Muscle Histology Flashcards

1
Q

How is force produced in muscle fibres?

A

Force is produced by the movement of actin fibres over myosin fibres, with the aid of a number of accessory proteins. ATP is used as an energy source

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What are the main types of muscle cells?

A

Skeletal or voluntary (aka striatal muscle)
Cardiac
Smooth or involuntary

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What are not seen directly as muscle cells but have the capacity to produce force?

A

Myoepithelial cells
Myofibroblasts
Pericytes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Where are myoepithelial cells found?

A

In some glands

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Where are myofibroblasts found?

A

Dermis of the skin

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What are pericytes associated with?

A

Capillaries

contract to create flow in capillaries

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

How is muscle tissue formed?

A

Formed from muscle cells and associated connective tissue and forms the bulk of muscles

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What do muscles contain?

A
Blood vessels
Nerves
Lymphatics
Connective tissue
Specialized sense organs
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Percentage of skeletal muscle in the body?

A

40%

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What are the main characteristics of skeletal muscle?

A

Striated
Unbranched
Multinucleate (forms a syncytium- single cell that contains multiple nuclei)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Where is the nuclei located in skeletal muscle?

A

At the periphery of the fibre, just under the cell membrane

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What is the cell membrane called in a muscle cell?

A

Sarcolemma

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Where do muscles develop from?

A

Myotubes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What is the mesenchyme?

A

Early tissue found in the embryo

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

How do muscles form?

A

Within the mesenchyme of mesoderm
Cells align, lose their cell membranes that separate them
Forms multinucleate myotubes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

How are skeletal muscles organised?

A

Grouped into bundles called fascicles, muscle typically contains several

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What are the three layers of connective tissue that are associated with muscles?

A

Epimysium
Perimysium
Endomysium

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

What is the function of Epimysium?

A

Surrounds the muscle as a whole

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

What is the function of perimysium?

A

Surrounds a single fascicle

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What is the function of endomysium?

A

Surrounds a single muscle fibre

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Is a muscle an organ?

A

yes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

What does each fasicle compose of?

A

Contains many muscle fibres -> many myofibrils -> many sarcomeres placed end to end

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

Describe sarcomeres

A

‘unit of contraction’
They are the smallest contractile elements in the striated muscle cell
100-1000s are placed end-to-end to form myofibril
12-100s are packed into muscle fibre like cigarettes in a pack

24
Q

When fully contracted how do actin and myosin look in a sarcomere?

A

The actin filaments fully overlap the myosin. There is no Z-line

25
Q

What lines represent the anchor for actin and myosin?

A

Z-line - actin

M-line - myosin

26
Q

How do muscle fibres contract?

A

The motor unit

27
Q

Describe the motor unit

A

The motor neuron and all of the muscle fibres that it innervates
- 1 motor neuron and many muscle fibres

28
Q

What is the result of fewer muscles fibres to one motor unit?
An example of where these muscles may be located

A

Finer control of movement

The eyes

29
Q

What does the motor neuron end with?

A

Synapse called the motor end plate

30
Q

What is a neuromuscular joint?

A

Where motor axons terminate at a motor end-plate and action potentials arriving in the axon cause release of acetylcholine and initiate an action potential in the sarcolemma

31
Q

How does action potential allow the muscle to all contract simultaneously?

A

Sweeps across the epimysium and enters through pores called t-tubules (transverse tubules)

32
Q

What are t-tubules?

A

Exrtend from the sarcolemma into the cell, ramifying and surrounding each myofibril roughly at the A-I junction of each sarcomere

33
Q

What is released following the action potential?

A

Calcium (Ca++) - contracts sarcomere

34
Q

Along with t-tubules what two tubes are side by side to it?

A

Specialised smooth ER called the sarcoplasmic reticulum

35
Q

What is the combination of t-tubules and sarcoplasmic reticulum called?

A

Triad

36
Q

What is the end point of the sarcoplasmic reticulum called?

A

Terminal cisternae of the sarcoplasmic reticulum

37
Q

What is the name of the junction where muscles are attached to the collagen part of the tendon?

A

The Myotendinous junction

38
Q

Why is it hard for tendons to heal when damaged?

A

There is a low supply of blood

39
Q

What are fibroblasts of the tendon called?

A

Tendinocytes

40
Q

How do skeletal muscles feedback to the central nervous system?

A

Series of muscle cells encapsulated in muscle spindles

41
Q

What do muscle spindles contain?

A

Intrafusal fibres (long, tapered) - Innervated by sensory nerves and motor fibres

42
Q

What are normal contractile muscles fibres that make up the large majority of a muscle called?

A

Extrafusal muscle fibres

43
Q

Why are cardiac muscles also classed as striated cells?

A

They have striations

However, less prominent

44
Q

What do cardiac muscles form?

A

Forms the major part of the walls of the heart chambers and origins of the great vessels

45
Q

Are cardiac muscles longer or shorter than skeletal muscle?

A

Much shorter

46
Q

How many nuclei does a cardiac mucle contain? Where is it located?

A

usually a singular nucleus, however, sometimes 2

Located near the centre of the fibre

47
Q

What are intercalated discs in cardiac muscles for?

A

Pass across the fibres at irregular intervals

These are the sites of end-to-end attachments between adjacent cells

48
Q

What flows through the gap junctions in a cardiac muscle?

A

No nerves that allows muscles in heart to move therefore, electrical signal is issued from specialised cells in the Sinoatrial node in the right atrium. This depolarization is spread across these muscle cells as a wave through the gap junctions between the muscle cells

49
Q

Why is there many mitochondrion spread across cardiac muscles?

A

Aerobic metabolism dependant tissue
(If there is a shortage of oxygen these cells will die and will turn into scar tissue which then means the heart is weaker and cant pump blood around the body at a sufficient rate)

50
Q

How do cardiac muscles contract?

A

Have an intrinsic rythmic contraction
Gap junctions allow for synchronization of contraction between cells
Rythm is dependant on the autonomic nervous sytem

51
Q

What is another name for cardiac muscles?

A

Cardiac myocytes

52
Q

Do muscle cells have regenerative capacity?

A

They contain population of myoblasts called satellite cells on surface of sarcolemma
After damage they are activated however they compete with scar tissue and often “lose” meaning after muscle is killed, new muscle is not regenerated

53
Q

Why is smooth muscle called smooth muscle?

A

Does not have striations

54
Q

Why is smooth muscle also called involuntary and visceral?

A

It is not under concious control

It is prodominantly found in organs

55
Q

Where is smooth muscle often found?

A

Found in the walls of tubes- gut, respiratory tract, blood vessels and the uterus
Also iris of the eye

56
Q

What is the stimulus for smooth muscle cells to contract?

A

Can arrive from nerve fibres of the autonomic nervous system
Can also be from hormones

57
Q

How are actin and myson arranged in a smooth muscle cell?

What occurs from this placement

A

They converge on dense bodies within the cytoplasm and focal densities at the periphery of the cell
Transverse force of contraction