Muscular Tissue Flashcards
What are the characteristics of muscles?
- responsiveness (excitability)
- conductivity
- contractility
- extensibility
- elasticity
characteristics of muscles: to chemical signals, stretch, and electrical changes across the plasma membrane
responsiveness (excitability)
characteristics of muscles: local electrical change triggers a wave of excitation that travels along the muscle fiber
conductivity
characteristics of muscles: shortens when stimulated
contractility
characteristics of muscles: capable of being stretched between contractions
extensibility
characteristics of muscles: returns to its original resting length after being stretched
elasticity
plasma membrane of a muscle fiber
sarcolemma
cytoplasm of a muscle fiber
sarcoplasm
long protein bundles that occupy the main portion of the sarcoplasm
myofibrils
stored in abundance to provide energy with heightened exercise
glycogen
red pigment; stores oxygen needed for muscle activity
myoglobin
flattened nuclei pressed against the inside of the sarcolemma
multiple nuclei
stem cells that fuse to form each muscle fiber
myoblasts
unspecialized myoblasts remaining between the muscle fiber and endomysium
-may multiply and produce new muscle fibers to some degree
satellite cells
packed into spaces between myofibrils
mitochondria
smooth ER that forms a network around each myofibril: calcium reservoir
-calcium activates the muscle contraction process
sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR)
dilated end-sacs of SR which cross the muscle fiber from one side to the other
terminal cisternae
tubular infoldings of the sarcolemma which penetrate through the cell and emerge on the other side
T tubules
a T tubule and two terminal cisterns
triad
made of several hundred myosin molecules
-shaped like a golf club
-heads directed outward in a helical array around the bundle
thick filaments
What are thin filaments? (3)
- fibrous (F) actin
- tropomyosin molecules
- troponin molecule
thin filament: two intertwined strands
-string of globular (G) actin subunits each with an active site that can bind to head of myosin molecule
fibrous (F) actin
thin filament: each blocking six or seven active sites on G actin subunits
tropomyosin molecules
thin filament: small, calcium-binding protein on each tropomyosin molecule
troponin molecule
striations: dark; A stands for anisotropic
-part of A band where thick and thin filaments overlap is especially dark
A band
striations: middle of A band; thick filaments only
H band
striations: middle of H band
M line
striations: alternating lighter band; I stands for isotropic
-the way the bands reflect polarized light
I band
striations: provides anchorage for thin filaments and elastic filaments
-bisects I band
Z disc
-when sarcromeres shorten, thick and thin filaments slide past one another
-H zones and I bands get narrower
-Z lines move closer
-explains why skeletal muscles are striated and why muscles contract
sliding filament theory
segment from Z disc to Z disc
-functional contractile unit of muscle fiber
sarcomere
nerve cells whose cell bodies are in the brainstem and spinal cord that serve skeletal muscles
somatic motor neurons