Physiology 2 + 3 Flashcards
What is striation of cardiac muscle caused by?
Regular arrangement of contractile protein
Why are there no neuromuscular junctions in cardiac muscle?
Heart capable of generating its own action potentials
How are myocytes electrically coupled?
Gap junctions
What are gap junctions?
Protein channels that form electrical communication pathways between myocytes
What is the all-or-none law of the heart?
Gap junctions ensure electrical excitation reaches all the cardiac myocytes
Where are desmosomes and gap junctions located?
Within intercalated discs
What are desmosomes?
Provide mechanical adhesion between myocytes ensuring tension developed by one cell is transmitted to the next
What are the contractile units of muscle?
Myofibrils (found in each muscle cell)
What are myofibrils made up of?
- Thin (actin) filaments which cause lighter appearance
* Thick (myosin) filaments which cause darker appearance
Within each myofibril, what are actin and myosin arranged into?
Sacromeres (functional unit of the muscle)
How is muscle tension produced?
Sliding of actin filaments on myosin filaments
What does force generation depend on?
ATP-dependent interaction between myosin and actin filaments i.e. cross bridge formation
What do both contraction and relaxation require?
ATP
When will interaction of actin and myosin not occur even when ATP is present?
In the absence of calcium
Why is calcium required for formation of cross bridge in addition to ATP?
- When muscle relaxed, myosin binding sites on actin are covered with regulatory proteins like tropomyosin and troponin
- Calcium binds to troponin, removing troponin-tropomyosin complex and allowing binding of myosin
How does action potential switch on cardiac muscle contraction?
Ca+ released from sarcoplasmic reticulum
What is release of Ca+ from SR dependent on in cardiac muscle?
Presence of extra-cellular Ca+
Explain the process of contraction from action potential in cardiac muscle (3)
- Phase 2: Ca+ influx through L-type Ca+ channels
- Ca+-induced Ca+ release from SR
- Increased intra-cellular calcium stimulates formation of cross bridges by removal of troponin-tropomyosin complex
How does heart muscle relax once action potential has passed? (2)
- Ca+ influx ceases
* Ca+ re-sequestered in SR by Ca+ ATPase
What is the importance of a long refractory period to normal cardiac function?
Prevents generation of tetanic contraction
What is the refractory period?
Period following an action potential where it is not possible to produce another action potential
What are the components of the long refractory period?
- Plateau phase: Na+ channels are in closed state
* Descending phase: K+ channels are open so membrane cannot be depolarised
What is stroke volume?
Volume of blood ejected by each ventricle per heart beat
Equation for stroke volume?
SV = end diastolic volume (EDV) - end systolic volume (ESV)
How is stroke volume regulated? (2)
- Intrinsic mechanisms: within heart muscle itself
* Extrinsic mechanisms: nervous and hormonal control
What is end systolic volume?
Volume of blood in ventricle at the end of contraction
What is intrinsic control of stroke volume?
Changes in SV caused by changes in diastolic length of myocardial fibres
What is diastolic length of myocardial fibers determined by?
End diastolic volume
What is end diastolic volume?
Volume of blood in ventricle at end of diastole
What determines the cardiac preload?
End diastolic volume
What is cardiac preload?
How much of heart is loaded with blood before it contracts
What is end diastolic volume determined by?
Venous return to heart i.e. the higher the venous return, the higher the EDV
What is the Frank-Starling Mechanism or Starling’s law of the Heart?
The more blood ventricle is filled with during diastole (EDV), the greater the volume of ejected blood during systole (stroke volume)