11.2 Movement

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DP IB Biology: HL Your notes
11.2 Movement
Contents
11.2.1 Requirements for Movement
11.2.2 Skeletal Muscle
11.2.3 Mechanism of Muscle Contraction
11.2.4 Skills: The Human Elbow & Sarcomeres
11.2.5 Skills: Analysing Muscle Contractions in Electron Micrographs
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11.2.1 Requirements for Movement

Your notes
Bones & Exoskeletons
The effective movement of the human body requires both muscle and an incompressible skeleton
Bones and exoskeletons provide anchorage for muscles and act as levers
Mammals have internal bones, called an endoskeleton, to support their bodies from the inside with
tissues surrounding the bone
Many organisms have external skeletons called exoskeletons which are found on the outside of the
organism to protect the internal tissues
Organisms that have exoskeletons include:
Crustaceans
Insects
Arachnids
Centipedes and millipedes
Molluscs
Key features of both exo and endo skeletons is that they provide support for the body of the organism
whilst also facilitating movement
Exoskeletons also provide protection for the body's soft tissues within
Muscles are anchored to the skeleton either on the inside (as with exoskeletons) or the outside (as with
endoskeletons) and the presence of pivot points means that skeletons act as levers transferring the
size and direction of force
Levers have a point of effort, a point of load and a pivot point called the fulcrum
These same three features are seen in skeletons
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Your notes
Muscles attach to bones at the joints creating a system of levers
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Antagonistic Pairs
There are over 600 skeletal muscles in the human body Your notes
Muscles are effectors, stimulated by nerve impulses from motor neurones (specialised cells adapted
to rapidly carry electrical charges called nerve impulses from sensory neurones to the muscles to bring
about movement)
Lengths of strong connective tissue called tendons, connect muscles to bones
They are flexible but do not stretch when a muscle is contracting and pulling on a bone
Muscles are only capable of contracting or pulling, they cannot push
As a result of this limitation muscles generally operate in pairs
One muscle pulls in one direction at a joint and the other muscle pulls in the opposite direction
This is described as antagonistic muscle action
An example of this can be seen in the bicep and tricep of the arm
To raise the lower arm
The bicep contracts and the tricep relaxes
As the bone can't be stretched the arm flexes around the joint
This brings the tricep into its full length so that it can contract again
To lower the lower arm
The tricep contracts and bicep relaxes
As the bone can't be stretched the arm flexes around the joint
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The two muscles work together by pulling in opposite directions

Antagonistic pairs of muscles in an insect leg Your notes
Antagonistic muscles are also common in the appendages of insects
Insects such as the praying mantis and the grasshopper have rear legs that are adapted to allow
jumping
These rear legs are separated into three sections
The tarsus is the lower leg
The tibia is the middle part below the joint
The femur is the upper leg
Antagonistic muscles connect the tibia and femur
An extensor muscle
A flexor muscle
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Your notes
The structure of a grasshopper leg including antagonistic muscles

When preparing to jump, the flexor muscles contract and the extensor muscles relax
This is called ‘flexing’
The shape of the leg is ‘Z’ shaped as the tibia and femur are brought closer together
To propel the insect into the air, the extensor muscle then contract and flexor muscles relax
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Your notes
Antagonistic muscles control the jumping movement of a grasshopper
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Joints & Range of Movement

Synovial joints are the most common type of joint in the human body Your notes
They are characterised by a joint cavity filled with a lubricating synovial fluid which reduces friction
The fluid is produced by the synovial membrane, which surrounds the joint
Synovial joints are capable of a variety of different movements which depends on the structure within
the joint including the joint type and the ligaments
The movements possible at the joint are
Flexion
Extension
Rotation
Abduction (the movement of a limb away from the body)
Adduction (the movement of a limb towards the body)
Table to show some examples of different joint types and their associated movements
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11.2.2 Skeletal Muscle

