Muscle Tissue

Muscle Tissue
 Muscle tissue is composed of
cells that have the special
ability to shorten or contract
in order to produce movement
of the body parts.
 The tissue is highly cellular
and is well supplied
with blood vessels. The cells
are long and slender so they
are sometimes called muscle
fibers, and these are usually
arranged in bundles or layers
that are surrounded
by connective tissue.
 Functions of Muscle Tissue
1. Movement: skeletal,
cardiac, and smooth muscles
2. Stability: skeletal muscle
3. Communication: skeletal
muscle
4. Control of body openings
and passages: skeletal and
smooth muscles
5. Heat production: skeletal
muscles
Development of Skeletal Muscle
 Microscopic Anatomy of a Muscle Tissue

Muscle Tissue
Single Muscle Fiber

Whole Muscle
 Properties of Muscles
1. Excitability
(responsiveness) respond
to chemical, mechanical
or electrical stimuli.
2. Conductivity initiate
events that lead to
contraction.
3. Contractility ability to
shorten substantially
4. Extensibility able to
stretch between
contractions.
5. Elasticity ability to return
to original length after
stretching.
 Three Muscle Tissues

1. Skeletal muscle
2. Cardiac muscle
3. Smooth muscle
 Skeletal Muscle
 Skeletal muscle is the most common
and widely distributed muscle tissue
in the body, making up around 40%
of the body’s total mass.
 It forms all of the skeletal muscles,
such as the biceps brachii and
gluteus maximus, and is found in the
eyes, throat, diaphragm, and anus.
Skeletal muscle tissue
 Four characteristics define skeletal
muscle tissue cells:
1. they are voluntary,
2. striated,
3. not branched, and
4. multinucleated.
 Skeletal Muscle
 Skeletal muscle tissue is
the only muscle tissue
under the direct
conscious control of the
cerebral cortex of the
brain, giving it the
designation of being
voluntary muscle.
 All conscious movements
of the body, including
movement of the limbs,
facial expressions, eye
movements, and
swallowing are the
products of skeletal
muscle tissue.
 Skeletal Muscle
 Whole muscle  Single muscle fiber
 Cardiac Muscle
 Cardiac muscle cells are
found only in the heart,
and are specialized to
pump blood powerfully
and efficiently throughout
our entire lifetime.
 Four characteristics
define cardiac muscle
tissue cells: Cardiac muscle tissue
1. they are involuntary and
intrinsically controlled,
2. striated,
3. branched, and
4. single nucleated.
 Cardiac Muscle
 Cardiac muscle is
considered to be an
involuntary tissue
because it is controlled
unconsciously by
regions of the brain
stem and
hypothalamus.
 It is also considered to
be an intrinsic, or self-
controlled, tissue
because the normal
cardiac rhythm is set by
specialized pacemaker
cardiac muscle cells in
the heart itself.
 Smooth Muscle
 Smooth muscle cells are
found in the organs, blood
vessels, and bronchioles of
the body to move
substances throughout the
body..
 Four characteristics define
smooth muscle tissue cells:
Smooth muscle tissue
1. they are involuntarily
controlled,
2. not striated,
3. not branched, and
4. singly nucleated.
 Smooth Muscle
 The unconscious
regions of the brain
control smooth muscle
through the autonomic
and enteric nervous
systems. Thus, smooth
muscle is involuntarily
controlled.
 This is evidenced by
our inability to
consciously control
many physiological
processes such as our
blood pressure or
digestion.