Structure and function of muscles Flashcards
Muscle functions
Move body parts, maintain body posture, adjust the volume of hollow structures, move substances within the body, produce heat
Skeletal muscle
attached to the bone, moves the skeleton, forms the bulk of the body’s muscle mass, striated, voluntary control- can b contracted or relaxed at will, contracts quickly and forcefully then relaxes to become ready to contract again, contraction is not maintained for extended periods of tie, fatigues after repeated contraction
smooth muscle
found in the walls of hollow organs, involuntary, contracts slowly and may maintain the contraction over an extended period of time, generally does not fatigue, non-striated with a smooth appearance
cardiac muscle
found only in the hear, involuntary, contracts quickly and then relaxes but does not fatigue, striated but has shorter cells than skeletal muscle
properties of muscle
contractile, excitable, extensible
muscle fibres
skeletal muscle cells that are also called myocytes
Sarcolemma
the cell membrane surrounding the muscle cell. it acts to contain the muscle fibre’s contents and shield it from the extracellular environment. especially important in muscle contraction. it surrounds the cytoplasms and also tunnels down into the interior of the muscle fibre
t-tubules
a network of muscle fibre. the action potentials travel down the t-tubules which enable them to reach every part of the fibre virtually simultaneously to trigger a coordinated muscle contraction
sarcoplasm
the cytoplasm of the muscle fibre. It is densely packed with myofibrils, sarcomeres, Sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), mitochondria , and myoglobin
Myofibrils
slender, thread-like organelles accomplish the work of muscle contraction. each myofibril is a bundle of different protein filaments that run the entire length of the muscle fibre
Sarcomeres
repeating units found within each myofibril. these are the functional units of muscle that create the striated appearance of skeletal muscle. each sarcomere is composed of two bundles of protein myofilaments- thick filaments and thin filaments. these are responsible for muscle contraction.sarcomere length is shorter when muscle is contracted compared to its resting length
Sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR)
Stores calcium ions necessary for muscle contraction. T-tubules are in close contact with the SR
mitochondria
these organelles generate the ATP that fuels muscle contraction
myoglobin
an iron-containing compound that stores oxygen used to generate energy for muscle contraction
Z discs
protein structures that join sarcomeres together at their ends, thin and thick filaments are tethered to the Z discs. thick filaments overlap the thin filaments
somatic motor neuron
carries a signal that stimulates contraction in skeletal muscle. the cell bodies of motor neurons are located in the brain or spinal cord and send out axons to communicate with muscle fibres.
visceral motor neuron
carries a similar signal to smooth muscle
axon terminals
the branches that make contact with several muscle fibres off an axon of a motor neuron
motor units
comprises a somatic motor neuron and the skeletal muscle fibres it control.
- when a motor unit is stimulated by an action potential, all of its fibres contract
-many muscles contain motor units of different sizes
-a motor unit consists of a motor neuron and all the muscle fibres it innervates
neuromuscular junction
the synapse between a motor neuron and a muscle fibre. an example of a chemical synapse
chemical synapse
a synapse is a site where a signal passes from one cell to the next. a chemical synapse uses a neurotransmitter to convey the signal between cells
acetylcholine (ACh)
released from the axon terminal of the somatic motor neuron to carry the electrical signal across the synaptic cleft between the motor neuron and the receptors of the muscle fibre
Process leading to a muscle contraction
1) an action potential arrives at the axon terminal
2) Synaptic vesicles that contain ACh fuse with the cell membrane and release the ACh molecules into the synaptic cleft
3)ACh diffuses across the synaptic cleft and binds to nicotnic cholinergic receptors on the muscle fibre membrane
4) the bound receptors induce contraction of the muscle
cholinergic receptors
bind to acetylcholine. two types: nicotinic and muscarinic.
Stopping the signal.
when the signal has been transferred from the neuron to the muscle fibre, then transmission must e stopped, and the acetylcholine recycled
acetylcholinesterase
an enzyme found in the synaptic cleft that inactivates and hydrolyzes ACh to cholin and acetate. the choline is taken back into the axon terminal by a choline carrier, where it is recycled into fresh ACh
Muscle fibre after an action potential
1) the action potential travels along the sarcolemma
2) Ca2+ is released from the SR into the sarcoplasm, resulting in muscle contraction
3)Ca2+ is pumped back into the SR from the sarcoplasm
The resulting muscle action potential results in initiation of muscle contraction
1) local depolarisation of the sarcolemma initiates an action potential that that travels along the sarcolemma and down the t-tubules
2)t-tubules contain many voltage ion channels, including Ca2+ channels
3) the sarcoplasmic reticulum, which stores Ca2+ ions, sits inside the muscle fibre in close association with the t-tubules. Ca2+ relase channels are embedded in the SR membrane.- these open to release Ca2+ into the sarcoplasm in response to an action potential. Increased Ca2+ in the sarcoplasm enables muscle fibres to contract
4)the SR membrane also contains an ATP-fuel pump that moves Ca2+ ions back into the SR. this means that the sacroplasmic concentration of Ca2+ is a balance between the Ca2+ release in response to an action potential and the Ca2+ pumped back into the SR.
Thick filaments
bundles of myosin protein. each molecule has two globular heads that protrude from the bundle.
there are two binding sites on each head: one for binding ATP and one for binding thin filaments
crossbridge
when a myosin head binds to a thin filament. the connection between thick and thin filaments
thin filaments
composed of three proteins.
actin, tropomyosin, and troponin
actins role in thin filaments
a small globular protein that is the main constituent. each filament contains two long strands of actin twisted together in a helix. each actin molecules contains a binding site for a myosin head
tropomyosin role in thin filaments
prevents myosin from binding to actin until a signal for contraction arrives from the neuron innervating the muscle
troponin role in thin filaments
keeps the tropomyosin molecules in place over the binding sites in relaxed muscle, but moves them out of the way for biding to occur