Human Anatomy & Physiology I – Dr.

Sullivan
Unit XI - Skeletal Muscle Physiology
Chapter 11
I. Muscle Tissue Overview
a) Motion in and of the body results from alternating contraction and relaxation of muscle tissue.
b) The function of muscle tissue is to change chemical energy (from food) into mechanical energy to
generate force, perform work, and produce movement.
c) Muscle tissue also:
i) Produce body movements: contract and pull on bones to move them
ii) Stabilizes the body’s position: muscles contract to maintain posture
iii) Generates heat: heat is produced as a by-product of muscular contraction
(1) called thermogenesis
iv) Propels fluids and food matter: smooth muscle in hollow organs and vessels contract to propel
substances through the organ or vessel
d) Myology: the scientific study of muscles.
e) Properties of muscle tissue:
i) Electrical excitability: the ability to respond to certain stimuli by producing electrical signals
(i.e. action potentials)
(1) Action Potential: an electrical impulse generated by a nerve cell intended to evoke a
response from tissues
ii) Contractility: the ability to contract (shorten) forcefully when stimulated by an action
potential
(1) When muscles contract, they pull on their attachment points (i.e. bones) causing them to
move if the contraction is strong enough
iii) Extensibility: The ability of the muscle to stretch (to an extent) without being damaged.
iv) Elasticity: The ability of the muscle tissue to return to its original length after being stretched.
f) There are three types of muscle tissue
i) Skeletal Muscle: mostly used to move the skeleton at the joints.
(1) Striated: skeletal muscle tissue looks striated (or striped) under microscope due to light
and dark colored bands of overlapping and non-overlapping filaments.
(2) Voluntary: for the most part, you have control over whether or not skeletal muscle
tissues contract.
(a) However, some skeletal muscles (i.e. the diaphragm, postural muscles) contract
subconsciously so you don’t have to remember to breathe or stand against gravity.
ii) Cardiac Muscle: involuntary heart muscle used for pumping blood.
(1) discussed next semester with cardiovascular system
iii) Smooth Muscle: located in the walls of hollow structures in the body
(1) i.e. blood vessels, digestive tract, airways, etc.
(2) involuntary
(3) non-striated (smooth)
(4) fully discussed next semester with digestive and cardiovascular system
II. Skeletal Muscle Tissue
a) See figure 11.2 for the structure of a skeletal muscle fiber and power point images for
organization.
b) A skeletal muscle is divided into fascicles are divided into muscle fibers (cell) are divided into
myofibrils (strands of sarcomeres that contract) are divided into muscle filaments (thin & thick)
c) Each muscle cell is called a muscle fiber.
i) Sarcolemma: the plasma membrane of a muscle fiber
ii) Sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR): the smooth ER of the muscle fiber that acts as a reservoir for
calcium ions.
iii) Terminal Cisternae: the dilated ends of the SR that are adjacents to the T-tubules
iv) Sarcoplasm: the cytoplasm of the muscle fiber
v) Transvers Tubules (t tubules): tunnel like extensions of the sarcolemma that extend through
the muscle fiber and are lined with sarcoplasmic reticulum.
 (1) Muscle Tension: degree of contraction taking place
d) Sarcomere: an arrangement of muscle (thick and thin) filaments making one contractile unit of
muscle tissue.
i) Z-disc: outer boundary of the sarcomere
ii) M-line: the mid-line of the sarcomere
iii) A-Band: dark band formed by the thick filaments.
iv) H-Band: lighter region in the middle of an A-band that is composed only of non-overlapping
think filaments.
v) I-Band: light band of non-overlapping thin filaments (between Z-disc & A-band).
vi) Thin filament: actin, troponin, and tropomyosin
(1) held together by two proteins: troponin & tropomyosin
vii) Thick filament: myosin
viii) Contractile Muscle proteins:
(1) Myosin: the motor of muscle contraction (makes up the thick filament)
(a) Myosin filaments have projections (heads) that bind to actin.
(2) Actin: part of the thin filament that anchors the myosin
ix) Myoglobin: a protein found only in muscle that binds oxygen for diffusion into the muscle
cell for energy (ATP) production

