Exam 3Skeletal Muscle Composition and the NMJ Flashcards
3 types of muscles
Cardiac, Skeletal, Smooth
Characteristic of Skeletal muscle
Multinucleated cells
Cells appear striated at the microscopic level due to orientation of contractile proteins
Contraction provides voluntary movement
Connective tissue laters of Skeletal Muscle
Epimysium, perimysium, endomysium
Epimysium
An external sheath of DENSE connective tissue, surrounds the entire muscle.
Septa of this tissue extend inward, carrying the larger nerves blood vessels and lymphatics of the muscle
Perimysium
A thin connective tissue layer that immediately surrounds each bundle of muscle fibers termed a fascicle. Each fascicle of muscle fibers makes up a functional unit in which the fibers work together. Nerves, blood vessels, and lymphatics penetrate the perimysium to supply each fascicle.
Endomysium
A very thin, delicate later of reticular fibers and scatter fibroblasts within fascicles surrounding the external lamina of individual muscle fibers. In addition to nerve fibers, capillaries form a rich network in the endomysium bringing oxygen to the muscle fibers
Function of collagen in CT layers of muscle
serve to transmit the mechanical forces generates by the contracting muscle cells/fibers
Function of CT
Nourishment via rich capillary and lymphatic network
Protection/organization
Transmit forces along muscle fibers (through collagen)
Muscle components
Myofilaments Myofibrils Muscle Fiber Muscle fasciculus Whole Muscle Myotendinous junction
Myofilaments
Protein polymers responsible for contraction (e.g., actin and myosin)
Myofibrils
grouping of myofilaments within a muscle cell
Muscle fiber
muscle cell, made up of myofibrils
Muscle fasciculus/fascicle
bundle of muscle fibers
Whole muscle
many fascicles bundled together
Cardiac muscle characteristics
composed of irregularly branched cells bound together longitudinally by intercalated discs and shows strong, involuntary contractions
Smooth muscle
Composed of grouped, fusiform cells with weak involuntary contractions
Myotendinous junction
connection of muscle and tendon
Infoldings of cell membrane of muscle fibers
Provides insertion sites for collagen fibers of tendon into muscle fibers
Sarcomere
functional unit of muscle
Components of a sarcomere
Thick (myosin) and thin (actin) myofilaments, Titin
Titin functions
assists with transmission of force during contraction, limits range of motion of sarcomere in tension, provides passive tension in resting muscle, maintains appropriate positions of actin and myosin (binds Z-disc to M-line)
Sarcomere landmarks
Z-line (disk)- boundaries of a sarcomere *actin attaches here
I-band: area of actin molecules only (straddles Z-lines; Z-lines bisect I-band)
A-band: area of myosin and actin overlap
H-band (H-zone): area of myosin only
M-line: anchors central area of myosin within each sarcomere; contains kinase - enzyme that adds high energy phosphates to ADP to make ATP
Myofilaments of skeletal muscle
small proteins responsible for muscle contraction (actin and myosin filaments)
Number of myofilaments increases with training hypertrophy while number of muscle fibers is unaltered