Chapter 6: Muscular System 3.

Fusiform
 Ends of the epimysium that extend 4. No striations
beyond the muscle either blend into a
 Muscle Types: tendon or a aponeurosis  SPEED OF CONTRACTION IS VERY
 Tendons: connects muscles to bones SLOW AND SOME HAS RHYTHMIC
 Three types of muscle tissue: skeletal,  Ligaments: connects bones to bones CONTRACTION
smooth and cardiac  Joints: the area where two bones are
attached
 Skeletal muscles:  Muscle functions:
 Attached to the skeleton  Produce movement
 Skeletal, Striated and Voluntary  Cardiac muscles:  Maintain posture and body position
 Only in the heart  Stabilise joints
 Cells are:  Cardiac, Striated and Involuntary  Generate Heat (muscle activity
1. Single, long and cylindrical produces ATP and some of its energy
2. Multinucleate  Cells are: escapes as heat)
3. Has striations 1. Branched  For smooth muscles: dilate and contract
2. Chains of cells (short) pupils,
 SPEED OF CONTRACTION IS SLOW TO 3. Has striations
FAST AND NO RHYTHMIC 4. Uninucleate
CONTRACTION 5. Has intercalated discs (gap junctions;  Microscopic Anatomy of Skeletal
where ions move)
 Has thousands of muscle fibers
Muscle:
 SPEED OF CONTRACTION IS SLOW AND
 Muscle fibers are the units of skeletal HAS RHYTHMIC CONTRACTION  In a muscle fiber, there are bundles of
muscles: myofibrils
1. They are enclosed by a connective tissue
sheath called endomysium  Myofibrils contain:
 Smooth muscles:
2. Bundles of muscle fibers with 1. I bands: light bands
 In hollow, visceral organs
endomysium are then wrapped around by a 2. A bands: dark bands (gives the
 Visceral, Nonstriated and Involuntary
connective tissue called perimysium (a striated appearance)
fascicle) 3. Z disc: the dark lines in the I band
 Cells are:
3. When fascicles are bundled, they are 4. H zone: the light area in the A band
1. Single
wrapped by the epimysium 2. Uninucleate
 5. M line: a line in the center of the H  Actin (thin): 1. When nerve impulse reach the axon
zone that contains tiny protein rods - Allows or prevents binding of myosin terminals, calcium channels open and
that hold adjacent thick filaments heads (the studded stuff at the ends of calcium enters
together myosin) to actin
- Anchored to the Z disc 2. Calcium entry= causes some synaptic
 Myofibrils are chains of contractile units vesicles to fuse with the cell membrane
called sarcomeres  Sarcoplasmic Reticulum (SR): and release ACh
- Role is to store calcium and release it on
demand when muscle fiber is stimulated to 3. ACh diffuses across the synaptic cleft
contract and attaches to receptors of the
sarcolemma of the muscles

 Skeletal Muscle Activity: 4. If there’s enough ACh released, the

sarcolemma temporarily becomes
permeable to Na+ ions which rush into
 Functions of muscle fibers: the muscle fiber (depolarisation), and
1. Irritability (receive and respond to K+ ions rush out
stimulus)
2. Contractility (ability to shorten when - Movement of ions generate electrical
stimulated) current called action potential
 Myosin (a myofilament) is thick 3. Extensibility (ability to recoil after
 Actin (a myofilament) is thin being stretched) - Acetylcholinerase (AChE) an enzyme is
 They are responsible for the striations present on the sarcolemma and in the
in skeletal muscles  Motor unit= one neuron that is in synaptic cleft; it breaks down the
charge of certain skeletal muscle fibers “excess” ACh into acetic acid and
 Myosin (thick): choline
- Thick; ends are studded with small  Skeletal muscles are stimulated by a - Purpose of AChE is make sure that a
projections neurotransmitter called acetylcholine single nerve impulse produces only one
- Contain ATPase enzymes which splits ATP (ACh) contraction
to release energy for muscle contraction  The synaptic cleft is filled with
- Responsible for the dark A band interstitial fluid
- Attached to the Z disc by titin (elastic
filaments)  How a muscle fiber is stimulated:
  Mechanism of Muscle extent when stimulated; it never  Providing Energy for Muscle
partially contracts Contraction:
Contraction: The Sliding Filament
Theory:  ATP is the only energy source that can
 Graded responses= different degrees of be used directly to power muscle
shortening which generate different activity
 Sliding of the filaments happen when amounts of force when a muscle reacts
the myosin heads attach to the binding to a stimuli with graded responses  There are three pathways to regenerate
sites on the actin
ATP:
- Graded muscle contractions can be produced
 When contraction (sliding) occurs, the by: 1. Direct Phosphorylation of ADP by
actin is pulled to the center of the 1. Changing the frequency of muscle creatine phosphate:
sarcomere stimulation - A molecule called Creatine Phosphate
2.Changing the number of muscle fibers being (CP) is found in muscle fibers
 The myofilaments don’t shorten during stimulated at one time. - If ATP is depleted, CP and ADP interact
contraction, they just slide past each
to form ATP
other
 Muscle Response to Increasingly 2. Aerobic pathway (oxidative
 Cross-bridges= refers to the time when Rapid Stimulations: phosphorylation):
myosin heads attach to the actin  Nerve impulses are delivered to - Happens in the mitochondria
muscles at a rapid rate that the muscle - Glucose and oxygen is needed to
 Cross-bridges require Ca+2 ions and ATP doesn’t get a chance to relax release carbon dioxide and water and
to energise the myosin heads; Ca+2 ions completely between stimuli the energy is captured in the ATP bond
stimulate the sliding of filaments molecules
- The Ca+2 ions are released from the  The muscle exhibits unfused tetanus - 1 glucose molecule= 32 ATP
sarcoplasmic reticulum into the cytoplasm (incomplete tetanus) if effects of
successive contractions are summed 3. Anaerobic glycolysis and lactic acid
together and the contractions of the formation:
 Contraction of a Skeletal Muscle muscle get stronger and smoother. - Glycolysis (breakdown of glucose)
as a Whole: does not require oxygen; it happens in
 “All-or-none” law of muscle physiology=  The muscle exhibits fused tetanus the cytosol
a muscle fiber will contract to its fullest (complete tetanus) if the muscle is - During glycolysis, glucose is broken
stimulated rapidly with no relaxation; down to pyruvic acid and some energy
contractions are completely smooth too are captured in ATP bonds
 - If there is oxygen, pyruvic acid then  Isometric contractions:  Resistance exercise (isometric
enters the aerobic pathway - Contractions where muscles do exercise)= where the muscles pit
- But if there is no sufficient oxygen, not shorten against an immovable (or difficult to
pyruvic acid will convert to lactic acid - Myosin filaments are spinning move) object
- 1 glucose molecule= 2 ATP their studs; they are trying to slide
but the muscle is against some more
or less immovable object  Types of Body Movements:
 Muscle Fatigue and Oxygen
deficit:  The Five Golden Rules of Skeletal
 Muscle fatigue= muscle unable to  Muscle Tone: Muscle Activity:
contract at all even if it is being  The muscles at rest are still 1. All skeletal muscles cross at least one
stimulated contracting though not visible joint (with some exceptions)

