Muscle Contraction and ATP Production

Flashcards covering key concepts related to muscle contraction and ATP production.

Tropomyosin

A protein that blocks the actin-myosin binding sites in muscle contraction.

Troponin

A protein that regulates tropomyosin and controls muscle contraction by blocking or unblocking binding sites.

Calcium's role in muscle contraction

Calcium moves troponin to change shape, allowing tropomyosin to unblock the actin-myosin binding sites.

ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate)

The energy currency of the cell, necessary for muscle contraction and produced in large amounts during the contraction process.

Direct Phosphorylation

The process of adding a phosphate group to ADP to form ATP, mainly through creatine phosphate.

Creatine Phosphate

A high-energy molecule that transfers a phosphate group to ADP to regenerate ATP during muscle contraction.

Creatinine

A waste product from muscle metabolism; high levels in the blood indicate muscle damage, such as from crushed injuries.

Myoglobin

A protein released from skeletal muscles into the blood when muscles are damaged, used to store oxygen in muscle cells.

Crossbridge Cycle

The series of events by which myosin heads attach to actin filaments to contract muscle, requiring ATP.

Phosphorylation

The addition of a phosphate group to a molecule; for example, adding a phosphate to ADP to form ATP.