Skeletal Muscle

• General characters:
• It is formed of elongated cells called muscle fibers.
• The plasma membrane is called the sarcolemma.
• The cytoplasm is called the sarcoplasm.
• The smooth endoplasmic reticulum is called sarcoplasmic
reticulum.
 A skeletal muscle consists of striated muscle fibers held
together and supported by connective tissue.
 At the end of the muscle, the connective tissue continues as a
tendon or some other arrangement of collagen fibers that
attaches the muscle, usually to bone.
 A rich supply of blood vessels and nerves travels in the
connective tissue.
Skeletal Muscle
Histological structure of
skeletal muscle
It is formed of:
A. Connective tissue:
1-Epimysium:
• It is a dense C.T. which surrounds
the whole muscle.
2-Perimysium:
• It is a dense C.T. which surrounds
a group of fibers to form a
bundle.
3-Endomysium:
• It is a delicate layer of reticular
fibers that surrounds individual
muscle fibers.
B- Skeletal muscle fibers:
With the LM:
L/S:
 Skeletal muscle fibers do not branch
except in tongue and face.
 Characters of the muscle fiber :
 It appears as a single elongated cylindrical
multinucleated cell,10-100 m in diameter and variable in length (1-40 mm).
 Its sarcolemma is separated from the surrounding C.T. by a basement
membrane.
 It has multiple flattened oval (elongated) peripherally situated nuclei just
under the sarcolemma.
The sarcoplasm is acidophilic and shows regular transverse striations.
T/S:
The muscle fiber is:
• Polyhedral in shape.
• 10-100 μm in diameter.
• The sarcoplasm may show dark areas
(Cohnheim’s areas) due to grouping of the myofibrils.
With the ElM:
• The sarcolemma shows tubular invaginations called transverse or
T-tubules (T.T.) which encircle each myofibril at the A- I band
junctions of sarcomeres.
• The sarcoplasm contains:
I-Organelles: include:
 Myofibrils:composed of myofilaments.
 Smooth endoplasmic reticulum (sarcoplasmic
reticulum): which is formed of tubular
network around the myofibrils. Adjacent to
each T-tubule are expanded terminal
cisternae of sarcoplasmic reticulum. This
complex of a T-tubule with two terminal cisternae is calleda triad.
(triad ) is specialized for Ca storage and pump.
 Plenty of mitochondria: mainly between
the myofibrils.
 Other organelles: are few.
2-Inclusions: Myoglobin: oxygen binding pigmented protein.
 B- Glycogen granules: between myofibrils.
The myofibril:
It shows alternating light (I) and dark (A) bands.
Each dark band is divided at its center by a light area called H-zone
and bisected by M line.
•Each light band is divided at its center
by a dark line called Z-line.
• The thick myosin filaments are
restricted to A band.
• The thin filaments attach to the Z-line byby -actinin, an actin-
binding protein and pass through the I band then extend into the
A band till the beginning of H- zone.
• The A band is dark as it contains thin and thick filaments.
• The I band is light as it contains only thin filament.
• The H- zone is light as it contains only thick filaments.
• The Z-line is dark as it contains other types of filaments and due
to interdigitation of thin filaments.
• A longitudinal section of a
sarcomere, the Z line appears
as a zigzag structure, with
matrix material, the Z matrix,
bisecting the zigzag. The Z line
and its matrix material anchor
the thin filaments from adjacent
sarcomeres to the angles of the
zigzag by -actinin, an actin-
binding protein. The Z matrix
includes a number of proteins
(e.g., telethonin, talin, desmin,
myotilin, filamin C) that anchor
Z lines to that of neighboring
myofibrils and to adjacent cell
membrane.
 A thin filament is 5 to 6 nm in
diameter and consists of a double-
stranded helix of F actin filaments.
The two important regulatory
proteins in striated muscles, tropomyosin and troponin, are
entwined with two actin strands. Other thin filament–associated
proteins include tropomodulin and nebulin.
• Tropomyosin:
 It is a protein that also consists of a double helix of two
polypeptides.
 It forms filaments that run in the groove between the F-actin
filaments.
 In resting muscle, tropomyosin and its regulatory protein, the
troponin complex, mask the myosin binding site on the actin
molecule.
• Troponin: Each tropomyosin molecule contains one
troponin complex. It consists of a complex of three
globular subunits:
 Troponin-C (TnC) is the smallest subunit of the
troponin complex. It binds Ca²+, an essential step in
the initiation of contraction.
 Troponin-T (TnT), binds to tropomyosin, anchoring
the troponin complex.
 Troponin-I (TnI), binds to actin, thus inhibiting actin–
myosin interaction.
 Thick filament: its major component of thick filaments is myosin
II, a member of the myosin superfamily of motor proteins that
produce motility by cyclic interaction with actin subunits in
striated muscle.
• Myosin II, long rod-shaped protein, is a
dimer composed of two heavy polypeptide
chains and four light chains.
• Myosin has two globular heads (S1 region) that are connected via
lever arms (S2 region) with a long tail.
• Myosin molecules in striated muscle aggregate tail to tail
to form bipolar thick myosin filaments; the tail segments
overlap so that the globular heads project from the thick
filament.
• The “bare zone” in the middle of the filament does not have
globular projections.
• Thick filaments are connected to each other at their bare
zones by a family of M line proteins including myomesin, M-
protein, M line proteins and muscle creatine phosphatase
(MM-CK).
• Proteins known as accessory proteins are essential in
regulating the spacing, attachment, and alignment of the
myofilaments. These structural protein components of
skeletal muscle fibrils constitute less than 25% of the total
protein of the muscle fiber. They include titin, -actinin,
desmin, Myosin-binding protein C (MyBP-C) and Dystrophin.
• The sarcomere is the functional unit of the myofibril which is
the segment of the myofibril between two adjacent Z lines
• A sarcomere measures 2 to 3 µm in relaxed mammalian
muscle. It may be stretched to more than 4 µm. During
extreme contraction, it may be reduced to as little as 1 µm.
Types of skeletal muscle fibers
Motor Innervation:
• Myelinated motor nerves branch out within the perimysial
connective tissue, where each nerve gives rise to several
terminal branches.
• At the site of innervation, the nerve loses its myelin sheath and
forms a dilated termination that sits on the muscle cell surface.
This structure is called the motor end plate, or myoneural
junction. At this site, the axon is covered by a thin cytoplasmic
layer of Schwann cells.
• Within the axon terminal are numerous mitochondria and
synaptic vesicles containing the neurotransmitter
acetylcholine.
• Between the axon and the muscle is a space, the synaptic cleft.
• At the junction, the sarcolemma is thrown into numerous deep
junctional folds. In the sarcoplasm below the folds lie several
nuclei and numerous mitochondria, ribosomes, and glycogen
granules.
The neuromuscular junction (NMJ).

