Muscles:

• How they work

• Why skeletal and smooth
muscle are suited to different
roles

Natalia Zygocki
3 types of muscle:
Skeletal
Cardiac
Smooth
Skeletal muscle
Cardiac muscle
Smooth muscle
Characteristics Skeletal muscle Cardiac muscle Smooth muscle

External characteristics

Skeletal attachment Yes No No

Muscle fibre diameter Up to 100 µm 10 µm 2-5 µm

Muscle fibre length Up to 200mm 50 µm Up to 500 µm

Muscle fibre shape Cylindrical Branched Fusiform

Nerve endings Motor end plate Varicosities Varicosities

Structural characteristics

Myofibrils Regular Regular Irregular

Mitochondria Few Many Less

Syncytium None Functional Functional in single unit smooth muscle

Nucleus/fibre Multiple Single Single

Sarcomere Regular Regular Absent

Actins attached with Z-line Z-line Dense bodies

Sarcotubular system Well developed Moderately developed Poorly developed

Ca2+ binding protein Troponin Troponin Calmodulin

Function of muscles:
 Body movement
 Maintenance of posture
 Respiration
 Production of heat
 Constrictions of organs and blood vessels
 Heart beat
Muscle tissue has a set of 5
characteristics:
1. RESPONSIVENESS/EXCITABILI
TY
2. CONDUCTIVITY
3. CONTRACTIBILITY
4. EXTENSIBILITY
5. ELASTICITY
Skeletal muscle is composed of:
 Muscular tissue
 Fibrous connective tissue:
 ENDOMYSIUM
 PERIMYSIUM
 EPIMYSIUM
Skeletal
muscle
Myofilaments
1. Myosin
 Thick filament
2. Actin
 Thin filament
3. Elastic
 Elastic filament
Myofilaments
Striation
Motor unit
Neuromuscular junction
Action potential
Types of muscle fibres
 Type I
 Type II A fibres
 Type II B fibres
Smooth
muscle
Types of smooth muscle
 Multiunit
 Unitary

“thin filaments attach to dense bodies located in the cell membrane and deep in the cytoplasm.
Dense bodies contain -actinin for thin filament attachment. Dense bodies at the membrane are also
attachment sites for intermediate filaments and for adhesive junctions between cells. This
arrangement of both the cytoskeleton and contractile apparatus allows the multicellular tissue to
contract as a unit, providing better efficiency and force”. Junquiera’s Basic Histology. 12th ed
Structure of smooth muscle
 Involuntary
 Autonomic innervation
 Smaller than skeletal muscle fibres
 Able to divide once differentiated
 Thick myosin filaments
 Thin actin filaments
 Lacks troponin
 Contains tropomysin
Structure of smooth muscle
Control of contraction- cross bridge
activation
 Smooth muscle lacks troponin, so tropomyosin does
not block active sites
 Calcium binds to calmodulin (similar to troponin)
 Calcium-calmodulin complex binds to myosin light
chain kinase  activating it
 Active myosin light chain kinase then uses ATP to
phosphorylate myosin light chains in myosin head
 Myosin binds to actin
 Continues as myosin head is phosphorylated
Membrane activation
 Sympathetic nerve impulses
 Parasympathetic nerve impulses
 Circulating or local hormones
 Adrenaline
 Angiotensin
 Histamine
 Serotonin
 Effects are dependent upon receptor activation