What is the major function of muscle?

- Contraction,movement of structures within the body.

Compare skeletal, smooth, and cardiac muscles in regard to

their microscopic anatomy, location and arrangement in body
organs, and function in the body.
- Skeletal:
Location: Bones (some facial muscles to skin)
Microscopic anatomy: Single, long, cylindrical, multinucleate
Functions: move skeleton

- Smooth:
Location: walls of hollow visceral organs
Microscopic anatomy: branching chains of cells, uninucleate,
striations
Functions: move digestive system.

- Cardiac:
Location: walls of heart
Miscroscopic anatomy: single, fusiform, uninucleate, no
striations
Functions: Contract heart

What two types of muscle tissue are striated?

- Skeletal muscle is the tissue that most muscles attached to

bones are made of. Hence the word "skeletal".

- Cardiac muscle, on the other hand, is the muscle found on the

walls of the heart.

Microscopically both the skeletal and cardiac musculature have

a “striated” appearance due to their densely packed myofibrils.

Why are the connective tissue wrappings of skeletal muscles

important? Name these connective tissue coverings, beginning
with the finest and ending with the coarsest.
- They protect, reinforce, and strengthen the delicate muscle
tissue. Endomysium, perimysium, and epimysium.

What is the function of tendons?

- Tendons attach muscle to bone.

What is a muscle fiber?

- A muscle fiber is a single cylindrical cell, with several
nuclei located at its periphery. Muscle fibers range in length
1 cm to 30 cm and are generally 0.15 mm in diameter.

Explain the relevance of the structural relationship among

sarcomeres, T tubules, and the sarcoplasmic reticulum.
- As per sliding filament theory the structural relevance of
the myofilaments are composed of two types of proteins called
actin and myosin,which are responsible for the contractility
of the myofibrils.

What is a sarcomere?
- Perpendicular arrangement of myofibrils
- The organization of actin and myosinmyofilaments gives
skeletal muscle its striated appearance and gives it the
ability to contract.

Describe the composition of a myofibril. Describe the

structure of actin and myosin myofilaments.
- Myofibrils are made up of two types of filaments, thin
filaments and thick filaments. Thin filaments are composed of
strands of the protein actin and a regulatory protein coiled
together, whereas thick filaments are composed of strands of
the protein myosin.

Define neuromuscular junction, motor unit, tetanus, graded

response, aerobic respiration, anaerobic glycolysis, muscle
fatigue, and neurotransmitter.
- Neuromuscular junction, the junction of a motor neuron's
axon terminals and the sarcolemma of a muscle cell.
- Motor unit, one motor neuron and all the muscle cells it
stimulates.
- Tetanus, the smooth, sustained contractions of a muscle with
no evidence of relaxation.
- Graded response, different degrees of contraction in
response to different levels of stimulation (changes in both
the stimuli frequency and number of muscle cells stimulated).
- Aerobic respiration, metabolic pathways that use O2 to
generate ATP.
- Anaerobic glycolysis, metabolic pathway that breaks down
glucose into pyruvic acid (without using O2) to generate ATP.
- Muscle fatigue, the inability of a muscle to contract even
though it is still being stimulated; usually a result of a
lack of oxygen and the accumulation of lactic acid in the
muscle tissue.
- Neurotransmitter, a chemical substance released by a neuron
when the nerve impulse reaches its axon terminals.
Describe the production of an action potential.
- Action potentials are nerve signals, in order to transmit
them to the target tissue, neurons produce and execute these
signal
s along their processes.

Describe the events that occur from the time calcium ions
enter the axon terminal at the neuromuscular junction until
muscle cell contraction occurs.
- Acetylcholine is released it diffuses through the synaptic
cleft and attaches to receptors on the sarcolemma sarcolemma
permeability to sodium ions increases briefly; sodium ions
rush into the muscle cell, reversing the electrical conditions
of the resting sarcolemma (depolarization of the membrane) the
action potential is initiated and sweeps over the entire
sarcolemma eventually reaching the sarcoplasmic reticulum deep
inside the cell calcium ions are released from the
sarcoplasmic reticulum; attachment of calcium ions to the
thin/actin filaments exposes binding sites for myosin. Myosin
heads bind to actin, triggering their inward sliding
contraction occurs.

How do isotonic and isometric contractions differ?

- In an isotonic contraction, the muscles maintain the same
tension as it shortens while in an isometric contraction, the
muscle remains the same length as the tension
changes. Isotonic contractions are known to have
shorter contraction and relaxation times
while isometric contractions have longer contraction and
relaxation times.

How does muscle activity contribute to the maintenance of body

temperature? Explain how significant this contribution is.
- Skeletal muscle, by producing heat, contributes to the
preservation of temperature homeostasis in the body. Muscle
contraction involves energy and creates heat as a byproduct of
metabolism.

Which facial muscle allows you to whistle? Why is it also

considered a chewing muscle?
- The majority of the face is composed of the
buccinator muscle, which compresses the cheek.
This muscle allows you to whistle, blow, and suck; and it
contributes to the action of chewing. There are several
small facial muscles, one of which is the corrugator
supercilii, which is the prime mover of the eyebrows.
Injury to which muscle can lead to torticollis?
- Bending or twisting your neck too far can lead to acute
torticollis.

Name two muscles that reverse the movement of the deltoid

muscle.
- Pectoralis major and latissimus dorsi.

Other than acting to flex the spine and compress the abdominal
contents, the abdominal muscles are extremely important in
protecting and containing the abdominal viscera. What is it
about the arrangement of these muscles that makes them so well
suited for their job?
- Thickness due to fibers running in different directions.

What happens to muscles when they are exercised regularly?

Exercised vigorously as in weight lifting? Not used?
- Exercised regularly increase in size, strength, endurance.
Not muscle weakness (atrophy). Weight lifting enlargement of
individual muscle cells and amount of connective tissue
reinforcing muscle (hypertrophy).

Harry is pondering an exam question that asks, “What muscle

type has elongated cells and is found in the walls of the
urinary bladder?” How should he respond?
- He should respond "smooth muscle" which fits the
description.