 Suspected possible causes= Ca+2 and  This state of continuous partial 2. The bulk of a skeletal muscle lies
K+ ions imbalances and contractions is called muscle tone proximal to the joint crossed
neuromuscular junction problems,
but oxygen deficit is mainly  Muscle tone is the result of different 3. All skeletal muscles have at least two
believed to be the cause motor units being stimulated in a attachments: the origin and the insertion
systematic way
 Oxygen deficit= not able to take 4. Skeletal muscles can only pull; they never
oxygen fast enough to keep the  When nerve supply to a muscle is push
muscles supplied with oxygen when destroyed, the muscle is no longer
working vigorously; lactic acid also stimulated and slowly becomes 5. During contraction, a skeletal muscle
accumulates flaccid and also begins to atrophy insertion moves toward the origin
(muscle wasting). This is called
 Types of Muscle Contractions – flaccid paralysis
Isotonic and Isometric:  Body movements:
 Aerobic exercise (endurance 1. Flexion: movement where the angle of
 Isotonic contractions:
exercise)= leads to stronger and joint decreases to bring two bones closer
- Myofilaments slide resulting to the
flexible muscles with greater
muscle shortening and movements
resistance to fatigue; blood supply 2. Extension (opposite of flexion):
occur
to muscles increase movement where the angle of joint
increases to move two bones away
 - Extension that is greater than 180 is called 10. Opposition: movement involving the
hyperextension hand. It is the action by which you move
your thumb to touch the tips of the other
3. Rotation: movement of a bone around it fingers on your hand
longitudinal axis

4. Abduction: moving the limb away from  Arrangement of Fascicles:

the midline - Refers to the arrangement of skeletal muscles
- Common arrangements include: circular,
5. Adduction: moving the limb toward the convergent, fusiform, parallel, multipennate,
midline bipennate and unipennate

6. Circumduction: a combination of flexion, - Circular: fascicles are arranged in concentric

extension, abduction and adduction rings; found in areas that close by contracting,
e.g. orbicularis muscles
7. Dorsiflexion and plantar flexion: up-and-
down movements of the foot at the ankle - Convergent: fascicles are arranged to
- Dorsiflexion= pointing your toe toward the converge toward a single insertion tendon, e.g.
head pectoralis major
- Plantar flexion= pointing your toe away from
the head - Parallel: fascicles run parallel to the long axis
of the muscle, they are strap-like, e.g. the
8. Inversion and eversion: movements of sartorius of the anterior thigh
the foot
- Inversion= turn the sole medially - Fusiform: a modification of the parallel
- Eversion= turn the sole laterally arrangement; this is a spindle-shaped muscle
with an expanded belly, e.g. biceps brachii
9. Supination and pronation:
- Supination= when the palm of the hands faces - Pennate: feather pattern, short fascicles
up (anteriorly) attach obliquely to a central tendon.
- Pronation= when the palm of the hands faces Unipennate: for only one side
down Bipennate: for two sides
Multipennate: for multiple sides