‫بسم هللا الرحمن الرحيم‬

Membrane Potential and Action Potential

Introduction :

The major chemical substances in the extracellular fluid (ECF) are Na+ and Cl- ions,
whereas the intracellular fluid contains high conc. of K+ ions and ionized nondiffusable
molecules, especially proteins with negatively charged side chains and phosphate
compounds.

-Electrical phenomena resulting from the distribution of these charged particles occur
at the cell's plasma membrane.

-Separated electrical charges of opposite sign have the potential of doing work if they
are allowed to come together. This potential is called an "Electrical Potential", or,
because it is determined by the difference in the amount of charge between two points,
a "Potential Difference".

The Resting Membrane Potential (RMP) :

- All cells under resting conditions, have a potential difference across their
plasma membranes, oriented with the inside of the cell negatively charged with
respect to the outside. This potential is called the Resting Membrane Potential
(RMP).
- The RMP exists because there is a tiny excess of (-) ions inside the cell & excess
of (+) ions outside. The excess negative charges inside are electrically attracted
to the excess of positive ions outside and vice versa.
- Electrical potentials exist across the membranes of essentially all cells of the
body. In addition, some cells such as nerve and muscle cells are excitable, that
is, capable of self-generation of electrochemical impulses at their membranes.
These impulses can be used to transmit signals along the membranes.
- The RMP of large nerve fibers when they are not transmitting nerve signals is
about -90 mv (that is the potential inside the fiber is -90 mv more negative than
the potential in the extracellular fluid on the outside of the fiber).

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 Nerve Action Potential

- Nerve signals are transmitted by action potentials, which are rapid changes in
the membrane potential. Each action potential begins with a sudden change
from the normal resting (-) potential to a (+) membrane potential, and then ends
with rapid change back to the normal resting (-) potential.
- The successive stages of the action potential (AP) are :
(1) Resting Stage : this is the normal resting (-) potential before the AP occurs.
(2) Depolarization Stage : the membrane suddenly becomes permeable to Na+
ions, allowing large numbers of positively charged Na+ ions to flow to the
interior of the axon.
(3) Repolarization Stage : within a few 10.000th of a second after the membrane
becomes highly permeable to Na+ ions, the Na+ channels begin to close, & the
K+ channels "open more " than they normally do. Then, rapid diffusion of K +
ions to the exterior re-establishes the normal (-) resting membrane potential.

Threshold for Stimulation

An action potential will not occur until the initial rise in membrane potential is
great enough. This occurs when the number of Na+ ions entering the fiber becomes
greater than the number of K+ ions leaving the fiber. Thus, a sudden increase in
membrane potential in a large nerve fiber from -90 mv up to about -65 mv
usually causes the development of the action potential. This level of -65 mv
is called the Threshold for Stimulation.

Propagation of the Action Potential

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- An action potential (AP) elicited at any one point on an excitable membrane
usually excites adjacent portions of the membrane, resulting in propagation of
the AP.
- An excitable membrane has no single direction of propagation of AP, but the
AP will spread in both directions away from the stimulus, & even along all
branches of a nerve fiber, until the entire membrane has become depolarized.
- The transmission of the depolarization process along a nerve or muscle fiber is
called, a Nerve or Muscle impulse.

Contraction & Excitation of Skeletal Muscle

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 About 40% of the body is skeletal muscle, and another 10% is smooth muscle &
cardiac muscle .

Neuromuscular Junction

- The skeletal muscle fibers are innervated by large myelinated nerve fibers. Each
nerve fiber normally branches many times & stimulates from 3 to several hundred sk.
muscle fibers. The nerve ending makes a junction called, the Neuromuscular Junction.

- In the axon terminal are many mitochondria that supply energy mainly for synthesis
of the excitatory transmitter "Acetylcholine".
- When a nerve impulse reaches the neuromuscular junction, Acetylcholine is released
from the terminals into the synaptic space.
- Acetylcholine (Ac.Ch) acts on the postsynaptic membrane (muscle membrane)
which causes a conformational change that opens mainly Na+ ion channels. Thus, a
large numbers of Na+ ions pass to the inside of the muscle fiber, creating a local
potential change, which initiates an action potential in the muscle membrane & thus
causes muscle contraction.

- Most of the Ac.Ch is destroyed by :

(1) The enzyme acetylcholine esterase that is attached mainly to the basal lamina (fine
connective tissue that fills the synaptic space).
(2) A small amount diffuses out of the synaptic space.
- The short period that Acetylcholine remains in the synaptic space (few milliseconds)
is sufficient to excite the muscle fiber.
-The rapid removal of Ac.Ch prevents muscle re-excitation after the fiber has
recovered from the first AP.

- The AP is transmitted to the interior of the muscle fiber by way of Transverse

Tubules (T tubules). In turn, the T tubules APs cause the sarcoplasmic reticulum to
release Ca++ ions in the vicinity of the myofibrils & these Ca++ ions then cause
contraction.

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-The Ca++ ions initiate attractive forces between the actin and myosin filaments, causing
them to slide alongside each other, which is the contractile process. After a fraction of
a second, the Ca++ ions are pumped back into the sarcoplasmic reticulum, where they
remain stored until a new muscle AP comes along.

Contraction & Excitation of Smooth Muscle

-The smooth muscle (sm. muscle) is composed of far smaller fibers.

Types of Smooth Muscle :

(1) Multiunit Smooth Muscle : this type is composed of discrete, separate smooth
muscle fibers. Each fiber is often innervated by a single nerve endings and each
fiber can contract independently of the other fibers and their control is exerted
mainly by nerve signals. Some examples of multiunit sm. muscle are ; the ciliary
muscle of the eye , the iris muscle of the eye, and the piloerector muscles that
cause erection of the hairs when stimulated by the Sympathetic Nervous
System.

(2) Unitary Smooth Muscle (Visceral Sm. Muscle or Syncytial Sm. Muscle) :

The term unitary is confusing because it does not mean single muscle fibers;
instead, it means a mass of hundreds to thousands of sm. muscle fibers that
contract together as a single unit. The fibers usually are arranged in bundles or
"sheets", and their cell membranes are adherent to one another. Also, the cell
membranes are joined by many Gap Junctions through which ions can flow

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 freely from one muscle cell to the next, so that action potentials (APs) can travel
from one fiber to the next and cause the muscle fibers to contract together.

Nervous and Hormonal Control of Sm. Muscle Contraction :

- Skeletal muscle fibers are stimulated exclusively by nervous signals, but sm.
muscle fibers can be stimulated by multiple types of signals : by nervous
signals, by hormonal stimulation, by stretch of the muscle, and by local tissue
chemical factors [ for ex. Lack of O2 in local tissues → sm.muscle relaxation
→ vasodilation. Also, excess of CO2 or excess of H+ ions → vasodilation ] .

Prepared by

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Omer Hazza Mohammed