Muscle

Properties of Muscle

 Contractility: ability of a muscle to

shorten with force
 Excitability: capacity of muscle to
respond to a stimulus
 Extensibility: muscle can be stretched to
its normal resting length and beyond to a
limited degree
 Elasticity: ability of muscle to recoil to
original resting length after stretched
Muscular System Functions

 Body movement and facial expressions

 Maintenance of posture
 Respiration
 Production of body heat (thermogenesis)
 Communication
 Constriction of organs and vessels
 Heart beat
Muscle Tissue Types
 Skeletal
 Responsible for locomotion, facial expressions, posture, respiratory
movements, other types of body movement
 Voluntary
 Smooth
 Walls of hollow organs, blood vessels, eye, glands, skin
 Some functions: propel urine, mix food in digestive tract, dilating/constricting
pupils, regulating blood flow
 In some locations, autorhythmic
 Controlled involuntarily by endocrine and autonomic nervous systems
 Cardiac
 Heart: major source of movement of blood
 Autorhythmic
 Controlled involuntarily by endocrine and autonomic nervous systems
Muscle Fiber Anatomy

 Nuclei just inside sarcolemma

 Cell packed with myofibrils within cytoplasm
(sarcoplasm)
 Threadlike
 Composed of protein threads called myofilaments:
thin (actin) and thick (myosin)
 Sarcomeres: highly ordered repeating units of
myofilaments
Parts of a Muscle
Structure of Actin and Myosin
 Two strands of fibrous (F) actin form a
double helix extending the length of Actin (Thin)
the myofilament; attached at either
end at sarcomere.
 Composed of G actin monomers
Myofilaments
each of which has an active site
 Actin site can bind myosin during
muscle contraction.
 Tropomyosin: an elongated protein
winds along the groove of the F actin
double helix.
 Troponin is composed of three
subunits:
 Tn-I site: binds to actin
 Tn-T site: binds to tropomyosin
 Tn-C site: binds to calcium ions
 The tropomyosin/troponin complex
regulates the interaction between
active sites on G actin and myosin.
Myosin  Many elongated myosin molecules
shaped like golf clubs.

(Thick)
 Molecule consists of two heavy myosin
molecules wound together to form a rod
portion lying parallel to the myosin

Myofilament myofilament and two heads that extend

laterally.
 Myosin heads
1. Can bind to active sites on the
actin molecules to form cross-
bridges.
2. Attached to the rod portion by a
hinge region that can bend and
straighten during contraction.
3. Have ATPase activity: activity that
breaks down adenosine
triphosphate (ATP), releasing
energy. Part of the energy is used
to bend the hinge region of the
myosin molecule during
contraction
  Z disk: filamentous network of
Sarcomeres: protein. Serves as attachment for
actin myofilaments
Z Disk to Z  Striated appearance
 I bands: from Z disks to ends of
Disk 
thick filaments
A bands: length of thick filaments
 H zone: region in A band where
actin and myosin do not overlap
 M line: middle of H zone; delicate
filaments holding myosin in place
 In muscle fibers, A and I bands of
parallel myofibrils are aligned.
 Titin filaments: elastic chains of
amino acids; make muscles
extensible and elastic
Neuromuscular Junction
 Synapse: axon terminal
resting in an
invagination of the
sarcolemma
 Neuromuscular
junction (NMJ):
 Presynaptic terminal:
axon terminal with
synaptic vesicles
 Synaptic cleft: space
 Postsynaptic
membrane or motor
end-plate
Function of Neuromuscular Junction
 Synaptic vesicles
 Neurotransmitter: substance
released from a presynaptic
membrane that diffuses across
the synaptic cleft and
stimulates (or inhibits) the
production of an action
potential in the postsynaptic
membrane. Acetylcholine
 Acetylcholinesterase: A
degrading enzyme in synaptic
cleft. Prevents accumulation of
ACh
Muscle Contraction and Relaxation

 Four actions involved in this process

 excitation = nerve action potentials lead to action
potentials in muscle fiber
 excitation-contraction coupling = action potentials
on the sarcolemma activate myofilaments
 contraction = shortening of muscle fiber
 relaxation = return to resting length
Excitation-Contraction Coupling
 Stimulation of muscle fiber by a somatic motor
neuron
 creates a motor end-plate potential at the neuromuscular
junction
 Once generated, the action potential:
 Is propagated along the sarcolemma
 Travels down the T tubules
 Triggers Ca2+ release from terminal cisternae
 Ca2+ binds to troponin and causes:
 The blocking action of tropomyosin to cease
 Actin active binding sites to be exposed
Excitation-Contraction Coupling
 Myosin cross bridges alternately attach and detach
 Thin filaments move toward the center of the
sarcomere
 Hydrolysis of ATP powers this cycling process
 Ca2+ is removed into the SR, tropomyosin blockage
is restored, and the muscle fiber relaxes
Excitation-Contraction Coupling

Figure 9.9
Sequential Events of Contraction
 Cross bridge formation – myosin cross bridge
attaches to actin filament
 Working (power) stroke – myosin head pivots and
pulls actin filament toward M line
 Cross bridge detachment – ATP attaches to myosin
head and the cross bridge detaches
 “Cocking” of the myosin head – energy from
hydrolysis of ATP cocks the myosin head into the
high-energy state