Vascular Smooth Muscle Flashcards
What is the vascular smooth muscle???
Is a type of muscle built up of many arteries.
What are the types of arteries in the vascular smooth muscle???
Tunica intima (innermost) - Lumen Lining - Thin single layer of endothelial.
Tunica adventitia or externa (outer) - Connective tissue.
Tunica media (middle) - Smooth muscle + connective tissues.
What is the structure of the vascular smooth muscle?
Spindle shaped - single central nucleus.
Contains actin & myosin.
Arranged in bundles.
Filaments longer than in cardiac myocytes.
What is the process of contraction in the vascular muscle cell?
The vascular smooth muscle cell shrinks in size which causes contraction and this is because of the inner surface of the muscle cell being pulled in the middle of the cell.
This process is because the actin and myosin fibres slide past each other because of the shortening of the sarcomere.
What is the similarity between the cardiac muscle and the smooth muscle cell?
They both have actin and myosin.
What is the sarcoplasmic reticulum?
The storage for calcium in the vascular smooth muscle.
What is the gap junction?
This allows electrical excitations to spread between neighbouring cells.
What is the dense body?
Linked to the cytoskeleton and prevents sarcomeres floating in the cell.
What is the Caveola?
It folds the VSMC cell membrane which increases surface area: volume ratio which responds to hormones.
