FORM & FUNCTION (Cardiac Muscle) Flashcards
Cardiac muscle function:
-generates waves of contraction responsible for squeezing the heart to pump blood throughout the body
Cardiac muscle connected to:
-pulmonary circulation (lungs)
-systemic circulation (rest of the body)
Four chambers:
-right atrium (RA), right ventricle (RV) to the lungs
-left atrium (LA), left ventricle (LV) to systemic organs
*left: oxygenated (red)
*right: deoxygenated (left)
Cardiac muscle fibers:
-contractile fibers (striated and like skeletal fiber)
-conduction fibers (ex. pacemakers)
Contractile fibers:
-cardiomyocytes form complex junctions between extended processes
-only 1-2 centrally located nuclei
-dark-staining lines
-junctions at intercalated discs: desmosomes and fascia adherents
-gap junctions
Desmosomes:
-joins the intermediate filaments in one cell to the neighbouring (lateral side)
-mechanical strength
Adherents:
-join an actin bundle in one cell to a similar bundle in a neighbouring cell (lateral side)
-mechanical strength
Dark-staining lines (contractile fibers):
-intercalated discs
>interface between cells
*need to contract together!
Gap junctions: (contractile fibers)
-between cells longitudinally
=electrical synapses
-allow Aps to pass in wave from one cell to the next cardiac cells
-all cells contract as a single unit
*functional syncytium
Functional syncytium:
-simultaneous contraction of all cardiac muscle fibers
Conducting fibers: specialized cells
-nodes (SA and AV node)
-bundles of His
-bundle branches
-Purkinje fibers
Nodes: conducting fibers
-generate and relay electrical impulses
-SA node cells: primary pacemakers of the heart
Bundle of His, Bundle branches and Purkinje fibers: conducting fibers
-transmit impulses to the ventricular myocardium
Conducting fibers: structural characteristics:
-few myofibrils: optimized for rapid conduction
-highly branched: allow for quick signal propagation
How does the duration of cardiac muscle AP compare to that of skeletal muscle?
-last longer and has a plateau
*lasts as long as the contraction
Sequential propagation of the AP:
- Initiation in SA (SinoAtrial node)
- Propagates through the atria
- Through the AV (AtrioVentricular) node
- Through the Purkinje fibers
- Through the ventricles
AP phases in cardiomyocytes:
- Phase 0: rapid depolarization
- Phase 1: initial repolarization
- Phase 2: plateau phase
- Phase 3: rapid repolarization
- Phase 4: resting membrane potential
Phase 0:
-rapid depolarization
-triggered by the opening of voltage-gated Na+ channels
-rapid influx of Na+ ions