Skeletal Muscle Flashcards
Characteristics of the skeletal muscle
- voluntary control
- striated
- single long cylindrical cells
- multiple peripheral nuclei
What is the structure of muscle cells
- attatched to bones via tendons
- the cells “muscle fibres” are long and reasonably wide
- cells composed of myofibrils containing highly organised contractile filaments.
Thick filaments
Run the entire length of the A band
Thin filaments
Run the length of the I band and partway into the A band
Z disc
Coin-shaped sheet of proteins that anchors the thin filaments and connects myofibrils to one another
H zone
Lighter mid-region where filaments do not overlap
M line
Line of protein myomesin that holds adjacent thick filaments together
What are T-tubules
Deep invaginations continuous with the sarcolemma (cell membrane) and circle each sarcomereat each of the junctions of the A and I bands.
Allows action potentials to be carried deep within the cell.
What is the sarcoplasma reticulum
The calcium storage site. The terminal cisternae of the SR lie close to the T-tubules.
What are thick filaments composed of
Myosin, where each myosin has two subunits each with a globular head and a tail, the two tails intertwine to form a helix. The heads have a binding site for actin.
What is myosin
A high molecular weight protein that is formed from two high molecular weight sub-units. These subunits have a ‘tail’ which wind around each other in a double helix and globular head that is capable of hydrolysing ATP/
What is the head of the myosin in the thick filament
- An enzyme that hydrolyses ATP (an ATPase).
How is the head in the myosin of the thick filament arranged
Arranged in a polarised fashion i.e with the myosin heads projection. Head outside, tail in the middle.
What are thin filaments composed of
- composed primarily of globular actin proteins.
- filaments composed of a double stranded helical actin chain (polymers)
What are troponin and tropomyosin
Regulatory proteins associated with actin in skeletal and cardiac muscle