Muscular System Flashcards
What is the primary function of the muscular system?
Transform chemical energy into mechanical energy.
What can mechanical energy produce?
Equilibrium, force, work, transport, and heat
Describe skeletal muscle (What is it attached to, used for, how fast is it, voluntary or involuntary)
It is attached to the bone by tendon
It is used for locomotion and to maintain balance
It has quick responses
It is controlled voluntarily (excluding reflexes)
Describe cardiac muscle (What is it attached to, used for, how fast is it, voluntary or involuntary)
It is attached to blood vessels
It is involved in blood circulation
It has a slower response time than skeletal muscle
It is involuntary
Describe smooth muscle (What is it attached to, used for, how fast is it, voluntary or involuntary)
It is attached to the wall of organs and blood vessels
It is involved in blood pressure, digestion, bladder control, and respiration
It requires the slowest response time
It is involuntary
Which muscles are uninucleated and which are multinucleated?
Smooth and cardiac are uninucleated
Skeletal is multinucleated
How does a muscle become multinucleated?
During embryonic development many myoblasts fuse to form one skeletal muscle fiber
What controls involuntary muscle contraction?
The autonomic nervous system and the endocrine system
What controls voluntary muscle contraction?
The somatic nervous system
Which kinds of muscle have pacemaking capabilities?
Smooth muscle and cardiac muscle
What does excitability mean?
The ability to respond to stimuli by producing action potentials
What is the stimulus that leads to action potentials in the three types of muscle?
In cardiac and smooth muscle the stimulus is electrical and initiated by pacemaker cells
In skeletal muscle the stimulus is chemical and occurs in the neuromuscular junction where acetylcholine is released as a neurotransmitter
What is contractibility of muscle?
The ability of muscular tissue to contract forcefully when stimulated by action potentials
What impacts the force of muscle contraction?
The velocity of muscle fiber shortening
What is tension?
Muscle contraction without muscle shortening
What is extensibility of muscle?
The ability of muscular tissue to stretch within limits without being damaged
What limits the range of muscle extensibility to keep it within functional range?
Connective tissues
What is elasticity of muscle?
The ability of muscular tissue to return to its original shape after contraction or extension.
What does titin do?
Provides elasticity to muscles
What is adaptability of muscle?
The ability of muscles to undergo hypertrophy or atrophy in their adult form
Describe slow-twitch oxidative fibers (how fast do they use ATP, how fast do they contract, how do they get ATP, how much endurance do they have)
The rate of ATP breakdown is the slowest
Muscle shortening is slow
ATP production is aerobic
High endurance and resistance to fatigue
Describe fast-twitch oxidative fibers (how fast do they use ATP, how fast do they contract, how do they get ATP, how much endurance do they have)
The rate of ATP breakdown is faster than slow-twitch
Muscle shortening is faster than slow twitch
ATP production is aerobic
Moderate endurance and resistance to fatigue
What is creatine phosphate?
A reservoir for the storage of ATP in fast-twitch oxidative fibers and fast-twitch glycolytic fibers
Describe fast-twitch glycolytic fibers (how fast do they use ATP, how fast do they contract, how do they get ATP, how much endurance do they have)
Rate of ATP breakdown is the fastest
Muscle shortening is the fastest
ATP production is anaerobic
Low endurance and resistance to fatigue
What are the four main events in excitation-contraction coupling?
- Acetylcholine is released from somatic motor neuron
- Acetylcholine initiates an action potential in the muscle fiber
- Action potential travels along the sarcolemma in the T-tubules and triggers Ca release from the SR
- Ca binds with TnC and initiates muscle contraction
What ends muscle contraction?
The return of calcium from the cytosol to the SR through sarco-endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase (SERCA)
Where do all three types of muscle originate during embryonic development?
The somatic mesoderm
What was the coelomic graft model?
A section of hindlimb of a chicken was moved to the coelom where there is no neural input to determine if fiber type is determined by cell lineage or if external influences played a role
What are satellite cells?
Muscle stem cells which are found inbetween the basal lamina and the plasma membrane. They are normally inactive, but can activate in response to injury or exercise to fuse to muscles and repair them
What was the difference observed between avian/rodent satellite cells and mammalian satellite cells?
Avian and rodent satellite cells became muscle cells of the tissue they were isolated from (fast or slow). They are considered heterogeneous.
Mammalian satellite cells
transform into either form (fast and slow) depending on which muscle needs them. They are considered homogeneous.