Muscle Structure and Function Flashcards
Composition of a Muscle Fiber
-Sarcolemma
-Myofibril
-Myofilaments
Sarcolemma
Cell membrane enclosing muscle fibers
Myofibril
-composed of numerous stacked myofilaments
Myofilaments
Myosin and actin
Which are the thick myofilaments?
Myosin
Which are the thin myofilaments?
Actin
What forms actin myofilaments?
-Two chainlike strings of actin molecules
-Troponin
-Tropomyosin molecules
What controls the binding of actin and myosin myofilaments?
-Troponin and tropomyosin molecules
What forms myosin myofilaments?
-Head groups that attach to specific binding sites on actin molecule
What is the critical role myosin head groups have?
-Muscle contraction and relaxation
Contractile Unit
-Sarcomere, distinguished by bands and zones
What portion of the myofibril is the sarcomere?
-Located between any two Z discs
What does the Z discs link together?
-The thin filaments
What is the A band?
-Portion of the sarcomere that extends over length of thick filaments and small portion of thin filaments
What is the I band?
-Areas that only include actin filaments
What is the H zone?
-A band area where there is no overlap with thin filaments
What is the M line?
-The center of the H zone; wide middle portion of thick filament
How is a muscle contraction initiated?
-By the interaction between thick and thin filaments within the sarcomere
Cross-Bridge Interaction
- Coupling
- Contraction
- Uncoupling
- Recharging
Coupling phase
-Calcium released makes troponin move to expose active sites of actin
-Myosin head will reach out + attach to actin forming the x-bridge
Contraction phase
-Cross-bridge will generate force (power stroke) to pull thin filament one notch to the Mline
Uncoupling phase
-Power stroke complete, myosin head will detach from actin and repeat cycle
Recharging phase
-ATP hydrolysis occurs, releasing ADP and Pi, bounding to myosin head, reattaching to actin binding site
Concentric (shortening) Contraction
-Sarcomere length is shorter (distance btw Z discs) than when fiber is at rest
-Closer to M line
Eccentric (lengthening) Contraction
-Sarcomere length is greater than a resting fiber
Isometric Contraction
-No change in length
What is happening in a Concentric contraction?
-Thin filaments overlap thick filaments
-Cross-bridge formed, broken, and re-formed
What happens in an Eccentric contraction?
-thin pulled away from thick filaments by an external force on muscle
-Cross-bridge broken, re-formed, and broken again
What happens to the Cros-bridge cycle when an eccentric contraction occurs?
-It is broken and re-formed as the muscle lengthens
What happens as the cross-bridge is re-formed?
-Tension is generated
What happens in an Isometric contraction?
-Active muscle fiber will not change length if the force created by the x-bridge cycling matches the external force
What initiates the muscle contraction?
Calcium influx
What fuels the cross-bridge cycle?
ATP hydrolysis
How is a Motor Unit organized?
-Cell body in Ventral Horn
-Motor axon extends to muscle
-Axon divides into a few or thousands of branches
-Each branch terminates in a motor endplate
Excitability
-Capacity of muscle fiber to react to stimulus
Contractibility
-Ability to create tension when stimulated from a motor neuron
Extensibility
-Capacity of a muscle tissue to stretch without damage
Elasticity
-Muscles tendency to return to original after being stretched
What affects the strength of the contraction?
-the changing # of motor units that are activated
-frequency at which they are activated
What affects the size of the motor unit?
-Depends of the function
-Controls fine movements
-Make small adjustments
How are motor neurons recruited?
-All or None Law
-Size Principle
All or None Law
-All muscle fiber will contract on the same stimulus
The Size Principle
-Small motor unit generate less tension than larger motor unit
-Will be stimulated first to save energy
When is the Size Principle in place?
-In an isometric contraction
Which affects the magnitude of the response to a stimulus?
-# of muscle fibers in a motor unit
Which determines the conduction velocity of the nerve impulse?
-The diameter of the axon innervating a motor unit
Which affects the total force response of the muscle?
-# of motor units that are firing at any one time
Which affects the total response of the muscle?
-The frequency of motor unit firing