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Skeletal Muscle Fibres: Structure
Muscles in the body that are attached to the skeleton and aid movement are called skeletal muscles
Other muscle types include:
Cardiac muscle which is found in the heart
Smooth muscle is found in the blood vessels and organs
Skeletal muscle is striated as it has a stripy appearance when viewed under a microscope
Striated muscle cells are bundled up into fibres which are surrounded by a single plasma membrane
called the sarcolemma
The fibres are highly specialised cell-like units
Each muscle fibre contains:
An organised arrangement of contractile proteins in the cytoplasm
Many nuclei – this is why muscle fibres are not usually referred to as cells
Specialised endoplasmic reticulum called the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) which stores
calcium and conveys signals to all parts of the fibre at once using protein pumps in the
membranes
Specialised cytoplasm called the sarcoplasm contains mitochondria and myofibrils
The mitochondria carry out aerobic respiration to generate the ATP required for muscle
contraction
Myofibrils are bundles of actin and myosin filaments, which slide past each other during
muscle contraction
The sarcolemma (muscle fibre membrane) has many deep tube-like projections that fold in from its
outer surface
These are known as transverse system tubules or T-tubules
These run close to the SR
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Your notes
Page 10 of 26
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The ultrastructure of striated muscle and of a section of muscle fibre
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Myofibrils
Myofibrils are located in the sarcoplasm Your notes
Each myofibril is made up of two types of protein filament:
Thick filaments made of myosin
Thin filaments made of actin
These two types of filament are arranged in a particular order, creating different types of bands and
lines
Myofibrils Parts & Descriptions Table
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Your notes
Page 13 of 26
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The structure of a myofibril
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11.2.3 Mechanism of Muscle Contraction

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Sliding Filament Model
The thick filaments within a myofibril are made up of myosin molecules
These are fibrous protein molecules with a globular head
The fibrous part of the myosin molecule anchors the molecule into the thick filament
In the thick filament, many myosin molecules lie next to each other with their globular heads all
pointing away from the M line
The thin filaments within a myofibril are made up of actin molecules
These are globular protein molecules
Many actin molecules link together to form a chain
Two actin chains twist together to form one thin filament
A fibrous protein known as tropomyosin is twisted around the two actin chains
Another protein known as troponin is attached to the actin chains at regular intervals
Muscles cause movement by contracting
During muscle contraction, myosin heads form cross-bridges by binding with sites on the actin
filaments
The myosin heads then change orientation which pulls the actin filaments so that they slide next
to the myosin.
This is called a power stroke
Sarcomeres within myofibrils shorten as the Z lines are pulled closer together
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Your notes
When the muscle contracts, the sarcomere shortens due to the sliding of the actin and myosin
filaments.
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Role of ATP and Calcium Ions in Muscle Contraction

The sliding of the filaments, which facilitate muscle contraction, is dependent on a series of protein Your notes
molecules as well as calcium and ATP
Calcium drives the process in the following way:
An action potential arrives at the neuromuscular junction
Calcium ions are released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR)
Calcium ions bind to troponin molecules (found on the actin filaments), stimulating them to
change shape
This causes tropomyosin proteins to change position on the actin (thin) filaments
Myosin binding sites are exposed on the actin molecules
The globular heads of the myosin molecules bind with these sites, forming cross-bridges
between the two types of filament
The formation of the cross-bridges causes the myosin heads to spontaneously bend (releasing
ADP and inorganic phosphate), pulling the actin filaments towards the centre of the sarcomere
This is the power stroke
This causes the muscle to contract a very small distance
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Your notes
Calcium binds to the troponin resulting in a change in shape of tropomyosin

Effective muscle contraction occurs when many power strokes occur in quick succession; for this to
take place, ATP is required
ATP binds to the myosin heads producing a change in shape that causes the myosin heads to
release from the actin filaments
The enzyme ATP hydrolase hydrolyses ATP into ADP and inorganic phosphate which causes the
myosin heads to move back to their original positions
This is known as cocking of the myosin head or the recovery stroke
The myosin heads are then able to bind to new binding sites on the actin filaments, closer to the Z
disc
The myosin heads move again, pulling the actin filaments even closer the centre of the sarcomere,
causing the sarcomere to shorten once more and pulling the Z discs closer together
ATP binds to the myosin heads once more in order for them to detach again
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As long as troponin and tropomyosin are not blocking the myosin-binding sites and the muscle
has a supply of ATP, this process repeats until the muscle is fully contracted
When the motor neurone stops sending impulses to the muscle fibre, calcium ions are actively Your notes
pumped back into the sarcoplasmic reticulum and the tropomyosin moves back to cover the binding
sites on the actin
The muscle is now relaxed
Page 19 of 26
Your notes
The sliding filament model of muscle contraction
Exam Tip
The sliding filament model can be difficult to visualise fully with diagrams. To help you more clearly
understand the steps involved, try to find some animations or videos of the sliding filament model
online to see the movement of the myosin heads and thin (actin) filaments during muscle
contraction!
Be sure to use the term calcium ions, rather than just calcium.
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Using Fluorescence to Study Muscle Contractions

