Muscle physiology and histology Flashcards
What are the four levels found in a muscle?
Whole muscle Fascicle Muscle fibre Myofibril Sarcomere
What types of cells are found in the whole muscle?
Muscle fibres
Connective tissue
Blood vessels and lymph
What is a muscle fibre?
One muscle cell
Name three unique features of a muscle fibre.
Multinucleate
Contain myofibrils
Very long.
How big are muscle fibres?
10-100microM in diameter
1000-2000microM in length
What are myofibrils?
Collections of sarcomeres packaged together.
What is a sarcomere?
Basic functional unit of the muscle that allows for contraction.
What two proteins make up a sarcomere?
Myosin (heavy chain)
Actin (light chain)
What are the five regions of a sarcomere called and what do they represent?
A Band- From one end of myosin to the other I Band- Area w/ no myosin H Zone- Area w/ no actin Z Line- Area linking actin M Line- Area linking myosin
What are the five stages of a muscle contraction?
Resting Binding- requires Ca2+ Bending- ADP+Pi dissociate Detachment- Fresh ATP binds Energised- with ATP bound ready for next stroke
How does Ca2+ allow binding?
Binds to troponin to move it out the way allowing myosin to bind to tropomyosin on actin.
What is a muscle fascicle?
A collection of muscle fibres in found in the whole muscle.
What is the connective tissue round the whole muscle called?
Epimysium
What is the connective tissue around the fascicle called?
Perimysium
What is the connective tissue around a single muscle fibre called?
Endomysium
What are the three types of muscle fibres?
Type I
Type IIa
Type IIb
Describe Type I muscle fibres.
Aerobic red fibres with lots of mitochondria and myoglobin. Slow contracting but resistant to fatigue.
Describe Type IIa fibres.
Intermediate fibres. Relatively fast contracting but relatively fatigue resistant.
Describe Type IIb fibres.
Anaerobic white fibres with little mitochondria and myoglobin. Fast contracting but fatigue easily.