Excitable tissues: Muscle Flashcards
features of skeletal muscle (4)
- Under voluntary controla
- Striated
- Single long cylindrical cells
- Multiple peripheral nuclei
features of cardiac muscle (5)
• Located only in the heart • Striated • Branched cells with 1-3 central nuclei • Connected via intercalated discs • Involuntary control
Features of smooth muscle (4)
• Involuntary • Found in the wall of internal organs (gut, blood vessels etc) • Spindle shaped, uninucleated cells • Not striated
structure of skeletal muscle (3)
Attached to bones via tendons • The cells “muscle fibres” are long (up to 35 cm) and reasonably wide (0.1 mm) • Cells are composed of fibrils containing highly organised contractile filaments
Microscopic structure of a myofibril
Thick filaments: run the entire length of an A band
• Thin filaments: run the length of the I band and partway into the A band
• Z disc: coin-shaped sheet of proteins that anchors the thin filaments and connects myofibrils to one another
• H zone: lighter mid region where filaments do not overlap
• M line: line of protein myomesin that holds adjacent thick filaments
together
What are T tubules?
deep invaginations
continuous with the sarcolemma (cell membrane) and circle each
sarcomere at each of the junctions of the A and I bands. Allows action potentials to be carried deep within the muscle cell
what are Sarcoplasma reticulum (SR)?
The calcium storage site. The terminal cisternae of the SR lie close to the T-tubules.
What are the thick filaments? (3)
- Composed of Myosin
- Each myosin has 2 subunits each with a globular head and a tail, the two tails intertwine to form a helix
- The heads have a binding site for actin
what are thick myosin filament? (3)
• The head is an enzyme that hydrolyses ATP (an
ATPase)
• Arranged in a polarised fashion: i.e. with the myosin heads projection away from the M-line.
• Titin anchors the thick filament to the Z-line
What is the thin filament? (3)
• Composed primarily of globular actin proteins
• The filaments are composed of a double stranded helical actin chain (polymers).
• Troponin and tropomyosin are regulatory proteins
associated with actin in skeletal and cardiac muscle
What is troponin regulated by?
regulated by Ca2+
what does Tropomyosin interact with?
interact with the myosin-binding sites
Sliding filament theory of muscle contraction (3)
The sarcomere shortens as the thin filaments
are pulled over the thick filaments:
• The Z-line is pulled toward the M-line
• The I band and H zone become narrower
what are the 4 steps of the cross-bridge cycle (4)
- Cross-bridge formation
- Power stroke
- Detachment
- Energization of myosin head
Cross-bridge formation
Myosin binds to the actin-binding site to form a
cross-bridge
The Power Stroke (3)
• ADP is released
• The myosin head rotates to its low energy state
(about 45° to the actin) pulling with it the thin filament
• The result is a shortening of the sarcomere.
Detachment (2)
A new ATP molecule
binds to the myosin
The actin-myosin bind is
weakened and the
myosin detaches
Energization of the myosin head (2)
• Myosin head hydrolyzes the ATP to ADP + Pi
• The myosin head moves back to its “high energy
(cocked)” confirmation (about 90° to the actin)
what is the importance of calcium? (3)
• Calcium ions provide the “on”
switch for cross-bridge cycle to
begin.
• When the calcium binds with troponin the tropomyosin moves to expose the myosin-binding sites on actin
• The cross-bridge cycle will continue as long as calcium levels remain above the critical threshold (0.001-0.01 mM)
what happens in calcium regulation? (2)
• In skeletal muscle opening of calcium channels in the SR allows the movement of calcium ions into the
cytosol.
• Active transport pumps (Ca2+ATPase) are constantly
moving Ca2+ from the cytoplasm back into the sarcoplasmic reticulum
isotonic? (3)
Shortening
Tension constant
Velocity variable
Isometric? (3)
No shortening
Length constant
Tension variable
What is the Length-tension relationship? (2)
- During an isometric contraction –
- At the level of the sarcomere the maximum active force (tension developed) is dependent on the degree of actin and myosin overlap
Length-tension relationship (2)
• During an isometric contraction –
• At the level of the sarcomere the maximum active force (tension developed) is dependent on the
degree of actin and myosin overlap
what is Active tension? (3)
- At lengths <2.0 µm filaments collide and interfere with each other reducing force developed
- A lengths >2.2 µm active forces decline as the extent of overlap between filaments reduces, reducing the number of cross-bridges
- Maximal force between 2.0 – 2.2 µm
Why does total tension = active + passive force? (3)
- Of course muscle also has elastic components!
- As muscle is stretched the connective tissue around the muscle cells resists the stretch = passive force. •Total tension is the sum of the active tension dependent on the sarcomere length and the passive tension Total tension = active