Lecture 32. Cardiac muscle Flashcards
differences between skeletal and cardiac muscle cells structure
Skeletal:
long up to 35 cm
cylindrical
neurogenic( works in response to nerve stimulus)
electrically isolated. Initiating the contraction on one muscle cell does not spread to the other. Need another nerve to innervate the other one
2 t-tubules per sarcomere, at the ends of A band
extensive SR
Cardiac:
shorter ~ 100 um
branched
Myogenic( involuntary)- does not need a nerve signal to work. Generates contraction within itself
electrically couples( AP in one cells spreads to others)
Less t -tubules( 1 per sarcomere) arranged at the Z lines
less SR
Heart anatomy
-4 chambers: 2 atria, 2 ventricles
- Blood comes back into the right atrium from the veins, fills the right ventricle
- Right ventricle contracts to push the blood to the lungs
- from the lungs, the blood comes back into the heart through pulmonary veins and fills the left atrium. The left atrium fills the left ventricle.
- Left ventricle pumps the blood up through the aortic valve and through the aorta to the rest of the body.
Which part of the heart has a thick muscular wall and why?
Left ventricle
-contracts to push the blood through the body
How much pressure do right and left ventricles generate?
right- ~ 20 mm Mercury
left~ 100 mm Mercury
Structure of ventricular muscle cell
- same sarcomere as in skeletal
- t-tubules line up with the Z disc. Half as many t-tubules in the heart muscle
- SR is less associated with the t-tubules, not as extensive-> not as reliant on Ca2+ from SR
- Not so much Ca2+, it does not bind to every troponin-> the amount of contraction can be regulated by the amount of Ca2+ bound to troponin.
- Intercalated discs join muscle cells together
- size: 100 um x 30 um
What junctions are in intercalated discs?
- desmosomes
- gap junctions
what is the role of desmosomes in the heart muscle?
Desmosomes prevent cells from
separating during contraction
what is the role of gap junctions in the heart muscle?
allow the action potentials to be carried from one cell to the next
• Allows for the coordinated contraction of all the myocytes
(unlike skeletal muscle where fibres are recruited via the motor nerves)
How do ventricles contract?
- inwards and outwards
- important to pump the blood up
Why is it important for the heart to relax?
during relaxation, it fills up with blood
How is the heart protected from tetanic contractions?
-long AP > 100 ms
-important not how fast it depolarizes by the plateau phase
-Has plateau phase due to presence of a large sustained
Ca2+ current (ICaL).
-After depolarization K+ channels open together with the Ca2+ channels
-The twitch is almost over before the membrane gets to the hyperpolarized state
-One twitch is finished as AP is finished-> impossible to get an overlap of twitches
L type Ca2+ channel
-extra Ca2+ channel in the heart myocyte
-V-gated
-slow to open and close-> takes longer for Ca2+ to come into the cell
-
Comparison of AP length and contraction in skeletal vs cardiac muscle
- skeletal muscle AP is over before the contraction is generated, allowing for another AP to be generated and overlap of contractions to happen
- in cardiac muscle almost impossible to have a tetanic contraction AP and contraction happen at the same time
3 major stages of AP in cardiac muscle cell
0 – Rapid depolarization due to fast voltage-gated Na+ channel
2 – V-gated Na+ channels close. V-gated K+ channels are starting to open. Plateau phase due to slow voltage-gated Ca2+ channel (L-type Ca2+ channel)
3 – Repolaristation due to closing of Ca2+ channels and opening of K+ (outward)
channels
contraction and relaxation time
contraction 1/3 sec
relaxation 2/3 sec
why are early premature contractions in the heart small?
the heart did not have enough time to fill
Contraction duration and refractory period
-the earliest another contraction can start is when the AP is in the refractory period, but it will be small
effect of exercise on muscle contraction
every phase speeds up-> not change in ratio of them to each other
how is calcium getting out of the cardiac muscle cell?
through Na+/Ca2+ exchangers on the t-tubules. Na+ goes in, Ca2+ goes out