Characteristic Skeletal Smooth Cardiac

Regulation of Voluntary Involuntary Involuntary

contraction
Speed of contraction Slow to fast Very slow slow
Site of calcium Troponin on actin- Calmodulin the Troponin on actin-
contraction consisting thin cytosol consisting thin
filaments filament

Single Unit Multi-unit Neither Both

Exhibit spontaneous Richly supplied by Somatic nervous Calcium is the final
action potential nerve endings each system trigger in the
from a motor unit contraction process
Small intestine Hair follicles Intercalated disc Sliding filament
mechanism
Esophagus Responds to Neuromuscular
hormonal stimuli junctions
Entire sheet of tissue Rare gap junctions
contract 2gether to 1
Electrically coupled in Structurally
gap junctions independent muscle
fiber
Visceral Does not generate AP

Plasticity A hollow organ can be greatly stretched, yet not become flabby
after prolonged stretching can be explained.
Myosin light chain Regulatory protein on the myosin head of smooth muscle cells
which controls the contraction and relaxation of smooth muscle
fibers.
Extracellular fluid That activates the contraction process in smooth muscle cells
compartment mostly comes from.
Calmodulin Calcium binding protein in the sarcoplasm of smooth muscle cells.
Calmodulin Intracellular structures in the sarcoplasm of smooth muscle cells
not found in skeletal muscle cells.
Diffuse Junction Junction with a wide synaptic cleft formed between axonal
innervations of nerve fiber endings from the autonomic nervous
system and the single unit smooth muscle fibers.
Caveoli Multiple, pouch like infoldings in the sarcolemma of smooth
muscle cells.
 Peristalsis A rhythmic form of contraction or around contraction.

Contact Junction Multi- unit smooth muscles

Gap Junction Action Potential and electrical coupling

Varicosities Bulbous structure at axonal nerve endings

Disease:
Contracture - abnormal muscle shortening not caused by nervous stimulation
- due to failure of the calcium pump to remove calcium from the
sarcoplasm
- painful muscle spasms caused by rapid firing of motor neurons
- triggered by heavy exercise, cold, dehydration, electrolyte loss,
low blood glucose, or lack of blood flow
Cramps - shock-like state following the massive crushing of muscles
- kidney failure (resulting from blockage of the renal tubules with
myoglobin released by the traumatized muscle)
Myoglobinuria -presence of myoglobin in urine

DOMS - pain, stiffness, & tenderness felt from several hours to a day
after strenuous exercise
-associated with microtrauma to the muscles, disrupted Z discs,
myofibrils & sarcolemma, and elevated myoglobin, creatine
kinase & lactate dehydrogenase in the blood.
Disuse Atrophy - reduction in the size of muscle fibers because of nerve damage
or muscular inactivity
- limbs in a cast or, confined to a bed or wheelchair; muscle
strength can be lost at a rate of 3%/day of bed rest.
Fibromyalgia - diffuse, chronic muscular pain & tenderness, often associated
with sleep disturbance & fatigue
- often misdiagnosed as chronic fatigue syndrome
- can be caused by various infectious diseases, physical or
emotional trauma, or medications; most common in women 30 to
50 years old.
Myositis -muscle inflammation & weakness resulting from infection or
autoimmune disease.

Muscular dystrophy - collective term for hereditary diseases in which muscles

degenerate, weaken & gradually replaced by fat & fibrous scar.
 DMD -most common muscular dystrophy

Dystrophin - Underlying cause of DMD is a mutation in the gene for the

muscle protein

Myasthenia gravis - autoimmune disease in which antibodies attack the

neuromuscular junctions & binds to Ach receptors together in
clusters occurring in women between 20 and 40 years old.
Strabismus - inability to fixate on the same point with both eyes

Ptosis - dropping eyelids

The slow onset of smooth muscle contraction and relaxation can be explained by all of the following
statements, except:
A. Sluggish ATPases activity
B. Failure of calmodulin to immediately activate the myosin light chain kinase in the sarcoplasm
C. Slow cycling of the myosin cross bridges
D. Slow calcium pumps in removing the calcium ions out from the sarcoplasm into the ECF
E. Slow response to initiation of contraction of calcium ions

True of dense bodies, except:

A. Often arranged directly across from those of one smooth musce cell to another with linkages between
the cells, transmitting contractile force from cell to cell.
B. Intracellular cytoskeleton that harness the pull of myosin on the actin, shortening the muscle
C. Protein plaques attached to the sarcolemma
D. Extensive cytoskeletal network of longitudinal bundles of non contractile filaments that resist tension
E. Act as anchoring points for the thin filaments

Which of the following statements on the physical basis for smooth muscle contraction is not correct?
A. Actin and myosin filaments are not arranged in striations
B. Ratio of thick and thin filaments in smooth muscles is much greater and higher than skeletal muscles
C. Longer actin and myosin filaments
D. Contractile fibers are not arranged in sarcomeres
E. Myofilaments are arranged in long bundles extending diagonally around the periphery of the cell,
forming a lattice around the central nucleus

Single unit smooth muscles is not found in which of the following?

