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Medical Physiology > Exam #1: Skeletal Muscle > Flashcards

Exam #1: Skeletal Muscle Flashcards

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USMLE® Step 1 flashcards
1
Q

What is the difference between the three main types of muscle?

A
  • Skeletal & Cardiac are striated

- Smooth is non-striated

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2
Q

What type of muscle contains intercalated discs?

A

Cardiac

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3
Q

What is the functional unit of skeletal muscle?

A

Sarcomere

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4
Q

What is the definition of a sarcomere?

A

Z-disc to z-disc

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5
Q

What is the function of intercalated disc found in cardiac muscle?

A
  • Mechanical connection

- Electrical connection

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6
Q

What is contained in intercalated discs that allows for electrical connection?

A

Gap junctions

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7
Q

What are the two types of smooth muscle?

A

Multiunit & Unitary

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8
Q

What is unitary smooth muscle?

A

Group of fibers that contract together as a single unit:

  • Found in visceral smooth muscle
  • Pacemaker cells make it spontaneously active
  • Contains gap junctions that work as a functional syncytium
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9
Q

How is multiunit smooth muscle different from unitary smooth muscle?

A

Discrete smooth muscle fibers that contract independently

  • Not spontaneously active
  • Stimulated to contract by motor nerves
  • Each cell has a synaptic connection with a varicosity

*Found in the eyes e.g. ciliary muscle & in piloerector muscle

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10
Q

What is a myofibril?

A

Myofibril= cylindrical structure made up of end-to-end chains of sarcomeres

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11
Q

What connective tissue element surrounds a bundle of myofibrils?

A

Endomysium

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12
Q

Define muscle cell.

A

Muscle fiber, a bundle of myofibrils surrounded in endomysium

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13
Q

What is a fascicle?

A

A bundle of muscle fibers

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14
Q

What connective tissue element en-sheaths fasciculi?

A

Perimysium

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15
Q

What connective tissue element en-sheaths bundles of fasciculi?

A

Epimysium i.e. the covering around the entire muscle

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16
Q

Where are the nuclei & mitochondria located in a muscle cell?

A

Sarcoplasm

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17
Q

Are skeletal muscle cells uninucelate or multinucleate?

A

Multinucleate

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18
Q

What is a T-Tubule?

A

Transverse Tubule, extensions of cell membrane into the muscle cell;
- Because these structures are an extension of the plasma membrane, they contain extracellular fluid

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19
Q

What is the function of the T-Tuble? What does the ionic composition of a T-tubule resemble?

A

Function= electromechanical coupling- conveys the action potential to the muscle
- ECF (high Na+)

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20
Q

What are thick filaments composed of?

A

Myosin filaments

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21
Q

What are thin filaments composed of?

A

Actin filaments

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22
Q

When muscle cells contract, which filaments slide relative to which?

A

Thick filaments slide relative to stationary thin filaments & z-discs approximate

23
Q

What is Titin?

A

Titin= “spring-like” protein that attaches the thick filaments to the z-disc .

  • Note that Titin continues into the thick filament & is encased; it connects on the M-line on the opposite side of the z-disc.
24
Q

What is the function of Titin?

A
  • Titin acts as a spring that changes length as the sarcomere contracts & relaxes.
  • Helps to give muscle it’s elasticity
25
Q

What diseases are associated with Titin mutations?

A
  • Hereditary myopathy with early respiratory failure

- Familial dilated cardiomyopathy

26
Q

What are the three units of a triad?

A

1) Sarcoplasmic reticulum cisterna
2) Transverse-Tubule (ECF)
3) Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Cisterna

27
Q

What is the function of the triad? Describe the sequence of events that occurs as an action potential is propagated into a muscle cell.

A
  • Transverse tubules function to conduct action potentials into the cell
  • Sarcoplasmic reticulum contains high concentrations of Ca++
  • Ca++ release from the SR in response an action potential traveling down the T-Tubule is the basis of the electromechanical coupling
28
Q

Specifically, what are the functions of the Sarcoplasmic Reticulum?

A
  • Store Ca++
  • Releases Ca++ in muscle cytosol
  • Re-sequesters Ca++
29
Q

What is dystrophin? What is the function of dystrophin?

A
  • Large protein that forms a rod that attaches the thin actin filament to a transmembrane protein
  • Gives muscles strength by connecting fibrils to the ECM
30
Q

What family of diseases is associated with dystrophin mutations?

A

Muscular Dystrophy

31
Q

What is the difference between Duchenne, Becker’s & Limb-girdle dystrophy?

