Muscle Physiology Flashcards
What is the outermost layer of connective tissue surrounding skeletal muscle? What kind of connective tissue is it?
The epimysium, dense irregular
What is the layer of connective tissue that surrounds each skeletal muscle fascicle called? What kind of connective tissue is it?
Perimysium; dense irregular
What is the deepest layer of connective tissue in skeletal muscle and what kind of tissue is it? What part of the muscle tissue does it surround?
The endomysium, made of areolar connective tissue, surrounds each individual muscle fiber
From the most macro to the most micro, what are the skeletal muscle organizational structures?
Muscle -> fascicles (10-100 cells) -> fibers (cells) -> myofibrils -> sarcomeres -> myofilaments (thin and thick)
Describe the two types of muscle attachments.
- Direct attachment - also called fleshy attachment, the epimysium is fused to the periosteum of a bone or perichondrium of cartilage.
- Indirect attachment - the muscle’s connective tissue wrappings extend beyond the muscle, either as a tendon or aponeurosis, and anchor to the connective tissue of the skeleton element or the fascia of other muscles
The triad lies over the Z-disc of a myofibril and consists of what structures?
Two terminal cisterns of the SR and one T tubule
Which type of muscle attachment is most common in the body and why?
Indirect attachments; durability and size - tendons can withstand the abrasions of rough, bony projections and their smaller size allows multiple tendons to pass over joints
What contractile protein do thick filaments contain? Thin filaments?
Thick filaments contain myosin and thin filaments contain actin
Myosin is composed of ____ polypeptide chains: ____ heavy chains and ____ light chains.
6; 2; 4
Tropomyosin provides structural benefits to the thin filament, including:
Surrounding the actin core to stiffen and stabilize it, blocking the myosin-binding site on actin when the muscle is relaxed
What molecule is found attached to tropomyosin on the thin filament? How many binding sites does it have and what are they meant to bind to?
Troponin; 3 binding sites, one for tropomyosin, one for actin, and one for calcium ions
What structural protein extends from the Z disc to the thick filament, forming its core before attaching to the M line?
Titin (elastic filament)
What stressor does titin help muscles resists?
Excessive stretching
What structural protein links thin filaments to integral proteins of the sarcolemma, aiding in stability? What disease is it associated with?
Dystrophin; Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy
What are the intermediate filaments that extend from the Z discs and connect each myofibril to the next throughout the width of the muscle cell made of?
Desmin
What molecule blocks myosin binding?
Tropomyosin
How many binding sites does actin have?
One - for myosin
How many binding sites does myosin have?
Two - for actin and ATP
What structural feature provides the muscle fiber with extensive surface area, allowing changes in the membrane potential to reach deep into the fiber?
The lumens of the T tubules are continuous with the extracellular space, allowing nerve impulses traveling along the sarcolemma to travel deep into the fiber
What structure is responsible for ensuring that every muscle fiber contracts at about the same time?
The T tubules
List the changes that occur in a sarcomere during sliding filament contraction.
The I bands (light bands) shorten as the thin filaments are pulled toward the M line and the area of overlap increases, the distance between Z discs shortens as the Z discs are pulled toward the M line, the H zone disappears, A bands move closer together because of the shortening I bands but their individual lengths do not change
Excitation begins at the ________________ _________.
Neuromuscular junction
What receptors does acetylcholine bind to on the muscle end plate?
Nicotinic cholinergic receptors
What step does muscle action potential end with?
The release of ionized calcium from the SR
What stage does calcium release (from the SR) initiate?
Contraction (cross-bridge cycling)
What feature gives the muscle end plate at the neuromuscular junction additional surface area?
Junctional folding of the sarcolemma
List the events that occur at the neuromuscular junction. (6 steps from initial action potential to termination)
- An action potential arrives at the axon terminal of the motor neuron
- Voltage-gated calcium channels open along the axon terminal membrane and calcium enters the terminal down its electrochemical gradient
- Calcium entry causes ACh to released by exocytosis
- ACh diffuses across the synaptic cleft and binds to receptors on the muscle end plate
- ACh binding opens ion channels that allow passage of sodium into the muscle fiber and potassium out of the fiber, producing a change in membrane potential (END PLATE POTENTIAL)
- ACh effects are terminated by its breakdown in the cleft by acetylcholinesterase
What is the end plate potential?
A change in membrane potential caused by the opening of sodium-potassium ion channels in the motor end plate
What are the four “big picture” steps of skeletal muscle contraction?
- Neuromuscular junction events
- Muscle fiber excitation (end plate potential propagation)
- Excitation-contraction coupling
- Cross bridge cycling
What is the final trigger for contraction and the internal messenger that links the action potential to contraction?
Ionic calcium
What are the three steps of action potential propagation?
- End plate potential is generated at the neuromuscular junction
- Depolarization of the sarcolemma opens voltage-gated sodium channels. Sodium enters by its concentration gradient. When a certain voltage is reached, an action potential is generated and spreads across the sarcolemma by opening more sodium channels.
- Refractory period (repolarization): the sarcolemma is restored to its initial polarized state due to potassium channels opening and allowing potassium ions to diffuse out of the muscle fiber
What is the autoimmune disease in which the immune system destroys ACh receptors?
Myasthenia gravis
List the steps of excitation-contraction coupling: (4 steps from AP propagation to cross bridge cycling)
- Action potential propagates along the sarcolemma and down the T tubules
- Voltage-sensitive tubule proteins within the T tubules change shape, activating calcium release channels in the terminal cisterns of the SR
- Calcium flows into the cytosol and binds troponin and removes the blocking action of tropomyosin
- Myosin binding to actin forms cross bridges and contraction and cross bridge cycling begins
Describe the steps of cross bridge cycling:
- Energized myosin head attaches to the actin filament, forming a cross bridge
- Myosin releases ADP and Pi, allowing it to pivot and bend, pulling the actin toward the M line
- A new ATP molecule attaches to myosin, weakening the link between myosin and actin. Myosin detaches.
- Myosin hydrolyzes ATP into ADP and Pi, which allows it to return to its pre-stroke high energy state. Returns to step 1.
What type of muscle contraction does not involve shortening of the muscle?
Isometric
What type of muscle contraction involves a change in length and movement of a load?
Isotonic