NOS: Developments in scientific research follow improvements in apparatus - Fluorescence Your notes
was used to study the cyclic interactions in muscle contraction
Fluorescence is the emission of electromagnetic radiation after the substance has been exposed to a
different wavelength of radiation
Fluorescence has been used historically to study muscle contraction in organisms under the
microscope by injecting them with fluorescent proteins, called aequorins, extracted from a jellyfish
species, Aequorea victoria
Aequorins are calcium sensitive and so react with Ca2+ ions released during the muscle contraction
The interaction can be viewed under a microscope
Autoradiography can also be used to show the presence of calcium isotope, calcium-45 during
muscle contraction
Calcium is present in the overlapping regions of the actin and myosin
Here it binds to the troponin causing a change in the shape of tropomyosin, allowing the myosin to
bind to the actin
In a study of Nitella axillaris (a species of algae) cells, the mechanism of the sliding filament theory has
been demonstrated by attaching a fluorescent dye to the end of myosin fibres
Under microscope, the myosin was shown to 'walk' along the actin fibres during contraction
This same method was also used to demonstrate the effect of ATP levels on the speed of the
contraction and therefore show the dependence of the sliding filament theory on the availability of
ATP
When more ATP was present, the fibres moved at a faster speed than when there was less ATP
present
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11.2.4 Skills: The Human Elbow & Sarcomeres

Your notes
Annotating the Human Elbow
The human elbow is an articulated synovial joint which means that it is a junction where two moving
bones meet encapsulated in synovial fluid
It consists of several components which can be labelled on a diagram and annotated with descriptions
of each structure in the following way:
The human elbow joint
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Drawing a Sarcomere
An accurate drawing of the sarcomere is a good way to demonstrate the relative movement of the Your notes
muscle fibres during muscle contraction
It also allows us to understand the visible bands seen in the images of muscle tissue in micrographs
Some important considerations are as follows:
Z-lines mark either end of a sarcomere
Actin must be adjoined clearly to the z-lines and is thinner than the myosin
Myosin should be shown with the crossheads visible and should be thicker than actin
Light bands (around the z line) and dark bands (where the 2 filament types overlap) should be
labelled
The sarcomere
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11.2.5 Skills: Analysing Muscle Contractions in Electron Micrographs

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Analysing Muscle Contractions in Electron Micrographs
Many biological structures are too small to be seen by the naked eye
Optical microscopes are an invaluable tool for scientists as they allow for tissues, cells and organelles
to be seen and studied
Electron microscopes provide a much higher magnification and resolution so sub-cellular details can
be studied
Using microscopes to calculate the size of specimens requires the use of an eyepiece graticule which
should be calibrated to the microscope
However, it can be very difficult to make out the features of skeletal muscle fibres using an optical
microscope
Only the banding is visible, this is why it is referred to as striated muscle
The dark bands produce a characteristic striped appearance under an optical microscope
Electron microscopes are often used to see muscle fibres in more detail
They reveal the structure of myofibrils
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Your notes
The detailed structures of the muscle fibres are visible due to the much stronger magnification of the
electron microscope.
In a relaxed sarcomere:
There will be visible dark lines where the Z-lines are at either end of the sarcomere
There will also be a darker band in the middle of the sarcomere where the thicker myosin fibres are
positioned and in the very centre of that is the M line
Around the Z-line, lighter bands are seen where the thinner actin fibres are positioned
In a contracted sarcomere:
The Z-lines and M-lines are still visible with a shorter distance between the two z-lines
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The lighter bands around the z-line will be smaller or not visible
The darker band will be the same size (although may appear a bit darker).
Your notes
Page 26 of 26

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DP IB Biology: HL Your notes

11.2.1 Requirements for Movement

Muscles attach to bones at the joints creating a system of levers

The two muscles work together by pulling in opposite directions

The structure of a grasshopper leg including antagonistic muscles

Antagonistic muscles control the jumping movement of a grasshopper

Joints & Range of Movement

11.2.2 Skeletal Muscle

The ultrastructure of striated muscle and of a section of muscle fibre

The structure of a myofibril

11.2.3 Mechanism of Muscle Contraction

Role of ATP and Calcium Ions in Muscle Contraction

Calcium binds to the troponin resulting in a change in shape of tropomyosin

The sliding filament model of muscle contraction

Using Fluorescence to Study Muscle Contractions

11.2.4 Skills: The Human Elbow & Sarcomeres

The human elbow joint

11.2.5 Skills: Analysing Muscle Contractions in Electron Micrographs

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