Muscular System Flashcards
What are the attributes of smooth muscle tissue?
- Non-striated (no lines)
- Each have a single nucleus
- Contract involuntarily
- Can sustain prolonged contraction without fatigue
Where is smooth muscle tissue located?
Found in walls of internal organs (ex. esophagus → peristalsis)
What are the attributes of cardiac muscle tissue?
- Striated, tubular, and branched
- Each have single nucleus
- Contract involuntarily
Where is cardiac muscle tissue located?
Found in walls of heart
What are the attributes of skeletal muscle tissue?
- Striated and tubular
- Each have many nuclei
- Contract voluntarily
- Found in pairs (one action always has an opposing action)
When muscles contract they _________
SHORTEN
Contraction = ________; Relaxation = _________
WORK; NO WORK
What are the functions of the muscular system?
Support → contraction of muscles opposes force of gravity
Movement → allows for movement of bones as well as eyes and face
Maintain Temperature → ATP breakdown releases heat and spreads it throughout body!
Protection → acts as padding for bones and cushions organs
Stabilize Joints → tendons help hold bones to joints
What are tendons?
- Fibrous connective tissue
- Connect muscles to bones
What are ligaments?
- Fibrous connective tissue
- Connect bones to bones
- Located within joints
What are muscles?
- Organ surrounded by connective tissue & composed of several tissues
- Largest unit
- Attached to bone by tendons
What are muscle fibers?
- Highly specialized cells that convert chemical energy (ATP) into kinetic energy
- Organized into larger bundles (up to 20 cm long)
- Connective tissue wraps fibres
What are myofibrils?
- Rod-like structures found in muscle cells
- Made up of repeating units: sarcomeres
- Organized in parallel within a muscle cell, allowing for coordinated contraction of the entire muscle
What are sarcomere?
- Functional unit of a muscle
- Composed of myofilaments (actin & myosin)
What are A bands?
Dark area because actin and myosin overlap (how we see the striations in skeletal muscle)
What are I bands?
Lighter areas of muscle are the just actin
How are sarcomere divided?
Z lines divide sarcomere
What is the H zone of a sarcomere?
H zone is the area where myosin can be seen
What are myofilaments?
- Protein fibres that make up the contractile elements of muscle cells
- Responsible for muscle contraction
What is the basis of the sliding filament theory?
During muscle contraction, the myosin filaments bind to and pull on actin filaments, shortening the sarcomeres and causing the muscle to contract
What are the two types of myofilaments?
- Actin (thin filament)
- Myosin (thick filament)