The MUSCLE

Types of muscle tissue

■ 3 types of muscle
tissue:
– Skeletal - striated, voluntary.
– Cardiac - striated, involuntary.
– Smooth (visceral) - nonstriated,
involuntary.
Functions of muscle tissue

■ Muscle tissue performs three functions:

– movement and stabilisation
– storage and movement of substances within the
body
– generation of heat
Properties of muscle tissue

■ Electrical excitability
– responds to certain stimuli by transmission of action
potentials
■ Contractility
– shortens, generating tension
■ Extensibility
– can be stretched without damage
■ Elasticity
– returns to original shape after contraction or extension
Skeletal muscle
Gross structure of skeletal muscle
■ Skeletal muscle fibres
surrounded by fibrous
connective tissue (dense
irregular)
■ Extensions of connective tissue
form:
– epimysium - surrounds entire
muscle
– perimysium - surrounds fasciculi
– endomysium - surrounds
individual muscle fibres
■ Continuous with tendons and
aponeuroses
 Nerve and blood supply

■ Nerves and blood vessels

travel through connective
tissues to the muscle fibres.
– Motor neurons
■ convey impulses for muscular
contraction
– Neuromuscular junction
– Blood vessels
■ provide nutrients and oxygen
for contraction
– Each muscle fibre in contact
with one or more capillaries
Histology of skeletal muscle

■ Skeletal muscle fibres

(cells)
– Sarcolemma
– Transverse tubules
– Sarcoplasmic
reticulum
– Sarcoplasm
■ myoglobin
– Multiple nuclei
– Myofibrils
– Other organelles
 The sarcomere

■ Myofibrils

compartmentalised

into sarcomeres.
 Histology of skeletal muscle

■ Myofibrils consist of :
– Contractile proteins
■ Organised into myofilaments
– Actin - thin myofilaments
– Myosin - thick myofilaments

– Regulatory proteins
■ Troponin
■ Tropomyosin
 Histology of skeletal muscle
■ Structural proteins
– Titin
■ Stabilises position of thick filament
■ Coiled aspect provides elasticity and
extensibility
– Myomesin
■ Forms M-line which binds thick filaments
together
– Dystrophin
■ Links thin filaments to integral proteins of
sarcolemma
– Sarcolemmal proteins attach to proteins
in connective tissue surrounding muscle
fibre
• Transmits force to surrounding
connective tissue
 Neuromuscular junction
■ Neuromuscular junction
– junction of motor neuron

axon terminal and muscle

fibre sarcolemma
■ Acetylcholine released at

junction
– Depolarises sarcolemma

leading to generation of

muscle action potential

 Contraction of skeletal muscle

■ Skeletal muscle
contracts according
to the sliding
filament theory
Functions of skeletal muscle
■ protects and supports body organs.
■ Provides a framework the muscle use to
cause movements.
■ Its blood cells are formed within bones
■ And it stores minerals.
 Muscle metabolism

■ Only enough ATP present to

fuel contraction for a few
seconds
– ATP must be used as replaced
– 3 mechanisms for ATP production
■ Aerobic respiration
■ Anaerobic respiration (glycolysis)
■ Creatine phosphate
 Motor unit

■ Motor unit
– motor neuron and the
muscle fibres it stimulates.
■ Number of fibres in a motor
unit variable
■ All fibres within motor unit
same type
■ Muscle fibres typically
dispersed throughout muscle
Motor unit

■ All-or-none principle
– all fibres in motor unit contract maximally or not at all
■ Henneman’s size principle
– Motor units recruited according to size of motor neuron
■ Size of motor axon related to number of muscle fibres it innervates and size of cell
body within spinal cord
– Smaller motor units recruited first (i.e. generally slow twitch)
 Tension development
■ Force of contraction graded
by
– Increasing tension development of
individual motor units
■ wave summation
– Recruiting more motor units
■ multiple motor unit summation
 Tension development

■ Length-tension effect
– length of muscle affects
tension developed
■ related to degree of overlap of
actin and myosin
 Skeletal muscle fibre types
■ Fibres classified on basis of structure and
function
 Skeletal muscle hypertrophy

