Histology Flashcards
Name the three principle types of muscle
- skeletal or voluntary
- cardiac
- smooth
What is the sarcolemma?
Plasma membrane of a muscle cell
Where are the nuclei found in skeletal muscle fibres?
At the periphery of the fibre, just under the cell membrane (sarcolemma)
Muscle fibres are grouped into bundles called what?
Fascicles
What is the epimysium?
The connective tissue that surrounds the muscle as a whole, outer layer
Each fascicle is made up of what?
Packed muscle cells
What is the perimysium?
The connective tissue around a single fascicle
What is the endomysium?
The connective tissue around a single muscle fibre. Wispy connective tissue
Each muscle fibre contains many what?
Myofibrils
Each myofibril consists of what?
Many sarcomeres placed end to end
What is the unit of contraction within muscles?
Sarcomeres
By definition, the sarcomere extends from where?
From one Z line to the next
What is the I band?
Actin thin filaments anchored to a central line (z line)
Why are skeletal muscle fibres striated?
- viewed under the microscope the fibres have a regular pattern of bands running across the fibre at right angles to the long axis
- this is also true for cardiac muscle
- this is because the sarcomeres in the myofibrils with their alternating dark and light bands are held in registry with one another
- that is, the z disks in the sarcomere of one myofibril will be aligned with the z disks of the sarcomeres in the surrounding myofibrils
- although nothing is physically running across the fibre, it looks as though it is
What is a motor unit?
A motor unit consists of one motor neurone and all of the muscle fibres that it innervates (anywhere from a few to more than a hundred fibres)
The fewer the number of muscle fibres in a motor unit …..
The finer the control of the movement
The axon of the motor neurone branches when?
It nears its terminations and each branch ends in a special type of synapse called the neuromuscular junction
How many types of skeletal muscle fibre are there?
3
Describe type 1 skeletal muscle fibres
- relatively slowly contracting fibres that depend on oxidative metabolism (aerobic)
- they have abundant mitochondria and myoglobin, are resistant to fatigue and produce relatively less force
- often called red fibres
Describe type 2a skeletal muscle fibres
- this is intermediate between the other two
- they are relatively fast contracting, but are also reasonably resistant to fatigue
- these fibres are relatively uncommon
Describe type 2b skeletal muscle fibres
- fast contracting fibres that depend on anaerobic metabolism
- they have few mitochondria and less myoglobin than type 1 fibres
- they fatigue relatively easily and produce relatively greater force
- often called white fibres
Describe cartilage
- semi rigid and deformable
- permeable
- avascular
- cells nourished by diffusion through the extracellular matrix
Describe bone
- rigid
- not permeable
- cells within the bone must be nourished by blood vessels that pervade the tissue
The cells found in cartilage are called what?
- chondrocytes
- chondroblasts when immature
Describe chondrocytes
- chondrocytes live within a space in the extracellular matrix termed a lacuna
- chondrocytes are active cells which not only secrete, but also maintain the extracellular matrix around them