Digestion
Vertebrate skeletal muscle
Introduction to muscle
Contractile tissue – movement
Motor output – mechanical force
Functions
Locomotion
Manipulation of environment
Blood circulation
Feeding, peristalsis
Skeletal muscle
Moves skeleton
Attached to bone via tendons: cords of connective tissue
Most abundant tissue in the body
Muscle structure
Muscle Fiber: long cylindrical cell
Multinucleate – many cells fused
Several distinctive features
T tubles: Infolding of plasma membrane
Sarcoplasmic reticulum: Specialized ER of muscle cells
Myofibrils: longitudinal fibers within cell
Made of 2 types of filaments
Thin filaments - actin, tropomyosin, troponin complex
Thick filaments - myosin
Each has head and tail - head sticks out, tails make filament
Actin and myosin present in many cells, best organized in muscle cells
Arranged in regular pattern – striped appearance
Sarcomere: contractile unit, overlapping thin and thick filaments
Myofibril = hundreds of sarcomeres end to end
Sarcomere structure
Z line – ends of sarcomere, thin filaments embedded
M line – middle of sarcomere
During contraction – overlap of thin and thick filaments increases
Length of fibers does not change
Sliding filament model
At Rest
Tropomyosin covers myosin binding sites of actin
Message from Motor Neuron
AP → acetylcholine released
Binds specific receptors → PM depolarization in muscle fiber
If strong enough depolarization → AP in muscle fiber
Problem: large diameter
Axon narrow – AP spreads easily – not so in muscle fibers
Solution: t tubules
AP travels along PM, down T tubules, depolarizes SR, Ca2+ released
Contraction
Ca2+ binds troponin – exposes myosin binding sites on actin
Contraction cycle
High E state at rest
Tropomyosin shifts, cross-bridge forms
Power stroke
Cross-bridge breaks, low E state
ATP hydrolysis
Other types of muscles
Cardiac muscle
Walls of heart
Striated, branched cells
Unique functionality – contract simultaneously, independently
Intercalated discs
Smooth muscle
Wall of digestive tract, bladder, uterus blood vessels
Not attached to bone, not striated, no T tubules, no well-developed SR
Less efficient, slower contractions and relaxation
Skeleton
3 functions
Support, protect internal organs, movement
3 types of skeletons
Hydrostatic skeleton: fluid-filled cavity
Closed, fluid under pressure
Cnidarians, nematodes, annelids
Exoskeleton
External, non-living – does not grow
Arthropods – chitin – protection and movement
Mollusks – CaCO3 – just protection
Endoskeleton
Internal, living – able to grow
Echinoderms and chordates
2 types – cartilage, bone
Cartilage
Flexible skeletal tissue
Composed of chondrocytes, collagen fibers, lipoprotein material
Bone
Rigid skeletal tissue
Consists of collagen, hydroxyapatite (mostly CaPO4), CaCO3
Highly dynamic tissue, NOT inert