MUSCULAR SYSTEM

Mus little mouse

Makes up nearly half the bodys mass
Essential function: CONTRACTING & SHORTENING (unique
characteristic
Responsible for all body movements
Machine of the body
Other functions: Maintain posture, Stabilize joints & Generate heat
Muscle Types
Skeletal and smooth muscle cells are elongated (muscle fibers)
Myofilaments- muscle cell equivalent of microfilaments in
cytoskeleton which controls the ability to shorten or contracts
Mys- muscle
Sarco- flesh
Sarcoplasm- muscle cells of cytoplasm
1.
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2.
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Skeletal Muscles skeletal striated, coluntary

Body Location: Attached to bones, some facial muscle & skin
Cell Appearance: Single, Long. Cylindrical, Multinucleated with
striations
Connective Tissue components: Epimysium, Perymisium and
Endomysium
Regulation of contraction: Voluntary via NS controls
Speed of Contraction: Slow to fast
Rhythmic contraction: No
Packaged in organs called Skeletal Muscles that attach the
skeleton
Cover our bony underpinnings
Help form the much smoother contours of the body
Largest of the muscle types (30 mm)
Activated by reflexes (without willed command)
Can contract rapidly and with great force but it tires easily and
must rest
soft and fragile like most cells but can exert tremendous power
They dont rip apart because their fibers are bundled together by
connective tissue which provides strength and support
Endomysium- delicate connective tissue sheath the covers each
muscle fiber
Perimysium- courser fibrous membrane that wraps several muscle
fibers
Fascicle- Bundle of muscle fibers
Epimysium- tougher overcoat that covers several fascicles/entire
muscle (The epimysia can be tendon or aponeuroses)
Tendons- strong cordlike that anchors muscles, provide durability
and conserves space (small and pass over a joint);; tough
collagenic fiber that can cross rough bony projections
Aponeuroses- sheet-like that attach muscles indirectly to bones,
cartilages or connective tissue coverings
Smooth Muscle- visceral, nonstriated, involuntary
Body Location: Mostly walls of hollow visceral organs (Stomach,
Bladder, Respiratory passageways
Cell Appearance- Single, fusiform, uninucleated, no striations
(spindle shaped)
Connective Tissue Components: Endomysium
Regulation of contraction: Involuntary; NS controls; hormones,
chemicals, stretch
Speed of contraction: Very slow
Rhythmic Contraction: Yes in some

Two layers alternately contract and relax, they change the shape
and size of organs
Housekeeping Activities: Moving food through digestive tract and
emptying bowels and bladder
Slow and sustained like steady heavy duty engine that lumbers
tirelessly
Cardiac Muscle cardiac, striated, involuntary
Body Location: Walls of heart
Cell Appearance: Branching chains of cells, uninucleated,
striations, intercalated discs
Connective Tissue components: Endomysium attaches to the
fibrous skeleton of heart
Regulation of contraction: Involuntary, heart as pacemaker, NS
controls, hormones
Speed of contraction: Slow
Rhythmic Contraction: Yes
Endomysium- soft connective tissue that cushions cardiac fibers
Arranged in spiral/figure 8-shaped bundles
Contract smaller chambers, forcing blood out through arteries
Intercalated discs- gap junction
Circulates blood and maintain blood pressure

****The term muscular system ONLY applies to the skeletal muscles

Muscle Function
Producing Movement
Skeletal muscles are responsible for mobility of the body as a
whole (locomotion and manipulation)
Enable us to respond quickly to environment
Allow us to express emotions through smiles and frowns
Maintaining Posture and Body Position
Function almost continuously. Making one tiny adjustment after
another so that we maintain as erect or seated posture despite
the never ending downward pull or gravity
Stabilizing Joints
Muscle tendons- important in reinforcing and stabilizing joints that
have poorly fitting articulating surfaces (shoulder joint)
Generating Heat
Generated by product of muscle activity
ATP- used to power muscle contraction \ and nearly 3-quarters
escape as heat
Skeletal Muscles 40% of body mass so its most responsible for
generating heat
Additional Functions
Protect fragile internal organs by enclosure
Smooth muscle forms valves to regulate the passage of
substances through internal body openings, dilate and constrict
the pupils of our eyes
Activate arrector pili in skin
Microscopic Anatomy of Skeletal Muscle
Sarcolemma(muscle husk)- cell membrane of muscle cells
Myofibrils- pushes aside the nuclei and nearly fill cytoplasm
Has alternating Light(I) bands and Dark(A) bands which
gives stripped appearance
Z disc- darker are with midline interruption in L
band (actin is attached)
H zone- lighter central area in A band