A

Duchenne=

  • Severe reduction in dystrophin in skeletal & cardiac m.
  • X-linked recessive (males)
  • Fatal prior to 30 y/o

Becker’s=
- Less severe with dystrophin present but reduced or altered

Limb-Girdle= NOT caused by dystrophin pathology itself; rather, other components of the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex

32
Q

What is tropomyosin?

A

A protein attached to thin filaments that covers the active site on the actin filament

33
Q

What are the three subunits of the Troponin complex? What do they bind to?

A
  • TnC= Ca++
  • TnT= Tropomyosin
  • TnI= Actin
34
Q

What binds to actin in actin-myosin cross-bridge cycling?

A

Myosin heads of thick filaments bind to active sites on actin filaments (thin filaments)

35
Q

What prevents myosin binding in the “no-Ca++” state?

A

Troponin complex & tropomyosin

36
Q

Describe the events that follow Ca++ influx into the sarcolemma.

A
  • Ca++ binds TnC (Troponin complex) & causes a conformational change that shifts tropomyosin & troponin out of the way of
  • Actin binding sites are exposed
37
Q

List the steps of the actin-myosin cross-bridge cycle starting with myosin attached to actin.

A

1) Myosin is attached to actin
2) ATP binds to the myosin head causing dissociation from actin
3) Myosin head is now in the relaxed state
4) ATP is hydrolyzed to ADP & Pi, which causes the myosin head to become “cocked”
5) An actin-myosin (w/ ADP+Pi) cross-bridge forms b/c of the action of Ca++ exposing actin binding sites
6) Power stroke occurs with the release of Pi, myosin pulls along actin
7) ADP is released & the actin-myosin complex is stuck in a rigid state

38
Q

How does muscle relax?

A
  • ATP binding to the actin-myosin complex causes dissociation of myosin from actin
  • ATP also pumps Ca++ back into the SR
39
Q

What is rigor mortis?

A

After death ATP is depleted & actin-myosin complexes are unable to detach, causing muscle to become stiff

40
Q

List the steps of excitation contraction coupling.

A

1) Action potential travels down a motor neuron
2) Voltage-gated Ca++ channels open causing Ca++ influx in the pre-synaptic terminal
3) Acetylcholine is released into the synaptic clef & binds Nicotinic AChR on post-synaptic membrane
4) NAChR opens–Na+ flows in leading to depolarization
5) Voltage gated Na+ channels open & reach threshold leading to an action potential
6) Action potential spreads through the T-Tubule
7) L-Type Ca++ channels in the T-Tubule act as voltage sensors
8) L-Type Ca++ channels are mechanically coupled to Ca++ release channels in the SR
9) Ca++ is released from the SR & spreads into the myofibrils
10) Excitatory pulse of Ca++ causes muscle contraction
11) Ca++ is then pumped back into the SR
12) Ca++ binding proteins bind Ca++ in the SR

41
Q

What is a dihydropyridine (DHP) receptor?

A

Synonym for L-Type voltage-gated Ca++ channel in T-Tubule

42
Q

What is a Ryanodine receptor?

A

Synonym for Ca++ release channel in SR

43
Q

What is the function of the Ca++ binding proteins in the SR?

A

Maintenance of Ca++ gradient so the Ca++ pump can function more efficiently

44
Q

What are Calsequestrin?

A

Ca++ binding protein in the SR

45
Q

Which is longer, the muscle action potential or the muscle contraction?

A

Muscle contraction

46
Q

What is phosphocreatine? What is its function?

A
  • Phosphorylated creatine that serves as a rapidly mobilizable reserve of high-energy phosphates in skeletal muscle
  • Donates phosphate to ADP when ATP reserves are depleted
47
Q

What is creatinine?

A

Breakdown product of phosphocreatine in skeletal muscle that is usually produced at a constant rate

48
Q

What is the motor unit?

A

A motor neuron and the skeletal muscle fibers innervated by that motor neuron’s axonal terminals.

  • Smallest unit that the nervous system can “turn on”
  • Any 1 motor neuron innervates 1,000 muscle cells
49
Q

What is a motor neuron pool?

A

All the motor neurons that innervate a single muscle

50
Q

What is the difference between a small motor unit & a large motor unit?

A

Small motor unit= muscles with fine control

Large motor unit= muscles with large power & less fine contro

51
Q

How do we produce graded muscle contractions?

A
  • Contract small motor units first, then recruit large motor units
  • Make motor units work harder by increasing the frequency of action potentials
52
Q

What is a single muscle twitch?

A

Response of single muscle fiber to a single maximal stimulus

53
Q

What is the difference between isometric & isotonic contraction?

A 
Isometric= not changing length BUT can develop tension 
Isotonic= constant tension but change in length

*Can be done experimentally but does not really happen in life

Medical Physiology (74 decks)

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