue:
o Occurs only in the heart.
o Striated
o Involuntary
Components of Smooth Muscle Tissue:
o Found in walls of hollow visceral organs. (Stomach, urinary bladder, and respiratory passageways.)
o Role is to force fluids and other substances through internal body channels.
o Elongated cells but NO Striations.
o Involuntary
Special Characteristics of Muscle Tissue:
o Excitability (Responsiveness): Ability to receive and respond to stimulus.
o Contractility: Ability to shorten forcibly when adequately stimulated.
o Extensibility: The ability to extend or stretch
o Elasticity: The ability of a muscle cell to recoil and resume its resting length after stretching.
Muscle Functions:
o Producing Movement o Maintaining Posture and Body Position o Stabilizing Joints o Generating Heat o Protect fragile internal organs
Gross Anatomy of a Skeletal Muscle:
Nerve and Blood Supply
- One nerve, one artery, and one or more veins serve each muscle.
- Rich blood supply in muscle.
Gross Anatomy of a Skeletal Muscle:
Connective Tissue Sheaths
-Support each cell and reinforce and hold together muscles as a whole.
• Epimysium: “Overcoat” of dense irregular connective tissue that surrounds the whole muscle.
• Perimysium: Perimysium is a fibrous connective tissue layer that surrounds each fascicle.
• Endomysium: Wispy sheath of connective tissue that surrounds each individual muscle fiber. Consists of fine areolar connective tissue.
Gross Anatomy of a Skeletal Muscle:
Attachments
- Direct attachments: Epimysium of the muscle is fused to the periosteum of a bone or perichondrium of a cartilage.
- Indirect attachments: Muscle’s connective tissue wrappings extend beyond the muscle either as ropelike tendon or sheetlike aponeurosis.
Microscopic Anatomy of Skeletal Muscle Fiber:
o Sarcolemma: Plasma Membrane
o Sarcoplasm: Cytoplasm of a muscle cell. Contains large amounts of glycosomes and myoglobin.
o Myofibrils: Densely packed components of a muscle fiber.
Layers of Skeletal Muscle Large to Small:
o Muscle surrounded in Epimysium o Fascicles surrounded by Perimysium o Muscle Fibers surrounded by Endomysium o Myofibrils o Sarcomeres o Myofilaments
Components of a Myofibril:
A-Bands and I-Bands
Perfectly aligned bands giving each myofibril it’s striated appearance.
Components of a Myofibril:
H-Zone
Lighter region in the midsection of an A-Band.
Components of a Myofibril:
M-Line
Dark line that vertically bisects each H-Zone.
Components of a Myofibril:
Z-Disc
Dark, Midline interruption of each I-Band.
Components of a Myofibril:
Sarcomere
- The region of a myofibril between two successive Z-Discs.
- Smallest contractile unit of a muscle fiber.
- The functional unit of skeletal muscle.
Components of a Myofibril:
Thick Filaments
- Contain MYOSIN and extend the entire length of the A Band.
- Connected in the middle of the sarcomere at the M Line.
Components of a Myofibril:
Thin Filaments
- Contain ACTIN and extend across the I band and partway into the A band.
- Anchored by the Z disc.
Molecular Composition of Myofilaments:
Myosin
Protein that thick filaments of a myofilament are composed of.
Molecular Composition of Myofilaments:
Actin
Protein that thin filaments of a myofilament are composed of.
Molecular Composition of Myofilaments:
Cross Bridges
The process in which thick and thin filaments are linked together forming a “bridge” that swivels around the point of attachment.
Molecular Composition of Myofilaments:
Regulatory Proteins of Thin Filaments
Both help control the myosin-actin interactions involved in contraction.
• Tropomyosin: rod-shaped protein that spirals about the actin core to help stiffen and stabilize it. Blocks myosin-binding sites so thick filaments can’t bind to thin filaments.
• Troponin: Globular three-polypeptide complex. Part is a inhibitory subunit that binds to actin. Second binds to tropomyosin and helps position it on actin. The last binds calcium ions.
Molecular Composition of Myofilaments:
Elastic Filament
- Composed of large Protein Titin, which extends from the Z-Disc to the thick filament and runs within it forming it’s core to attach to the M-Line.
- Holds thick filaments in place, maintaining organization of the A-Band.
- Helps muscle spring back to shape after stretching.
Molecular Composition of Myofilaments:
Dystrophin
Links the thin filaments to the integral proteins of the sarcolemma.