Arranged in 2 layers: One running circularly and other

longitudinally
Sarcomeres- chain of tiny contractile units (segment of myofibrils)
which are aligned end to end like boxcars in a train along length of
myofibrils (Z disc to Z disc)
Arrangement of even smaller structures (myofilaments) within
sarcomeres that actually produces banding patters
Myofilament- threadlike protein within our boxcar sarcomere
Two kinds of Myofilaments:
1. Thick filaments (Myosin)- made mostly of bundled myosins
and contain ATPase enzymes(split ATP to generate the
power for muscle contraction
Extend the entire A band
Midparts of it are smooth but their ends are studded
with projections/myosin heads(called Cross bridges
when they link thick and thin filaments together during
contraction)
2. Thin Filaments (Actin)- composed of contractile protein called
actin plus some regulatory protein that play a role in allowing
ore preventing binding of myosin heads to actin.
Anchored to the Z disc
I band includes parts of adjacent sarcomeres and ONLY
thin filaments
Do not extend into the middle of relaxed sarcomere and
central region(H zone/Bare Zone)
When contraction occurs, the thin filament slide toward
each other into the center of sarcomere, these light
zone disappear because actin and myosin overlap
3. Sarcoplasmic Reticulum
Muscle fiber organelles
Specialized smooth ER
Its tubules and sacs surround each myofibril like a
crochet sweater in your arm
Store calcium and to release it on demand when muscle
fiber is stimulated to contract (Calcium- provides go
signal for contraction)

Skeletal Muscle Activity

Stimulation and Contraction of Single Skeletal Muscle Cell
Special Functional Properties of muscle cells:
1. Excitability
Responsiveness/Irritability
Ability to receive and respond to stimulus
2. Contractility
Ability to shorten(forcibly) when adequately stimulated
Sets muscle apart from other tissues
3. Extensibility
Ability of muscle cells to be stretched
4. Elasticity
Ability to recoil and resume their resting length after
being stretched
Nerve Stimulus and the Action Potential
To contract skeletal muscle cells must be simulated by nerve
impulses;; one motor neuron may stimulate a few muscle cells
Motor unit- one neuron and the skeletal muscle cells it stimulates
Neuromuscular Junction
When a nerve fiber/axon(long threadlike extension of

M-line- center of H zone which

contains protein rods that hold
adjacent thick filaments together
Acetylcholine/Ach- specific neurotransmitter of skeletal
muscle;; diffuses across the synaptic cleft and attaches
to receptors (membrane proteins) of the sarcolemma;; if
enough Ach is released, Depolarization happens
Synaptic Cleft- gap between nerve endings and muscle
cells membrane(sarcolemma) which is filled with
tissue(interstilial) fluid
Muscle Depolarization- when the sarcolemma becomes
temporarily more permeable to sodium ions which rush
into the muscle cell and to potassium ions which diffuse
out of the cell;; generates an electrical current called
Action Potential