A. Arterioles
B. Urinary bladder
C. Uterus
D. Esophagus
E. Arrector pili
The following statements correctly explain the effects of changes in local tissue factors on the blood
vessels, except:
A. Excess carbon dioxide can cause vasodilation
B. Increase potassium and low calcium ions can cause vasoconstriction
C. Lack of oxygen cause smooth muscle relaxation
D. Increase in hydrogen ions can cause vasodilation
E. Increase pH can cause vasodilation

Which of the following correctly describes the electrical basis for smooth muscle contraction,
differentiating smooth muscle contraction from skeletal muscle contraction:
A. Electrical impulses can jump from one smooth muscle cells to adjacent muscle cells through the
surrounding myelin sheaths in the neuromuscular junction.
B. The pacemaker cells in smooth muscle cells of some hollow, visceral organs act as drummers setting
the contractile pace for the whole muscle sheet, that is, smooth muscle cells are self excitatory and can
depolarize without a stimulus
C. T tubules allow for rapid transmisison of impulses from the sarcolemma down into the deeper
substance of the smooth muscle cells
D. Contact junctions in smooth muscle cells allow transmission of action potentials from cell to cell
E. Adjacent smooth muscle cells are independent, does not exhibit slow, synchronized contractions and
the whole muscle sheet contracts as one

which of the following statements is not correct?

A. Contraction of the outer longitudinal layer dilates and shortens the organ propelling substances
through the lumen.
B. The smooth muscle fibers of the inner circular layer runs around the circumference of the organ
C. Alternating contraction and relaxation of the two opposing layer mixes and squeezes substances
through the lumen of the hollow organs.
D. Contraction of the inner circular layer dilates and shortens the organ propelling substances through
the lumen
E. Contraction of the two layers of closely apposed fibers alternately constricts or dilates the organ

Characteristics of multi unit smooth muscle, except:

A. In the absence of electrical stimulation, responds to hormones.
B. Found in the internal eye muscles adjusting pupil size and allowing to visually focus on objects
C. Structurally independent muscle fibers richly supplied with nerve endings, each of which forms a
motor unit with a number of muscle fibers
D. Contract rhythmically as a single unit, electrically coupled to one another via gap junctions
E. Responds to neural stimulation with graded contractions via the autonomiic nervous system

Which of the following is not found in the myofilaments of smooth muscle fibers:
A. Myosin light chain
B. Calmodulin
C. ATPase
D. Tropomyosin
E. Troponin

Which of the following is not true of the stress relaxation response of smooth muscles:
 A. The response of smooth muscles to stretch and stimulating them to contract
B. Also known as receptive relaxation response
C. A state wherein the strength of muscle contraction reaches a plateau when a muscle begins to
contract after a long period of rest
D. The phenomenon in which smooth muscles respond to stretch only briefly, then adapt to its new
length and retain its ability to contract
E. The ability to return nearly its original force of contraction after it has been elongated or stretched

Which of the following is not lined by smooth muscles?

A. Stomach
B. Esophagus
C. Aorta
D. Intercostal muscles
E. Gall bladder

LATCH mechanism of smooth muscle contraction:

A. The mechanism wherein the thin filaments slide past the thick ones so that the actin and myosin
filaments overlap to a greater degree in an energy requiring process that leads to muscle contraction.
The thick and thin filaments do not change in length or shortens but slide past each other
B. Are variations in the degree of muscle contraction and is required for proper control of muscle
movement
C. Mechanism wherein there is prolonged attachment of myosin cross bridges with the actin filaments
and once the muscle has developed full contraction, it maintains its full force of contraction with less
amount of energy consumed to maintain contraction thus maintaining muscle tension in the muscle
fiber without using much ATP and sustains contraction without developing muscle fatigue
D. States that there is an increase muscle contraction in response to multiple stimuli of the same
strength
E. Postulates that when a head of myosin attaches to an actin active site, it causes changes in
intramolecular forces between the head and arm of the cross bridge creating a new alignment of forces
causing the head to tilt a power stroke toward the arm, dragging the actin filament along with it

Importance of stress relaxation response:

A. Allow how organs to maintain the same amount of intraluminal pressure despite long term changes in
the length of the muscle fibers
B. Allow hollow organs to tolerate tremendous changes in volume without losing its tone when
completely empty
C. Keep the intestines partially constricted
D. Generates stronger force of smooth muscle contraction despite being stretched
E. Maintains prolonged tonic contraction and tension in smooth muscles with less use of ATP

Which of the following statements is not true?

Norepinephrine binds to excitatory receptors in the walls of most blood vessels, stimulating
vasoconstriction.
Smooth Muscle Characteristic or parts

1. Absent neuromuscular junction

2. No motor end plate
3. Absent sarcolemma
4. Rare gap junction

3 Smooth Muscle Organ

S- stomach

U- urinary bladder

R- respiratory passages

U- ureter

E- esophagus

B- bile ducts

U- uterus

B- blood vessels

Sequencing of SM excitation contraction coupling

___2___1. CA2+ binds to and activates calmodulin

___5___2. Activated myosin forms cross bridges with actin of the filaments o Shortening begins

___3___3. Activated calmodulin activates the myosin light chain kinase enzymes
___1___4. Calcium ions enter the cytosol from the ECF via voltage-dependent or voltage independent
Ca2+ channels, or from the scant SR

___4___5. The activated kinase enzymes catalyze transfer of phosphate to myosin, activating the
myosin ATPases