Muscle Physiology Flashcards
What are the two different types of muscle?
Smooth muscle (no banding patterns) and striated muscle
What kinds of muscles are made from striated muscle?
Skeletal muscle (voluntary muscle), cardiac muscle. This is where we see striations and banding patterns. We see banding patterns due to the different densities of the filaments and zones.
Where do you find single unit smooth muscle?
In tubular organs like the digestive system, uterus, and the urinary tract
Where do you find multiunit unit smooth muscle?
Find this where we want fine, discrete control of contraction - blood vessels, iris (controls size of the pupil). This muscle causes hairs to stand erect
What percentage of mass does skeletal muscle generally take up in the human body?
30-40%
What are other words for muscle cells?
Myocytes, muscle fibres
What are two general characteristics of muscle cells?
- long and cylindrical –> 5-100um in length
- multinucleate
How is a multinucleate muscle cell formed?
Mononucleate cells called myoblasts (undifferentiated cells) congregate together into a tubular structure. This tubular structure is called a myotubule. All of the myoblasts then fuse together to form a single cell with multiple nuclei
Why is having multiple nuclei important for muscle cells?
They are relatively large cells with a lot of protein turnover and therefore need to regulate a lot of protein expression (what the nuclei do)
Myofibrils
thin, ribbon-like structures that run the length of the muscle cell. They are about 1 um in width. Made up by a series of sarcomeres.
A-band
Region of the sarcomere occupied by the thick filaments. The length of the A -band does not change during muscle contraction. This region is anisotropic. Dark region
I-band
The region between the adjacent A-bands. Half is on what side of the Z-line and half is on the other side of the Z-line. The I-band does get smaller during muscle shortening. Isotropic. Light region. Spans two sarcomeres
Anisotropic
Polarizes light. Characteristic of the A-band which forms the dark region
Isotropic
Does not polarize light. Characteristic of the I-band, or light region.
H-zone
This zone consist only of thick filaments. It runs down the centre of the A-band. It shows up slightly lighter in a scan as it only has think filaments and no thin filaments. Gets smaller when muscle shortens
M-line
band down the middle of the A-band –> consists of structural proteins which help hold the A-band together.
titin
largest protein ever described. Associates with myosin and actin filaments. Roles: elasticity, holding myosin in a plane
nebulin
associates only with the thin filaments,
thin filaments
Attached to the Z-discs. Purely thin filaments within the I band. They are made of actin (cytoskeletal element). Microfilament. Actin is made up of a bunch of monomers of actin called g actin. 2 sets of f actin intertwine to form actin filament. Length = 1 um
thick filaments
Made from myosin. Each thick filament consists of about 200 - 400 myosin assemblies. Two S1 fragments from each assembly extending out from the backbone of tails. about 1.6 um in length
What kind of arrangements do we see in the sarcomere cross section?
- outside of H-zone within the A-band (where there is overlap between thick and thin filaments): See hexagonal arrangement of 6 thin filaments surrounding 1 thick filaments and 3 thick filaments around every thin filament –> gives a 2:1 ratio of thin to thick filaments.
Myosin molecule
150 nm in length. Has myosin light chain and myosin heavy chain. Tail and head regions are made up of the myosin heavy chain. Myosin light chains wrap around neck region and sit within the head regions. One myosin assembly has 2 MHC intertwined with two head groups sticking out as well as 4 MLC
What is the tail of the myosin made up of?
light meromyosin
What is the head and neck region of the myosin made up of?
heavy meromyosin
What proteolytic enzyme splits the myosin heavy chain into light meromyosin and heavy meromyosin ?
trypsin
What proteolytic enzyme splits the heavy meromyosin into its s1 and s2 fragments?
papain
What is the S2 fragment? Associated light myosin?
The part of the heavy meromyosin that forms the neck or hinge region. The regulatory myosin light chain wraps around and associates with it
What is the S1 fragment? Associated light myosin?
The part of the heavy meromyosin that forms the head region -globular region. The essential myosin light chain sits in the base of this globular region. This head region has an actin binding site as well as an ATPase on it which can bind and hydrolyze ATP. This is the most functionally important component of the myosin filament, the other parts are structural
Distance between S1 fragments
- within the same row of heads
- within different rows
3 rows of heads spiraling total
43 nm for the same row of heads
14.3 nm for different rows of heads - so a myosin head will have the same orientation upwards every 14.3 nm.
- See a myosin head sticking up every 14.3 nm
bare zone
region of the thick filament that does have any myosin heads sticking out from it. 0.2um wide
g actin
globular actin - 5 nm in diameter. These g-actins self polymerize into f-actin chain
f actin
filamentous actin - 2 sets of these spiral together to form actin filament. Like two spiraled chains of beads. Formed from self polymerized g actin
tropomyosin
regulatory protein that runs the length of the actin filament and lies within the groove of the 2 chains of beads.
troponin
regulatory globular protein that sits on the actin periodically along the actin filament.
Native actin
actin + the regulatory proteins associated with it. This is the form of actin the way it is found in the muscle
Pure actin
just f actin without w/o the regulatory proteins
Independent force generator
Cross bridges! The myosin heads attaching to the actin filaments act independently of other myosin heads attaching to actin filaments. So they generate force independently.
Force - Tension relationship
Relationship between the length of the sarcomere and the amount of force that sarcomere is able to generate
3.65 um long sarcomere. Can this sarcomere generate any force?
No. There is no overlap of the thin and filaments at this length and thus no cross bridges can be formed. With no cross bridges being formed, no force can be generated
2.25 um long sarcomere. Can this sarcomere generate any force?
Yes. Maximum force is generated at this sarcomere length because there is full overlap between the heads of the of the myosin assemblies and the thin filaments (max # of X bridges being formed). Thin filaments come so close together that only the length of the bare zone separates them.
2.05 um long sarcomere. How much force can this sarcomere generate?
Maximum force is still generated at this length of sarcomere because there is still the maximum amount of cross bridges being formed even though there is more overlap. The thin filaments meet together, almost touching but not overlapping at this length.
Plateau of the length-tension relationship
Between 2.05 um and 2.25 um sarcomere length. There is maximum force being generated in this range of sarcomere lengths because there is maximum over lap giving maximum amount of cross bridges being made, while also not having any thin filament interference
Thin filament interference
Begins when the sarcomere length is shorter than 2.05 um. This is because the thin filaments extending into the opposite side of the sarcomere begin to interfere with the ability of cross bridges to form because the actin has polarity. If less than maximum amount of cross bridges form, the force generated will be less.
Isometric contraction
The muscle/sarcomere length is not changing. We stretch the muscle to a certain length, experimentally, and then hold it there - see how hard the sarcomere can pull at the given length. Like pushing against the wall with a straight arm.