Events of neuromuscular junction

Action potential reaches axon terminal of motor neuron
Calcium(Ca2+) channels open and Ca2+ enters the axon terminal
Ca2+ entry causes some synaptic vessels in the axon terminal to
release their content (Ach) by exocytosis
ACh diffuses across the synaptic cleft and binds receptors
(membrane proteins) in sarcolemma (ACh receptor)
ACh binds and channels open that allow passage of Na+ into and
K+ out of the muscle fiber(More if enough Ach is released the
sarcolemma becomes temporarily). More Na+ ions enter then K+
ions leave. Imbalance gives cell interior an excess of + ions which
reverses the electrical conditions of the sarcolemma
(Depolarization/Upset), which opens more channels that allow
Na+ entry only and eventually leads to an action potential
Action Potential- unstoppable;; it travels over the entire
surface of the sarcolemma, conducting the electrical
impulse from one end of the cell to another (results to
muscle contraction)
Ach effects are ended by its breakdown (Acetic Acid and Choline)
in the synaptic cleft by the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AchE).
This produces one contraction only and prevent continued
contractions. Muscle cell relaxes until the next round of Ach
release
Events that return the cell to its resting state (Muscle
Repolarization)sasrcolemma restores its permeability
Diffusion of K+ ions out of the cell and the
Operation of the sodium-potassium pump (active transport
mechanism)
Mechanism of Muscle Contraction
The Sliding Filament Theory
When muscle fibers are activated by NS, myosin heads attach to
the binding sites of thin filaments and sliding begins
Creates cross bridge which attaches and detaches
(caused by power stroke) several times during a
contraction, generating tension that helps to pull the thin
filaments towards the center of the sarcomere
While other myosin heads are moving, some myosin
heads are always in contact with actin so that the thin
filaments cannot slide back
This walking of myosin cross bridges/heads during muscle

neuron) reaches the muscle it braches out into a

number of Axon Terminals(each of which forms
junctions with the sarcolemma of a diff muscle cell)
Contain vesicles filled with Neurotransmitter

Attachment of myosin to cross bridges require Ca+2

Action Potential
Pass deep into muscle cell along membranous tubules
(T tubules)
Stimulates the Sarcoplasmic Reticulum to release Ca2+
into the cytoplasm
Ca2+ trigger the binding of the myosin and actin thus
initiating the filament sliding
When action potential ends, alcim is reabsorbed into SR
storage areas
Muscles relax and settle back to their original length
The whole process take a few thousandths of a second
Binding of ATP to the cross bridge- disconnects cross bridge from
actin
Hydrolysis of ATP- re-energizes and repositions the cross bridge

Contraction of a skeletal Muscle as a whole

all or none phenomenon(muscle cell will contract to its fullest
extent when its stimulated adequately; it never partially contracts)
is applicable to individual muscles and NOT to the whole muscle
Whole muscle reacts to stimuli with Graded Responses(different
degrees of shortening)
Graded Muscle Contractions can be produced in two ways:
1. By changing the frequency of muscle stimulation
2. Changing the number of muscle cells being stimulated
Muscle response to increasingly rapid stimulation
Muscles do not operate with muscle twitches (single brief jerky
contractions)
In most types of muscle activity, nerve impulses are delivered to
the muscle at very rapid rate (rapid that muscle does not get the
chance to relax)
Effects of successive contraction are summed together and the
contractions get stronger and smoother
Fused/Complete, Tetanus/Titanic Contraction
State wherein muscle is stimulated so rapidly what no
evidence of relaxation is seen and contractions are
smooth and sustained;; Normal and desirable
Unfused/Incomplete Tetanus
More complete fusion of twitches that summing
Muscles Response to Stronger Stimuli
Tetanus- produces stronger muscle contractions but its primary
role is to produce smooth and prolonged muscle contractions
Strength of contraction depends on how many of the cells are
stimulated (few stimulated cells=weaker contraction)
Strongest muscle contraction- all motor units are active and all the
muscle cells are stimulated
Muscle contractions can be slight or vigorous depending on what
work has to be done
Providing energy for muscle contraction
ATP molecules- their bonds are hydrolyzed when a muscle

shortening is like a centipedes gait.

Some myosin heads(legs) are always in contact with
actin (ground) so that thin filaments cannot slide
backward in the cycle
Myofilaments does not shorten, they simply side past
one another
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2.
3.
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Also called Hydrolysis of Creatine Phosphate

