MUSCLE

CONTRACTION REVIEWER "SLIDING FILAMENT" MODEL OF MUSCLE

Sliding Filament Theory CONTRACTION
- This mechanism is formulated by
Hauxley and Hauxley - When muscle contracts the actin
filaments slide into the A band,
- Muscle contraction occurs by a sliding overlapping with myosin.
filament mechanism whereby the
sarcomeres shorten (the Z-lines come WHEN MUSCLE CONTRACTS:
closer together) by the action of the a) the Z lines move closer together
actin filaments sliding over the myosin b) the I band becomes shorter
filaments. c) the A band stays at the same length

- Myosin filaments may look somewhat • The filaments slide together
like a golf club but they are not because myosin attaches to actin and
inflexible. pulls on it.

- In fact, muscle contraction would be • Myosin head (H) attaches to actin
impossible if the myosin molecules did filament (A), forming a cross bridge.
not have a "hinge" along the shaft that
allows for a ratchet movement of the • After the cross bridge is formed the
head. myosin head bends, pulling on the actin
filaments and causing them to slide:
Ratchet movement of myosin
- the force behind muscle contraction • Muscle contraction is a little like
climbing a rope.
- heads toward the center of their
sarcomere. • The cross bridge cycle is:
grab -> pull -> release, repeated over
- This ratchet movement occurs many and over
times during a muscle contraction.
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• Electron microscopy combined with
chemical experiments show that muscle • During muscle contraction the
is composed of 2 CONTRACTILE myofilaments myosin and actin slide
PROTEINS: toward each other and overlap. This
1) Thin filaments: shortens the sacromere and the entire
actin, attached to Z line, found in muscle. Muscle cells are "shocked" by
both A and I bands nerve impulses from motor neurons.

2) Thick filaments: Neuromuscular junction
myosin, found in A band - the point of attachment of the nerve to
the muscle.


Motor unit ROLE OF CALCIUM ION AND ENERGY
- A motor neuron and its muscle cells SOURCE (ATP)

• The nerve impulse is carried from the - A sudden inflow of Ca is the trigger for
neuron across the gap to the membrane muscle contraction.
(sarcolemma) of the muscle cell by a
chemical called acetycholine. - In the resting state, the protein
tropomyosin winds around actin and
• After the impulse is passed an enzyme covers the myosin binding sites. The Ca
called acetyl cholinesterase "de- binds to a second protein, troponin, and
activates" acetylcholine, readying the this action causes the tropomyosin to be
muscle for the next nerve impulse. pulled to the side, exposing the myosin
binding sites. With the sites exposed
• Stimulation of the muscle cell causes muscle will contract if ATP is present.
Ca++ ions to be released into the cell.
This binds with the actin filaments - Impulses conducted along the
causing them to expose active sites to transverse tubules stimulate the release
the myosin cross bridges. of Ca++ from the sarcoplasmic reticulum
into the cytoplasm.
• The cross bridges bind to the active
sites, forming a new molecular structure - Ca++ difuses toward the myofibrils and
which causes the cross bridge to bend causes contraction.
toward the center, pulling the actin
filament with it. 2 REGULATORY PROTEINS ASSOCIATED
WITH THE THIN FILAMENTS
• Energy from ATP is used to break the 1. Troponin
bond, straighten the cross bridge, and - bound to tropomyosin
allow the cross bridge to form a new
bond with another active site further 2. Tropomyosin
down the actin filament. - lies against the thin filament

• This cycle continues until the muscle • In a resting muscle fiber:
contraction is complete. - the concentration of Ca++ in the
cytoplasm is very low
• Then ATP is used to cause active
transport to move the calcium ions out - tropomyosin is located close to the
of the muscle fiber causing relaxation of myosin-binding sites on the thin
the muscle. filament.

- In this position, tropomyosin physically
blocks the myosin heads from binding
actin, thus preventing contraction.


