The Muscular System (part 1)

Functions:
1. Production of Movement
2. Maintenance of posture and body position – muscle contraction is constantly
allowing us to remain upright.
3. Guard entrances and exits – encircle openings to digestive and urinary tracts.
Control swallowing, defecation and urination
4. Thermogenesis – muscular contractions generate heat.

Characteristics of Muscle Tissue

1. Excitability
 The ability to receive and respond to a stimulus
– In skeletal muscle, the stimulus is a neurotransmitter (chemical
signal) release by a neuron (nerve cell).
– In smooth muscle, the stimulus could be a neurotransmitter, a
hormone, stretch, pH, Pco2, or Po2. (the symbol  means “a
change in”)
– In cardiac muscle, the stimulus could be a neurotransmitter, a
hormone, or stretch.
 The response is the generation of an electrical impulse that travels
along the plasma membrane of the muscle cell.

2. Contractility
 The ability to shorten forcibly when adequately stimulated.

 This is the defining property of muscle tissue.

3. Extensibility
 The ability to be stretched

4. Elasticity
 The ability to recoil and resume original length after being stretched.

Types of Muscle Tissue

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1. Skeletal muscle tissue
 Associated with & attached to the skeleton
 Under our conscious (voluntary) control
 Microscopically the tissue appears striated
 Cells are long, cylindrical & multinucleate

2. Cardiac muscle tissue

 Makes up myocardium of heart
 Unconsciously (involuntarily or autonomic) controlled
 Microscopically appears striated
 Cells are short, branching & have a single nucleus (uninucleated)
 Cells connect to each other at intercalated discs

3.Smooth (visceral) muscle tissue

 Makes up walls of organs (e.g the intestines) & blood vessels
 Tissue is non-striated & involuntary (autonomic controlled)
 Cells are short, spindle-shaped & have a single nucleus (uninucleated)
 Tissue is extremely extensible, while still retaining ability to contract

Skeletal Muscle Structure

 constitutes approximately 40% of body weight.
 is so named because many of the muscles are attached to the skeletal
system.
 is also called striated muscle because transverse band, or situations, can
be seen in the muscle under the microscope.

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  consist of: skeletal muscle tissue, nervous tissue, connective tissue and
adipose tissue.
 The entire skeletal muscle is composed of fascicles
 Each fascicle is a bundle of muscle fibers (muscle cells).
Muscle Fiber Structure

 Each skeletal muscle cell is known as a skeletal muscle fiber because

they are so long.
 its parts are often given special names such as
o Sarcolemma – for plasma membrane. Sarcolemma has
invaginations that penetrate through the cell called transverse
tubules or T tubules.
o Sarcoplasmic Reticulum – for endoplasmic reticulum
 Surround each myofibril
 Stores calcium and releases it on demand for
contraction
o Sarcosomes – for mitochondria
o Sarcoplasm – for cytoplasm

Connective Tissue Coverings of Muscle

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  Epimysium – covers the entire skeletal muscle
– each skeletal muscle is surrounded by a connective tissue
sheath.
– also called muscular fascia.
– each whole muscle is subdivided into numerous visible
bundles called muscle fascicles.
 Perimysium – around a fascicle
– a loose connective tissue; separates muscle fascicles from
each other.
– each fascicle is then subdivided into separates muscle cells
called muscle fibers
 Endomysium – a loose connective tissue; surrounds single muscle fiber

The epi-, peri-, and endomysium are all continuous with one another.

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Thick Myofilament

 Thick myofilaments are made the protein myosin

 A single myosin protein molecule resembles 2 golf clubs whose shafts have
been twisted about one another- it has a “head” and a “tail”
 these myosin molecules are joined together to form a single thick filament

The myosin head contains ATP-binding site and it interacts with the binding
site at the thin (actin) filament during muscle contraction

Thin Myofilaments

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 Each thin filament is made up of 3 different types of protein: actin,
tropomyosin, and troponin.
 Each thin filament consists of a long helical double strand. This strand is a
polymer that resembles a string of beads. Each “bead” is the globular protein
actin. On each actin subunit, there is a myosin binding site
 Loosely wrapped around the actin helix and covering the myosin binding site
is the filamentous protein, tropomyosin (it covers the myosin binding site if
muscle is not contracting).
 Bound to both the actin and the tropomyosin is a trio of proteins collectively
known as troponin complex (it contains binding site for Ca+ ions that will
initiate conformational change in the tropomyosin molecule thus exposing
the active site during contraction)

The actin and myosin myofilaments align evenly, producing dark and light
bands on the myofibril. Thus, causing the striated appearance of skeletal muscle.

