Movement requires muscle
• Three types: skeletal, smooth, cardiac
• Skeletal will be our focus
• Long fibrous tissue• Muscle fibers are
enclosed in layers of connective tissue
From Largest to smallest
• Muscle
• Bundle of fibers called a fascicle
• Muscle fiber (one cell)
• Bundle of myofibrils
• Filaments arranged in sarcomeres
• Actin and myosin are the proteins of the myofilament
Terms
• Cytoplasm is called sarcoplasm
• Inside the muscle fiber (muscle cell) are myofibrils
• They contain 2 proteins: actin and myosin
A sarcomere
• The space from one Z line to the next Z line
• Striations (stripes) are caused by the proteins of the myofilament
• Sarcomere is the contracting unit of the muscle fiber Z lines
Contraction• Contractions means
getting smaller• The myofibril can
contract because actin and myosin move
• This movement is described in the sliding filament theory
Sliding Filament Theory
• Head of myosin attaches to the actin
• This can happen only if calcium is present
• Myosin head pulls the actin filament in
• Makes the sarcomere shorter
Neuromuscular Junction
• A nerve fibers comes from the brain or spinal cord to the muscle.
• The nerve and the muscle do not actually touch
• The gap between them is called the synaptic cleft
Neuromuscular Junction
• At the end of the neuron, many tiny vesicles are present
• These vesicles store chemicals called neurotransmitters
• The neurotransmitter will go across the gap (synaptic cleft)
Neuromuscular Junction
• The muscle fiber on the other side of the gap is stimulated by the neurotransmitter
• The muscle fiber contracts
• The neurotransmitter is called acetylcholine
After contraction, relaxation
• Acetylcholinesterase (an enzyme) destroys the remaining acetylcholine
• Calcium ions are taken away
• Without these actions, the muscle would stay contracted
Related Conditions
• Nerve gas works by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase
• Breathing muscles cannot relax
• Botulism prevents the release of acetylcholine, so muscles cannot contract
Related Conditions
• Rigor mortis • Ca++ pumps run out
of ATP • Ca++ cannot be
removed • continuous contraction • eventually tissues
break down
Contraction Facts
• Threshold stimulus must be reached to cause a contraction
• Enough acetylcholine must reach the receptors
• All or none response
• Either the fiber (and its motor unit) contracts or it doesn’t
Contraction Facts
• A motor neuron comes from the brain or spinal cord and connects to a group of muscle fibers, called a motor unit. When a motor neuron transmits an impulse, all the fibers in the motor unit contract
• (If threshold was reached)
Contraction Facts
• A motor unit exhibits an all or none response
• How, then, can some muscle contractions be more forceful than others?
• Determined by the number of motor units stimulated
Contraction Facts• Where does the energy
come from to power muscle contraction?
• ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate)
• If extra energy is available, it is stored in creatine phosphate
• Creatine phosphate is converted to ATP when needed.
Origin and Insertion
• One end of a skeletal muscle is attached to an immovable end, like an anchor. This is the ORIGIN.
• The other end is attached to a movable part, called the INSERTION.
Contraction Facts
• Muscle Twitch• cycle of
contraction and relaxation
• Contraction only lasts a fraction of a second
Contraction Facts• Tetany is sustained
contraction• Lacks even partial
relaxation• Tetanus bacteria can
cause this• Lockjaw
• Muscle cramps• ATP depletion • dehydration • ion imbalance • massage or stretching
increase circulation
Contraction Facts
Which are You?
• A sprinter or an endurance performer?
• Why do some people excel at one, but not the other?
• Read the article and find out!
Use It or Lose It!
• Muscle inactivity will lead to weakness and wasting
• Aerobic exercise will result in stronger, more flexible muscles with greater resistance to fatigue.
• Resistance (isometric) exercise will result in increased size of muscles.
Which type should you do?
• Resistance: body building; enlarges individual muscle cells.
• Aerobic: endurance, increases strength in other systems as well.
• YOU NEED BOTH!
• Muscle fatigue • lack of carbohydrate
source (glucose)• lack of ATP to restore
membrane potential • lactic acid drops pH
which interferes with protein function
Contraction Facts
Oxygen DebtBody cannot supply muscles with enough oxygen during strenuous exercise
Muscles must switch to anaerobic respiration
This produces lactic acid, which the liver will destroy later
Oxygen debt is the amount of oxygen liver cells need to convert the lactic acid into glucose
Happens later, while you are resting or sleeping
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