A2

Topic 7
Lesson 1
Muscles and movement
What is a muscle ?
Muscle cells are specialized cells , formed of muscle fibres
( long cells ) bound together by connective tissue , made
of proteins . in mammals make 40% of the body weight .
here we concentrate on mammalian muscle .
When they contract they shorten , and when they relax
they are brought to their original length .
Types of muscles :
1. Striated muscle (skeletal muscle)
2. Smooth muscle
3. Cardiac muscle

Striated muscle
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1. Attached to the skeleton .

2. Involved in locomotion
3. Voluntary (controlled by the voluntary nervous
system)
4. Contracts rapidly
5. Fatigues easily and tires quickly
6. Under the microscope : by the electron microscope
a. it is striated , stripy .
b. Made up of myofibrils parallel to each other
c. Each myofibril is made up sarcomeres
d. Sarcomeres are made of proteins : actin and
myosin
e. The cytoplasm of the myofibrils is called :
sarcoplasm
f. Sarcoplasm contains many mitochondria
g. Sarcoplasmic reticulum (network of membranes) ,
stores and releases calcium ions .

Smooth muscle
Smooth muscle contraction is caused by the sliding of
myosin and actin filaments (a sliding filament
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mechanism) over each other. The energy for this to

happen is provided by the hydrolysis of ATP. Myosin
functions as an ATPase utilizing ATP to produce a
molecular conformational change of part of the myosin
and produces movement. Movement of the filaments over
each other happens when the globular heads protruding
from myosin filaments attach and interact with actin
filaments to form cross bridges.
The myosin heads tilt and drag along the actin filament a
small distance (10-12 nm). The heads then release the
actin filament and then changes angle to relocate to
another site on the actin filament a further distance (1012 nm) away. They can then re-bind to the actin molecule
and drag it along further. This process is called cross
bridge cycling and is the same for all muscles (see
muscle contraction). Unlike cardiac and skeletal muscle,
smooth muscle does not contain the calcium-binding
protein troponin. Contraction is initiated by a calciumregulated phosphorylation of myosin, rather than a
calcium-activated troponin system.
Crossbridge cycling causes contraction of myosin and
actin complexes, in turn causing increased tension along
the entire chains of tensile structures, ultimately resulting
in contraction of the entire smooth muscle tissue.
1. Not striped
2. Involuntary (controlled by involuntary nervous
system)
3. It is present in the gut and the walls of the blood
vessels
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4. Contracts slowly
5. Fatigues slowly

Cardiac muscle
1. Involuntary
2. In the heart
3. It is striated
4. All fibres are joined by cross connections
5. Contracts spontaneously
6. Does not fatigue

*A single stimulus causes a single twitch (contraction of

muscle fibres) of the muscle fiber. If the stimulus is below
a certain level , nothing happens all or nothing
response
*A single big stimulus gives the same size of twitch.
*Single twitches are rare in muscles
*If two stimuli are given at the same time , close together
, the muscle will contract a second time before it relaxes ,
this gives the appearance of a single muscular
contraction summation
*When a series of rapid stimuli is given , the muscle fibres
become fully contracted, short and stays like this
tetanus
A muscle cannot remain in tetanus for a long time as it
fatigues and cannot contract any more , when supplies of
ATP and calcium are depleted .

Questions
1. Suggest an explanation for why a whole muscle
might respond differently to a stimulus than a single
fibre
2. Summarise the similarities and differences between
the three main types of muscle tissue
End of the lesson
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Study well

Answers
1. Whole muscle is made up of many muscle fibres.
Different fibres might have different thresholds for
response , or different levels of response , so when the
whole muscle is stimulated the contraction might be
more or less than expected.
2. The table of comparison
Striated muscle
Attached to the
skeleton
Involved in
locomotion

Controlled by
voluntary nervous
system

Smooth muscle
Not attached to the
skeleton
Involved in moving
food through gut ,
controlling diameter
of blood vessels ect.
Controlled by
involuntary nervous
system

Striated appearance
under the
microscope

No striations seen
under microscope

Contracts rapidly

Contracts slowly

Cardiac muscle
Not attached to
skeleton
Pumps blood out of
heart around lungs
and body
Contracts
spontaneously, some
voluntary and
involuntary control
Striations with cross
connections seen
under the
microscope
Average around 70
contractions a
minute
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Fatigues rapidly

Fatigues slowly

Does not fatigue