 Myofibrils are aligned to give distinct bands:

 I band = light band. It contains only the actin filament
 A band = dark band. It contains the myosin filaments as well
as the ends of the actin filaments.

All the ends of the actin filaments are attached at the Z-line or Z-disc.

The portion of a myofibril that lies between two successive discs is called
sarcomere which is contractile unit of a muscle fiber

Muscle contraction occurs when overlapping actin and myosin myofilaments

overlap further and shorten the muscle cell.

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Muscle contraction

 Skeletal muscles require stimulation from the nervous system in order to

contract (Skeletal muscles must be stimulated by a nerve to contract (motor
neuron)

 Motor neurons are the nerve cells that cause muscle fibers to contract

o The point at which the motor neuron and the muscle sarcolemma
“meet” is referred to as the NEUROMUSCULAR JUNCTION.
 Skeletal muscles are made up of thousands of muscle fibers
 A single motor neuron may directly control a few fibers within a muscle, or
hundreds to thousands of muscle fibers
 All of the muscle fibers controlled by a single motor neuron constitute a
motor unit

Overview of Events at the neuromuscular junction

 An action potential (AP), an electrical impulse (nerve signal), travels

down to the ends of the axon of the motor neuron (axon terminals)
resulting in the release of a chemical neurotransmitter, Acetylcholine
(Ach) into the synaptic cleft.
 Synaptic cleft – gap between nerve and muscle
 Nerve and muscle do not make contact
 Area between nerve and muscle is filled with interstitial
fluid

 Acetylcholine (Ach) diffuses across synaptic cleft & binds to

Acetylcholine (Ach) receptors on muscle sarcolemma
 This changes permeability to sodium which result to sudden rush of
sodium into sarcolemma that initiates the generation of action potential
within the muscle fiber
 The muscle action potential travels into the Transverse tubules (t-
tubules) and causes the Sarcoplasmic Reticulum to release stored
Calcium ions into the Sarcoplasm.
 The increase in calcium triggers the contractile response.
 The mechanics of muscle contraction follow the SLIDING-FILAMENT
THEORY

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 Step 1
The released calcium combines with Troponin complex which
pulls on the Tropomyosin and changes its orientation. This
exposes the myosin-binding sites on the actin myofilament

Step 2
Myosin head attaches to actin which needs ATP

Step 3
Once myosin is bound to actin, the myosin head will tilt toward
the center. This provides the “power stroke” for pulling the
actin filament. The results are sliding of the thin filament along
the thick filament

Step 4
Once the head is tilted the hydrolyzed ATP products (ADP + Pi)
are released which are previously attached from the head. A
new molecule of ATP binds to the head. This binding in turn
causes detachment of the head from the actin

Step 5
ATP is again hydrolyzed to form ADP + P which led to the
reactivation of myosin head and a new power stroke cycle
continues.

 Immediately after it binds to its receptors, Acetylcholine (Ach) will be broken

down by Acetylcholinesterase (AchE) – an enzyme presents in the synaptic
cleft
 If there are no longer Action Potentials generated on the motor neuron, no
more Acetylcholine (Ach) will be released
 Acetylcholinesterase (AchE) will remove Acetylcholine (Ach) from the motor
end plate, and transmission of Action Potentials on the muscle fiber will end
 Calcium (Ca+) will be actively transported back into the Sarcoplasmic
reticulum
 With Ca removed from the sarcoplasm (& from troponin), tropomyosin will
re-cover the active sites of actin
 No more cross-bridge interactions can form. Thin myofilaments slide back to
their resting state, thus causing muscle relaxation

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