Creatine Phosphate- high energy molecule found in muscle fibers
only and are easily exhausted
Interaction between CP and ADP result in transfers of a highenergy phosphate group from CP to ADP thus regenerating more
ATP in a fraction of a second
Aerobic Respiration
Energy source: Glucose; Pyruvic Acid; Free fatty acids from
adipose tissue; amino acids from protein catabolism
Oxygen Use: Required
Products: 32 ATP per glucose, Co2, H2O
Duration of Energy provision: Hours
Occurs in mitochondria
95% ATP used in muscle activity
Oxidative Phosphorylation- series of metabolic pathways that use
oxygen
Slow and requires supply of oxygen and nutrient fuels
Anaerobic Glycolysis & Lactic Acid formation
Energy source: Glucose
Oxygen Use: NONE
Products: 2 ATP per glucose, lactic acid
Duration of energy provision: 30-40 seconds or slightly more
Glycolysis- pathway of glucose breakdown;; anaerobic
Occurs in cytosol
Glucose is broken down to Pyruvic Acid and produces 2
ATPs
Aerobic Pathway (with oxygen)
Occurs in mitochondria
Produce more ATP
When muscle activity is intense or oxygen and glucose delivery is
temporarily inadequate, Pyruvic acid is converted to Lactic Acid
and goes through Anaerobic Glycolysis
Anaerobic Glycolysis
Produces only about 5% as much ATP from each
molecule as aerobic respiration
2.5 times faster the aerobic
Disadvantages: uses huge amounts of glucose for a
small ATP harvest and accumulating lactic acid
promotes muscle fatigue and muscle soreness (muscle
cramps)

Muscle Fatigue
When we exercise our muscles strenuously for a long time
Unable to contract even though it is still being stimulated
Without rest, it begins to tire and contracts more weakly until it
ceases reacting and stops contracting
Believed to be a result of Oxygen Deficit
True Muscle fatigue: muscle quits entirely;; rarely occurs bec
before this happens, we feel tires and stop working;; happens in
marathon runners

contracts;; only energy source of power muscle activity;;muscles

store limited supplies (4-6 seconds)
Three pathway for ATP regeneration
1. Direct phosphorylation of ADP by creatine phosphate
Energy source: CP
Oxygen use: NONE
Products: 1 ATP per CP, creatine
Duration of energy provision: 15 seconds
Types of Muscle Contractions
Not all muscle shorten during contraction; common among them is
Tension during contraction due to myofilaments
1. Isotonic Contractions
same tone or tension
Familiar to most of us
Myofilaments are successful in sliding movements, the muscle
shortens and movement occurs
Ex. Bending the knee, rotating the arms and smiling
2. Isometric Contraction
Muscles do not shorten
same measurement or length
Myosin filaments are spinning their wheels
Tension in muscles keeps on increasing
Myofilaments are trying to slide but muscle is pitted against an
immovable object
No movement
Ex. Pushing a wall
Muscle Tone
State of continuous contractions
Result of different motor units stimulated in a systematic way
Result: muscles remain firm, healthy and constantly ready for
action
Effect of Exercise on Muscles
Muscle Inactivity- due to loss of nerve supply, immobilization, etc.
always leads to muscle weakness and wasting
Muscles are not exceptions to use it or lose it
Regular Exercise- increase muscle size, strength and endurance
Types of Exercise
1. Aerobic/Endurance
Aerobics class, jogging or biking
Result in stronger, more flexible muscles with greater resistance
to fatigue
Blood supply to muscles increase, form more mitochondria and
store more oxygen
Makes overall metabolism more efficient
Improves digestion(and elimination)
Enhances neuromuscular coordination and makes skeleton
stronger
Hypertrophies(heart enlarges)- more blood is pumped out with
each beat, fat deposits cleared from blood vessel wall and lungs
before more efficient in gas exchange
Does not cause the muscles to increase much in size
2. Resistance/Isometric
Bulging muscles of a body builder
Pit the muscles against some immovable object
Require very little time and little or no special equipment (push
against the wall, standing)

