Muscle

Muscle: General Features

Contractility is a fundamental property of all cells in varying degrees. In muscle cells, this ability is highly developed. Functions: movement, constriction and dilation of various organs, contraction of heart. Muscle cells contain contractile protein filaments made of actin and myosin Muscle is mesodermal in origin

Skeletal (striated): long, cylindrical multinucleated cells with cross-striations in register; peripheral nuclei, quick & forceful contraction; voluntary control Cardiac: cross-striations not in register, nucleus central, elongated and branched cells joined by intercalated disks; involuntary, rhythmic and forceful Smooth: fusiform cells, central nucleus, nonstriated, slow contraction, involuntary

Types of Muscle

Muscle Cell Terms and Features

Sarcolemma = plasmalemma Sarcoplasm = cytoplasm Sarcoplasmic reticulum = SER Sarcosome = mitochondria Sarcomere = linear morphological and functional unit Myofiber = muscle cell Myofibrils = bundles of myofilaments Myofilaments = large linear molecular aggregates of either myosin or actin

Actin Molecule

Myosin molecule

Muscle Connective Tissue

Perimysium: thin layer surrounding group of muscle cells forming fascicle Epimysium: thicker layer surrounding all fascicles often with vessels, dense irregular connective tissue, elastic fibers Endomysium: each muscle cell surrounded by basal lamina and reticular fibers

Muscle Connective Tissue

Muscle Connective Tissue

Smooth Muscle
Fusiform, 30-500 mm long Sheets in walls of hollow viscera, digestive tract, reproductive tract, ureter and bladder Many gap junctions, electrically coupled Have lamina externa & network of reticular fibers & collagen (endomysium) 1 central nucleus No striations

Smooth muscle contraction

Bundles of actin & myosin crisscross obliquely in the cell forming a lattice network. Two types of dense bodies occur: Cytoplasmic dense bodies & Plasmalemmal dense bodies. Are sites of attachment of actin,

There are a series of vesicles termed caveolae. Ca++ is regulated by these and they are analogous to the Tsystem.

Long and Cross Section of Smooth Muscle

Skeletal Muscle
Long (up to 30 cm), cylindrical, multinucleated cells with diameter of 10-100 mm Myoblast fusion Nuclei at periphery of cell (Subsarcolemal nuclei) Sarcomere from z line to z line, about 2.5 mm; A band, I band Myofibrils: thick filaments of myosin, 1.6 mm long and 15 nm in diameter; thin filaments of actin, 1 mm long and 8 nm in diameter Myofibril with sarcomere units 4 main proteins: actin, myosin, tropomyosin, and troponin

Striated Muscle (l.s.)

Striated Muscle (c.s.)

3 Types of Skeletal Muscle Fibers

Red fibers: high myoglobin, many mitochondria, slow contraction, oxidative metabolism, mammal limbs, migrating bird flight muscle, low glycogen White fibers: low myoglobin, fewer mitochondria, breast muscle of chicken and turkey, rapid contraction, low endurance, anaerobic, high glycogen Intermediate fibers: properties in between extremes of red and white

Skeletal muscle fiber types

Skeletal Muscle Organization

Arraignment of thin and thick myofilament

Contraction Unit - Sarcomere

Relaxation and Contraction of Sarcomere

Triad is one transverse tubule and two adjacent terminal cisternae

Sarcoplasmic reticulum

Terminal cisternae

Cardiac Muscle (Myocardium)

Cells joined end-to-end by intercalated disks (gap/desmosome junctions) Cells bifurcate/branch 15 mm dia, 85-100 mm long 1-2 central euchromatic nuclei Banded, highly vascularized myofibrils more diffusely organized More mitochondria (40% cell volume), lipid droplets

Cardiac Muscle

Cardiac Muscle

Intercalated discs are steplike junctions between cardiac cells that always occur at the Z line. Longitudinal component: gap junctions & some desmosomes. Transverse components: desmosomes & fascia adherens.

Gap junctions (Nexus) provides ionic continuity so cells behave as a syncytium, allowing the signal to pass in a wave from cell to cell. Stimulation of any single cell is sufficient to excite the entire mass.

EM of intercaleted disc

Motor End-Plate
Axons terminate at myoneural junctions or motor end plates and release of synaptic vesicle contents causes sarcolemmal depolarization

A single motor neuron can innervate 100-300 fibers in the small 600-1,700 in large muscles of the arm & leg. Most fibers do not contract individually but in motor units, groups of fibers of the same type innervated by branches of the same axon. Muscle fibers in one motor unit are not grouped together but are scattered over a considerable area which may be shared by 20 or more other motor units.

Motor end plate

Muscle Regeneration
Skeletal muscle regenerates by mitosis of satellite cells (inactive myoblasts) Cardiac muscle shows little regeneration; infarcts replaced by scar Smooth muscle can regenerate by mitosis