Molecular Composition of Myofilaments:
Other Proteins
Nebulin, myomesin, and C Proteins.
Define Sarcoplasmic Reticulum:
- An elaborate, smooth endoplasmic reticulum.
- Interconnecting tubules surround each myofibril loosely.
Define Terminal Cisterns:
Form large, perpendicular cross-channels at the A-Band and I-Band junctions and they always occur in pairs.
- Large numbers of mitochondria and glycogen granules, which are involved in producing energy during contraction.
- Regulates Intercellular levels of ionic calcium.
Define T-Tubules:
- Elongated tube protruding deep into the cell interior.
- Contain a Lumen, or cavity that is continuous with the extracellular space.
Define Triad:
- A grouping of two terminal cisterns and a T-Tubule.
- Encircle each sarcomere.
- Provide necessary signals for contraction.
- Integral proteins of the T-Tubule act as voltage sensors.
What Controls Muscle Contraction?
- Nerve-initiated electrical impulses that travel along the sarcolemma.
- Conduct impulses to the deepest regions of the muscle cell and each sarcomere.
- Signal for necessary release of calcium.
Define Sliding Filament Model of Contraction:
o During contraction the thin filaments slide past the thick ones so that the actin and myosin filaments overlap to a greater degree.
• When the nervous system stimulates muscle fibers, the myosin heads on the thick filaments latch onto myosin-binding sites on actin in the thin filaments, and the sliding begins.
• These cross-bridge attachments form and break several times during a contraction, acting like tiny little ratchets to generate tension and propel the thin filaments toward the center of the sarcomere.
• As this event occurs simultaneously in sarcomeres throughout the cell, the muscle cell shortens.
o As a muscle cell shortens: The I-bands shorten, the distance between successive Z discs shortens, the H zones disappear, and the contiguous A bands move closer together but their length does not change.
4 Events That Must Occur for a Skeletal Muscle Fiber to Contract:
o 1. The fiber must be activated; stimulated by a nerve ending so that a change in membrane potential occurs.
o 2. Must generate an electrical current, called an action potential, in its sarcolemma.
o 3. The action potential is automatically propagated along the sarcolemma.
o 4. Intracellular calcium ion levels must rise briefly, providing the final trigger for contraction.
- The 6 Steps of Events at the Neuromuscular Junction:
Step 1: AP Arrival
Action potential arrives at axon terminal of motor neuron.
- The 6 Steps of Events at the Neuromuscular Junction:
Step 2: Opening of Voltage Gates
Voltage-gated Ca2+ channels open. Ca2+ enters the axon terminal moving down its electrochemical gradient.
- The 6 Steps of Events at the Neuromuscular Junction:
Step 3: Release of ACh
Ca2+ entry causes ACh to be released by exocytosis.
- The 6 Steps of Events at the Neuromuscular Junction:
Step 4: ACh Diffusion across Syn. Cleft
ACh diffuses across the synaptic cleft and binds to its receptors on the sarcolemma.
- The 6 Steps of Events at the Neuromuscular Junction:
Step 5: Opening of Ion Channels
- ACh binding opens ion channels in the receptors that allow simultaneous passage of Na+ into the muscle fiber and K+ out of the muscle fiber.
- More Na+ ions enter than K+ ions exit, which produces a local change in the membrane potential called the end plate potential.
- The 6 Steps of Events at the Neuromuscular Junction:
Step 6: Termination of ACh Effects
ACh effects are terminated by its breakdown in the synaptic cleft by acetylcholinesterase and diffusion away from the junction.
Summary of 4 Events in Generation and Propagation of Action Potential of Skeletal Muscle Fiber:
o 1. Generation of End Plate Potential- ACh molecules bind to receptors at NMJ and open ligand-gated channels that allow Na+ and K+ to pass. More Na+ diffuses in than K+ diffuses out.
o 2. Depolarization: Generation and Propagation of an Action Potential- Na+ enters following electrochemical gradient, and once it reaches the threshold an action potential is generated and propagated along all directions of the neuromuscular junction.
o 3. Repolarization: Restoring of sarcolemma to its initial polarized state- Na+ channels close and voltage-gated K+ channels open causing K+ to diffuse rapidly out of the muscle fiber, restoring negatively charged conditions inside.
Define the Refractory period:
A period during repolarization in which a cell cannot be stimulated until the process is complete.
Define Excitation-Contraction Coupling:
- The sequence of events by which transmission of an action potential along the sarcolemma causes myofilaments to slide.
- This Action potential is brief and ends before any signs of contraction are obvious.