• In a stimulated muscle fiber: • The bulk of the energy that plants
- the Ca++ released by the sarcoplasmic harvest during photosynthesis is
reticulum binds to troponin. channeled into production of ATP, and
so is most of the energy stored in fat
- The Ca++ troponin complex pulls the and starch.
tropomyosin away from the myosin-
binding sites on actin, allowing cross- • Cells use their supply of ATP to power
bridges to form. almost very energy-requiring process
they carry out, from supplying activation
• Cross-bridges cycles continue as long as energy for chemical reactions and
Ca++ remains attached to troponin. actively transporting substances across
membranes, to moving through their
• When nerve activity ceases, impulses in environment and growing.
the muscle fiber also cease, and Ca++ is
actively transported from the cytoplasm • ATP as a small unstable energy carrier
back into the sarcoplasmic reticulum. that shuttles back and forth within the
cell, picking up energy in one place and
• As Ca++ is released from troponin, releasing it in another. ATP is so
tropomyosin returns to its inhibitory important in all organisms.
position on the thin filament, again
preventing the myosin heads from • When a skeletal muscle is at rest:
binding to actin. The muscle fiber - the myosin heads function as enzymes,
relaxes. cleaving ATP into ADP and P.

• Muscle contraction stops: - The hydrolysis of ATP activates the
- when Ca++ is removed from the myosin heads, putting them in an
immediate environment of the orientation that allows them to bind to
myofilaments. specific sites on the actin of the thin
filaments when the muscle is stimulated
- The sarcoplasmic reticulum actively to contract.
pumps Ca++ back into itself and this
requires utilization of ATP. • ATP is active transport, the movement
of substances across a membrane
- Troponin-tropomyosin reassume their against their concentration gradients. In
inhibitory position between the actin this case, the splitting of ATP activates a
and myosin molecules once Ca++ is carrier protein in the membrane,
removed. perhaps by changing its shape so that it
can transport a particular molecule or
• ATP is the chief energy currency of all ion across the membrane.
cells.




• Once the substance has been released Summation
on the other side, the carrier protein - the adding together of individual muscle
returns to its nonactived shape, ready twitches to make a whole muscle
to become energized by another. ATP contraction.
molecule and shuttle another molecule
or ion across the membrane. - This can be accomplished by:
a. increasing the number of motor
• ATP is the energy supply for units contracting at one time (spatial
contraction. summation)
- It is required for the sliding of the
filaments which is accomplished by a b. increasing the frequency of
bending movement of the myosin contraction of individual muscle
heads. contractions (temporal summation).

- It is also required for the separation of - These processes almost always occur
actin and myosin which relaxes the simultaneously within normal muscle
muscle. When ATP runs down after contraction.
death muscle goes into a state of rigor - Usually, individual motor units fire
mortis. asynchronously.

ROLE OF MOTOR UNITS - All motor units are not created equal.
- The motor nerve and all the fibers it Therefore, one motor unit within a
innervates is called the motor unit. particular muscle may be as much as 50
times as strong as another.
- The number of fibers is dependent on
the necessity for fine control. Smaller motor units are much more easily
excited than larger ones because they are
- In general, small muscles that react innervated by smaller nerve fibers that have
rapidly with fine control have one nerve a naturally lower threshold for excitation. In
and only a few muscle fiber. spatial summation motor units are recruited
by increasing the strength of the stimulus
- Those muscles that do not require fine thereby increasing the strength of the
control, such as the gastrocnemius (calf contraction.
muscle), may have several hundred
muscle fibers per motor unit. Motor unit
- the smallest functional element of a
skeletal muscle.
- The contraction of individual muscle
fibers is all-or-none. - The division of the muscle into motor
units allows the muscle’s strength of
- Therefore, any graded response must contraction to be finely graded, a
come from the number of motor units requirement for coordinated
stimulated at any one time. movements of the skeleton.

- Muscles that require a finer degree of
control have smaller motor units than
muscles that require less precise control
but must exert more force.

- The weakest contractions of a muscle
are accomplished by the activation of a
few small motor units.

- If a slightly stronger contraction is
necessary. Additional small motor units
are also activated.

- The initial increments to the total force
generated by the muscle are therefore
relatively small.

- If ever greater forces are required,
more and larger motor units are
brought into action, and the force
increments become larger.

- The use of increased numbers and sizes
of motor units in a contraction is termed
recruitment, and it is another way in
which the strength of muscle
contraction is governed by the nervous
system.