Health and Disease Week 10 Flashcards
What are the 3 main characteristics of skeletal muscle?
- made up of fibres
- mutlinucleate
- attached to bone
- controls posture and movement
- voluntary control
- antagonistic sets of muscle
How do the multi-nucleate muscle cells form?
fusion of muscle cells during embryonic growth
define tendon
bundles of collagen fibres that attach muscle to bone
define myofibril
bundles of actin and myosin filaments that make up muscle cells
What is the main function of the sarcoplasmic reticulum?
stores calcium in vesciles which is important to release Ca2+ ions in response to signals from the nervous system
What are the 5 main components of sarcomeres?
- thin filaments
- thick filaments
- z-lines
- H zone
- M-line/discs
What are the thin filaments composed of?
actin, troponin and tropomyosin
Which band do the thin filaments make up?
the I band
What are the thick filaments composed of?
myosin and titin
What is the function of titin?
to act as a scaffold for the sarcomere
Which band do the thick filaments make up?
the A band
What are the Z-lines?
a network of proteins that hold the thin filaments (actin) in place and together
What are the Z-lines composed of?
alpha-actinin
What is the H zone?
a light area in the centre of the A band of a sarcomere that contains only thick filaments and NOT thin actin filaments
What are M-lines/discs?
proteins that link the central regions of the thick filaments
What is the M-line composed of?
myomesin
What is the structure of each myosin molecule?
- has a light and heavy chain that are intertwined
- has a double globular head
- half the head is facing the left, and half to the right
- the area between the double head is known as the M-region
What is the structure of each actin subunit?
- each subunit has an active site than can bind to the head of a myosin molecule
- tropomyosin is wound around eahc subunit
- tropomyosin is held in place by the calcium-binding protein troponin
How do the Z-lines work?
the alpha-actinins bind and cross-link the ends of F-actin filaments from adjacent sarcomeres at the Z line
What is the interaction between actin and myosin filaments regulated by?
troponin
How many types of troponin are there? What are they?
- Troponin I -> inhibitory
- Tropnin C -> calcium binding
- Troponin T -> tropomyosin binding
What happens when calcium binds to troponin C?
causes a conformational change that moves tropomyosin aside to expose the actin binding site that binds to the myosin head
What are the 3 main steps of skeletal muscle contraction?
- resting muscle state
- activation of contraction
- breaking the cross-bridge
What are the steps of the resting muscle state?
- energised myosin is bound to ADP and Pi
- tropomyosin covers the myosin binding sites on the actin filaments and prevents interaction
What are the steps of activating contraction?
- muscle stimulated by action potentials and cytosolic calcium levels increase
- calcium binds to troponin and moves it aside exposing myosin binding sites on actin
- the energised myosin molecule and ADP bind to actin
- the cross-bridge formation causes the release of ADP and Pi and movement of the crossbridge to cause contraction
What are the steps of breaking the cross-bridge?
- ATP binds to myosin and breaks the cross-bridge
- ATP is converted to ADP and myosin returns to its energised position
define motor end plate
the region of the muscle fibre directly under the terminal portion of the axon of the neurone at the neuromuscular junction
Which two components make up the neuromuscular junction?
the motor end plate + axon terminal
How does an action potential stimulate a muscle?
- action potentials in the motor neurone depolarise the axon terminal
- this opens voltage-gated calcium ion channels
- Ca2+ ions enter the cell and trigger release of acetylcholine from vesicles
- Ach diffuses and activates nicotinic acetylcholine receptors
- this causes depolarisation of the motor end plate causing an endplate potential
What are the steps of calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum?
- an action potential in the muscle is propagated
- Ca2+ is released from the lateral sac
- Ca2+ binding to troponin removes the blocking action of tropomyosin
- the cross-bridge moves
- Ca2+ is taken up
- Ca2+ removal from troponin restores tropomyosin’s blocking action
What are the 2 main types of skeletal muscle fibres?
fast twitch fibres and slow twitch fibres
What are the features of fast twitch fibres?
- contract rapidly
- get energy from glycolysis
- anaerobic
- used for explosive power such as sprinting and powerlifting
What are the features of slow twitch fibres?
- contract slower
- get energy aerobically
- used for long periods of activity such as long-distance running
- fatigue resistant
How does genetic variation affect athletic performance for some?
- alpha-actinin 3 is expressed in a subset of fast twitch muscles
- a genetic variant encodes an early stop codon and causes a truncated form of alpha-actinin 3
- causes high performance in long distance running