***REVIEW LOCAL POTENTIAL, ACTION POTENTIAL, AND CHEMICAL SYNAPSE TO FULLY

UNDERSTAND THE MATERIAL COVERED BELOW***

III. The Neuromuscular junction (see animation): where a neuron synapses with the muscle fibers it
innervates (supplies with nervous stimulation) and communicates via neurotransmitter (acetylcholine)
transmitting a neuron action potential to a muscle action potential.
a) The initial impulse for contraction (action potential) comes from here.
b) Motor Unit: a nerve innervates a whole muscle, but is divided into many nerve endings that
innervate a specific group of muscle fibers. The combination of the nerve ending and the specific
fibers it innervates is called motor unit.
c) Motor end plate: the muscle side of the neuromuscular junction.
d) The contraction of a skeletal muscle as stimulated by a motor is broken down into three phases. I
have posted animations and made tutor videos on each of these phases. They can be found on the
Unit XI content website:
i) Excitation: How a nerve impulse from a motor neuron is transmitted to the sarcolemma of a
muscle fiber, resulting in a muscle action potential
(1) The neuron’s action potential reaches the neuromuscular junction.
(2) The neuron releases its neurotransmitter (acetylcholine)
(3) The neurotransmitter binds to and stimulates receptors on the motor end plate resulting in
the opening of ligand gated sodium/potassium ion channels.
(4) The motor end plate depolarizes from its resting membrane potential of -90 mv creating
an end plate potential (a form of graded potential in the sarcolemma) and stimulates the
opening of voltage-gated sodium ion channels along the adjacent sarcolemma creating
the muscle action potential.
ii) Excitation-Contraction Coupling: the events that link the change in electrical potential of
the sarcolemma (muscle action potential) to the shortening of sarcomeres creating muscle
contraction (sliding filament theory)
(1) The muscle action potential travels from the motor end plate along the sarcolemma in all
directions down into the T-tubules opening calcium channels in the terminal cisternae of
the sarcoplasmic reticulum causing calcium ions to be released into the sarcoplasm from
the sarcoplasmic reticulum.
(2) The calcium ions bind to the troponin of the thin filaments (actin)
(3) The troponin-tropomyosin complex changes shape and shifts position exposing the active
sites on the actin filaments making them available for binding to myosin heads.
iii) The Sliding Filament Mechanism of Muscle Contraction
(1) Steps to how a muscle contracts or shortens to create movement:
 (2) Using the enzyme Myosin ATPase myosin heads break down ATP into ADP &
Phosphate (for energy) to become energized and oriented toward the actin
(3) Myosin heads, still holding the ADP & Phosphate, bind to an exposed active site on thin
filament creating a cross bridge
(4) The Myosin heads release the ADP &Phosphate and then rotate toward the M
Line, pulling the thin filaments toward the center (called the power stroke)
(5) As the the thick & thin filaments overlap, the sarcomeres shorten, or contract.
(6) Myosin heads bind ATP again and the cross bridges detach.
(a) Binding to ATP is necessary for the myosin heads to detach from the actin sites.
(7) The muscle is lengthened when gravity or an opposing muscle act on it pulling the
sarcomeres back to their original lengthened position.
(8) These steps repeat until the desired amount of contraction occurs.
IV. Length-Tension relationship: How strong a contraction is dependent on how many sarcomeres
contract as well as the length of the sarcomeres before the contraction begins.
a) A muscle that is partially contracted already will not contract with the same force as one that is
fully lengthened.
b) Due to the fact that the further a thin filament has to travel to get to the M Line of the sarcomere,
the more potential for contraction
c) The presence of Calcium in the muscle cell starts contraction and a decrease of Calcium stops it.
d) as a muscle lengthens, the degree of overlap of thick & thin filaments decreases. This opens up
the possibility to form more cross bridges for contraction. Therefore, the longer a muscle is before
contraction, the greater the possibility of tension (strength) of contraction.
e) If the overlap decreases too much, not enough cross bridges can be formed to start
contraction. So, there is an optimal starting length for maximizing contraction tension
(strength). As the degree of overlap of thick & thin filaments decreases approaching optimal
length, the potential for cross bridges increases and hence the potential for tension increases.
V. Muscle Fatigue: it is unclear precisely what causes individual muscle fibers to fatigue, however it is
theorized that decreases in Calcium ions, buildup of lactic acid (by-product of ATP breakdown), and
depletion of stored glucose (glycogen) in the muscle.
a) Surprisingly, the amount of ATP (energy source) in fatigued muscle is not much different than
that of resting muscle.
VI. There are two main types of skeletal muscle fibers
a) Slow Oxidative Fibers (aka slow-twitch fibers): the smallest and least powerful muscle fiber
types
i) Appear dark red due to large numbers of capillaries and amounts of myoglobin.
ii) The contraction of these fibers are very slow and resistant to fatigue
iii) Used for as maintaining posture and for endurance-type activities such as running a marathon
b) Fast Glycolytic Fibers (aka fast-twitch fibers): largest fibers containing the highest number fibrils
i) Generate the most powerful contractions
ii) Low myoglobin content and appear white in color.
iii) Contract quickly and fatigue quickly
iv) Used for explosive movements of short duration such as weight lifting or throwing a ball.
v) Strength-training programs that engage a person in these activities, increase the size, strength,
and energy content of the muscle fibers due to an increased number of muscle proteins within
the fiber.
(1) resulting in hypertrophy, or enlargement, of the muscle itself.
vi) Most muscles contain both muscle fiber types, however any given motor unit (a nerve ending
and the fibers it innervates) are all the same type.