■ Can achieve
significant
hypertrophy of
skeletal
muscle

From: Who Weekly, May 16,

2005
 Skeletal muscle hypertrophy

■ Can achieve
significant
hypertrophy of
skeletal
muscle

From: Who Weekly, May 16, From: Who Weekly, May 16,
2005 2005
Cardiac muscle
 Cardiac muscle
■ Cardiac muscle tissue
found only in the walls of
the heart
■ Fibres
– contain single central
nucleus.
– branch freely - connected via
gap junctions.
– have very high aerobic
capacity
■ Contract according to
sliding filament theory
 The function of the cardiac
muscle:
contraction of the atria
and ventricle of the
heart, causes beating of
heart.
Smooth muscle
 Types of smooth muscle tissue
■ Single-unit
– Autorhythmic
– Coupled by gap junctions
– contract synchronously
– Located in walls of small
arteries, hollow organs etc
■ Multi-unit
– independent innervated fibres
– Located in walls of large
arteries, airways of lungs,
arrector pili, ciliary body that
adjusts lens in eye etc
Smooth Muscle Histology
■ Single, oval, centrally located
nucleus
■ No T-tubules
■ Poorly developed sarcoplasmic
reticulum
■ Actin and myosin not in orderly
sarcomeres
– no troponin-tropomyosin.
■ Contain intermediate filaments
and dense bodies
– During contraction tension
transmitted to intermediate
filaments which pull on dense
bodies
Characteristics of smooth muscle

■ Contraction and relaxation of smooth

muscle fibres slower and longer lasting
compared with skeletal muscle
■ Smooth muscle can shorten and stretch
to a greater extent than other muscle
types
Contraction of smooth muscle

■ Increase in cytosolic Ca2+ initiates contraction

– Calcium comes from interstitial fluid and SR
■ Takes more time than in skeletal muscle
– Contributes to slower onset of contraction

■ Calcium - binds to calmodulin

– Calmodulin activates myosin light chain kinase
■ Myosin light chain kinase transfers phosphate group from ATP
to myosin to activate myosin head
– Myosin light chain kinase works slowly - contributes to slow rate of
contraction
Contraction of smooth muscle

■ Smooth muscle fibres contract in response to:

– action potentials from autonomic nervous system
– Stretching
– Hormones
– Local factors
■ pH
■ O2 and CO2 levels
■ Temperature
■ Ion concentrations
Function of smooth muscle
■ Smooth muscle thus subserves all internal, involuntary functions, except the
movements of breathing and the beating of the heart. Many directly acting chemical
agents affect its contraction, but most smooth muscle is also under the control of the
autonomic nervous system; in some sites (notably most blood vessels) it is influenced
only by the sympathetic component, and at others (for example in the gut and the iris)
by dual, and sometimes opposite, effects of sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves.

As befits its many functions, smooth muscle at different sites is much more
heterogeneous than skeletal or cardiac muscle. By creating diverse structural
arrangements of smooth muscle and other associated cells, and at the same time
varying the mechanisms that control contraction, evolution has achieved a remarkable
diversity of smooth muscle-containing organs, each of which is designed to fill a
unique functional niche.
Facial muscle
and
its functions
Superficial
Facial
Muscles
(all
innervated
by VII)
Some muscles of
mastication
(Innervated by V3)

Deeper Facial
Muscles (All
innervated by VII)
Facial Muscles You Have to Remember:
•Obicularis Oris
• it is the circular muscle of the lips. Because it
closes the mouth and protrudes the lips, it is often
called the “kissing” muscle.
•Obicularis Occuli
• it has a fiber that run in the circles around the
eyes. It allows you to close your eyes, squint, blink
and wink.
•Frontalis
• covers the frontal bone, runs from the cranial
aponeurosis to the skin of the eyebrows, where it
inserts. It allow you to raise your eye brows, as in
surprise, and to wrinkle your forehead.
• At the posterior end of the cranial aponeurosis is
the small OCCIPITALIS muscle, which covers the
posterior aspect of the skull and pulls the scalp
posteriorly.
• Buccinator
•The fleshy buccinator muscles runs horizontally across
the cheek and inserts into the orbicularis oris. It flattens
the cheek .
• It is also listed as a chewing muscle because it
compresses the cheek to hold the food between the teeth
during chewing.
• Zygomaticus
• extends from te corner of the mouth to the cheek bone.
It is often reffered to as “smiling” muscle because it
raises the corners of the mouth upward.
• Depressor Anguli Oris(Triangularis)
• arises from the oblique line of the mandible, whence its
fibers converge, to be inserted, by a narrow fasciculus,
into the angle of the mouth.