Oxygen Deficit
Person is not able to take in oxygen fast enough
Depends on how good blood supply is
When muscles lack oxygen: Lactic acid accumulates via
anaerobic mechanism, muscles ATP supply starts to run low and
ionic imbalance occurs
Oxygen supply must be paid back whether fatigue occurs or not
(rapid and deep breathing after to get rid of accumulated lactic
acid
2. Typically, the bulk of a skeletal muscle lies proximal to the
joint crossed
3. All skeletal muscles have at least 2 attachments (Origin and
Insertion)
4. Skeletal Muscles can only pull they can never push
5. During contraction, a skeletal muscle insertion moves toward
the origin
Points of Attachment:
1. Origin
attachment to the immovable of less movable bone
2. Insertion
attachment to the movable bone
when muscle contracts, insertion moves toward origin
* Some muscles have interchangeable origins and insertions.
e.g. rectus femoris muscle
* Body movement occurs when muscles contract across joints
Types of Body Movements
1. Flexion
On sagittal plane
Decreases the angle of the joint and brings two bones together
Typical of hinge joints(bending knee or elbow)
Also common in ball and socket joints (bending forward at hip)
2. Extension
Movement the increases the angle between 2 bones
Straightening the knee or elbow
Hyperextension- if greater than 180 degrees
3. Rotation
Movement of a bone around longitudinal axis
Ball and socket joints
Describes movement of atlas around the dens of axis (shaking
head no)
4. Abduction
Moving a limb away from midline
Fanning movement of fingers or toe when they are spread
5. Adduction
Movement of limb away from body
6. Circumduction
Combination of flexion, extension, abduction and adduction
Commonly seen in ball and socket joints like shoulder
The proximal end of the limb is stationary and distal end moves in
circles
The limb as a whole outlines a cone
Special Movements
1. Dorsiflexion and Plantar flexion
Dorsiflexion- standing on heels (superior surface approaches the
shin) (corresponds to extension of hand and wrist)
Plantar flexion- pointing on toes (depressing the foot)

The key is forcing the muscles to contract with as much force as

possible
Increased muscle size and strength are due mainly to
enlargement of individual muscle cells
Amount of connective tissue also increases

Muscle. Movement and Names

Five Golden Rule of Skeletal Muscle Activity
1. With a few exceptions, all skeletal muscles cross at least one
point
4.
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Opposition
In the palm of the hand, the saddle joint bet metacarpal 1 and
carpals allows opposition of the thumb
You move your thumb to touch the tips of other fingers on the
same hand
Makes the hand useful for grasping and manipulating things

Interactions of Muscles in the body

Muscles can pull as the contract (cant push)
Movements are the result of two or more muscles working
together or against each other
They arranges in such way that whatever one muscle can do,
other muscles can reverse
Prime Mover
Has the major responsibility for causing a particular
movement
Antagonist
Muscle that opposes or reverses a movement
Can be a prime mover depending on movement
Relaxed and stretched when prime mover is active
Synergists
Help Prime Movers by producing the same movement
or by reducing undesirable movements
Stabilizes joints moved by prime mover (kapag
nagcontract kasi yung prime mover, maraming joints
yung nagagalaw. Nasstabilize ng synergist yung
movement ng joints na hindi naman talaga kailangan
gumalaw)
Fixator (specialized synergist)
Hold a bone still or stabilize the origin of a prime mover
so all the tension can be used to move the insertion
bone
Ex. Postural muscles of the vertebral column, muscles
hat anchor the scapula to the thorax
Naming Skeletal Muscles
1. Direction of muscle fibers
Named in reference to some imaginary line (usually the midline if
the body or the long axis of the bone)
Rectus = straight (parallel the imaginary line) (ex. Rectus
Femoris- straight muscle of femur)
Oblique = Slant
2. Relative size of the Muscle
Maximus = largest
Minimus = smallest
Longus = long
Ex. Gluteus Maximus largest muscle of gluteus
3. Location of the muscle

2.
3.
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(corresponds to flexion of hand)

Inversion and Eversion
Inversion- turn sole medially
Eversion- turn sole laterally
Supination and Pronation
Refer to movement of the radius and ulna
Supination- turning backward forearm rotates laterally that the
palm faces anteriorly and the radius and ulna parallel
Pronation- turning forward forearm rotates medially so that the
palm faces posteriorly and brings radius across the ulna forming
an x

Arrangement of Fascicles

4.
5.
6.
7.
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Named for the bone which they are associated

Ex. Temporalis Muscles- temporal bones
Number of Origins
Bi, Tri, Quad
Ex. Biceps, Triceps, Quadriceps
Location of the muscles origin and insertion
Named for their attachment sites
Ex. Sternocleidomastoid- origin at sternum and clavicle and
inserts on mastoid
Shape of the muscle
Deltoid = Triangular
Action of the Muscle
Flexor, extensor, adductor