• Dr.

Abdikadir Omer Rabile

MBBS PGY1 family medicine MD
Amoud –Hope Program
Residency @BRH
Amoud University

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Muscle Histology
 Introduction

• Is one of four human tissues from mesodermal

origin, and they are differentiated mainly by a
gradual process,

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 Functions of muscle tissue
1.Movement

2.Maintenance of
posture

3.Joint stabilization

4.Heat generation
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Special functional characteristics of muscle
o Excitability
• Nerve fibers cause electrical impulse to
travel
o Contractility
• Only one action: to shorten
• Shortening generates pulling force
o Extensibility
• Stretch with contraction of an opposing
muscle
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Elasticity 7

•
Types of Muscle Tissue
o Skeletal muscle

o Cardiac muscle

o Smooth muscle
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Skeletal
o Attach to and move skeleton
o 40% of body weight
o Fibers = multinucleate cells (embryonic
cells fuse)
o Cells with obvious striations
o Contractions are voluntary
Cardiac: only in the wall of the heart
o Cells are striated
o Contractions are involuntary (not
voluntary)
Smooth: walls of hollow organs
o Lack striations
o Contractions are involuntary (not
voluntary)
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 Summry
• What is muscle tissue
• Functions of muscle tissue
• Characteristics of muscle tissue
• Types of muscle tissue

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 Skeletal Muscle

o Skeletal muscle consists of muscle fibers,

bundles of very long (up to 30 cm)
cylindrical multinucleated cells.

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o The oval nuclei are usually found at the
periphery of the cell under the cell membrane.
o This characteristic nuclear location is helpful in
distinguishing skeletal muscle from cardiac and
smooth muscle, both of which have centrally
located nuclei.

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 Skeletal muscle
Epimysium:
surrounds
whole muscle

Endomysium is around each

muscle fiber

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o Each muscle: one nerve, one artery, one vein
– Branch repeatedly
o Attachments
• One bone to another
• Cross at least one movable joint
• Origin: the less movable attachment
• Insertion: is pulled toward the origin
• Usually one bone moves while the other remains
fixed
• In muscles of the limb, origin lies proximal to the
insertion (by convention)

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o Many muscles span two or more joints
Called biarticular or multijoint muscles
Cause movements at two joints
o Direct or “fleshy” attachments
Attachments so short that muscle appears to attach
directly to bone
• Indirect: connective tissue extends well beyond
the muscle (more common)
Tendon: cordlike (most muscles have tendons)
Aponeurosis: flat sheet
Raised bone markings where tendons meet bones
• Tubercles, trochanters, crests, etc.
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o Sarcomere
Basic unit of contraction
Myofibrils are long rows of repeating
sarcomeres
Boundaries: Z discs (or lines)
• Made of three types of filaments (or
myofilaments):
Thick (myosin)
Thin (actin)
Elastic (titin)
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 Labeled and unlabeled

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Sarcoplasmic reticulum is smooth ER
o Tubules surround myofibrils
o Cross-channels called “terminal cisternae”
o Store Ca++ and release when muscle
stimulated to contract
o To thin filaments triggering sliding filament
mechanism of contraction
o T tubules are continuous with sarcolemma,
therefore whole muscle (deep parts as well)
contracts simultaneously
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 Sliding Filament Model
__relaxed sarcomere__ _partly contracted_

fully contracted

Sarcomere shortens “A” band constant

because actin pulled because it is
towards its middle caused by myosin,
by myosin cross which doesn’t
bridges change length
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Titin resists overstretching
 Neuromuscular Junction
Motor neurons innervate muscle fibers
Motor end plate is where they meet
Neurotransmitters are released by nerve signal: this initiates
calcium ion release and muscle contraction

Motor Unit: a motor neuron and all the muscle fibers it

innervates (these all contract together)
oAverage is 150, but range is four to several hundred
muscle fibers in a motor unit.
oThe finer the movement, the fewer muscle fibers /motor
unit.

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 Types of skeletal muscle fibers
o Fast, slow and intermediate
o Whether or not they predominantly use oxygen to
produce ATP (the energy molecule used in muscle
contraction)
 Oxidative – aerobic (use oxygen)
 Glycolytic – make ATP by glycolysis (break down of sugars
without oxygen = anaerobic)
o Fast fibers: “white fibers” – large, predominantly
anaerobic, fatigue rapidly (rely on glycogen reserves);
most of the skeletal muscle fibers are fast.
o Slow fibers: “red fibers” – half the diameter, 3X slower,
but can continue contracting; aerobic, more
mitochondria, myoglobin
o Intermediate: in between
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o A skeletal muscle contracts when its motor units are
stimulated
o Amount of tension depends on
1. the frequency of stimulation
2. the number of motor units involved
o Single, momentary contraction is called a muscle
twitch
o All or none principle: each muscle fiber either
contracts completely or not at all
o Amount of force: depends on how many motor units
are activated
o Muscle tone
– Even at rest, some motor units are active: tense the muscle
even though not causing movement: “resting tone”
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Muscle hypertrophy
o Weight training (repeated intense workouts):
increases diameter and strength of “fast”
muscle fibers by increasing production of
• Mitochondria
• Actin and myosin protein
• Myofilaments containing these contractile protein
o Fibers enlarge (hypertrophy) as number and
size of myofibrils increase
[

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 Muscle atrophy: loss of tone and mass from
lack of stimulation
Muscle becomes smaller and weaker

Note on terminology: in general, increased size is

hypertrophy; increased number of cells is hyperplasia

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 Summary
• Structure of muscles
• Attachment
• Unit of contraction
• Neuromuscular
• Types of skeletal tissue
• Muscle hypertrophy and atrophy
phenomena
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 Cardiac muscle
• Cardiac muscle tissue is an extremely specialized form of
muscle tissue that has evolved to pump blood throughout
the body. In fact, cardiac muscle is only found in the heart
and makes up the bulk of the heart’s mass.

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• The heart beats powerfully and
continuously throughout an entire lifetime
without any rest, so cardiac muscle has
evolved to have incredibly high contractile
strength and endurance

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• . And because the heart maintains its own
rhythm, cardiac muscle has developed the
ability to quickly spread electrochemical
signals so that all of the cells in the heart
can contract together as a team.

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o Cells join at intercalated discs
1-2 nuclei in center
• Bundles form thick myocardium

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oMuscles are spindle-shaped cells
oOne central nucleus
oGrouped into sheets: often running
perpendicular to each other
oPeristalsis
oNo striations (no sarcomeres)
oContractions are slow, sustained and resistant to
fatigue
oDoes not always require a nervous signal: can be
stimulated by stretching or hormones.
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6 major locations:
1.inside the eye
2.walls of vessels
3. respiratory tubes
4. digestive tubes
5. urinary organs
6. reproductive organs
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