(a) Silver staining can reveal the

nerve bundle (NB), the terminal
axonal twigs, and the motor end (c) Diagram indicating key features of a typical
plates (MEP, also called MEP: synaptic vesicles of acetylcholine (ACh), a
neuromuscular junctions or NMJ) synaptic cleft, and a postsynaptic membrane.
on striated muscle fibers (S). This membrane, the sarcolemma, is highly
(X1200) folded to increase the number of ACh receptors
at the MEP. Receptor binding initiates muscle
fiber depolarization,which is carried to the
deeper myofibrils by the T-tubules.
Motor end plate( myoneural junction)

single nerve fiber (axon) can innervate one muscle

fiber, or it may branch and be responsible for
innervating 160 or more muscle fibers. In the case of
multiple innervation, a single nerve fiber and all the
muscles it innervates constitute a motor unit.
Muscle Spindles & Tendon Organs:
 Striated muscles and myotendinous
junctions contain sensory receptors
acting as proprioceptors providing the
central nervous system(CNS) with data
from the musculoskeletal system.
 Among the muscle fascicles are stretch
detectors known as muscle spindles,
approximately 2-mm long and 0.1-mm
wide.
 A muscle spindle is encapsulated by
modified perimysium, with concentric
layers of flattened cells, containing
interstitial fluid and a few thin muscle
fibers filled with nuclei and called
intrafusal fibers.
 Several sensory nerve axons penetrate
each muscle spindle and wrap around
individual intrafusal fibers. Changes in
length (distension) of the surrounding
(extrafusal) muscle fibers caused by body
movements are detected by the muscle
spindles and the sensory nerves relay this
information to the spinal cord.
 Sensory receptors and nerves mediate
reflexes of varying complexity to help
maintain posture and to regulate the
activity of opposing muscle groups involved
in motor activities such as walking.
A similar role is played by Golgi tendon organs,much smaller
encapsulated structures that enclose sensory axons penetrating among the
collagen bundles at the myotendinous junction.
Tendon organs detect changes in tension within tendons produced by
muscle contraction and act to inhibit motor nerve activity if tension becomes
excessive.
Regeneration of Muscle Tissue
 In skeletal muscle, although the multinucleated cells
cannot undergo mitosis, the tissue can still display limited
regeneration.
 The source of regenerating cells is the sparse population of
mesenchymal satellite cells lying inside the external lamina of
each muscle fiber. Satellite cells are inactive, reserve myoblasts
that persist after muscle differentiation. After injury the
normally quiescent satellite cells become activated, proliferating
and fusing to form new skeletal musclefibers.
 Following major traumatic injuries, scarring and excessive
connective tissue growth interferes with skeletal muscle
regeneration.
Nervous System
1. C.N.S.: brain and spinal cord.
2. P.N.S.: a) Peripheral nerves:
• Cranial.
• Spinal.
b) Ganglia:
• Cerebro–spinal.
• Autonomic.
-Sympathetic
-Parasympathetic
 Nerve tissue consists of two principal types of cells: neurons
and supporting cells.
The neuron: It is the structural and functional unit of the
nervous tissue.
Structure of The neuron :
1. Cell body:
• Nucleus: large, rounded, usually central and vesicular.
• Cytoplasm: contains :1-organelles including Nissl granules,
neurofibrils, mitochondria and Golgi apparatus,
2-Inclusions as lipofuscin pigments, glycogen granules and lipid
droplets.
2. Processes:
• Dendrites:which are the numerous
elongated processes extending from the
perikaryon and specialized to receive stimuli from other neurons at
synapses.
• Axon: which is a single long process ending at synapses
specialized to generate and conduct nerve impulses to
other cells (nerve, muscle, and gland cells).
THE NERVE FIBER
• Def.: It is the axon of a nerve cell.
• The axon may be naked or sheathed (with myelin sheath,
neurolemma or both).
• The axon is surrounded by a membrane called “axolemma”
and its cytoplasm is known as “axoplasm”. It contains
neurofilaments, neurotubules and mitochondria but no Nissl
granules.
Supporting cells:
• They are non conducting cells that are located close to the
neurons. They are referred to as neuroglial cells or glia.
• The CNS contains four types of glial cells:
oligodendrocytes, astrocytes, microglia, and ependymal cells.
Collectively, these cells are called the central neuroglia.
• In the PNS, supporting cells are called peripheral neuroglia
and include Schwann cells and satellite cells.
Peripheral Neuroglia
• In the PNS, Schwann cells produce a lipid-rich
layer called the myelin sheath that surrounds
the axons.
• The myelin sheath isolates the
axon from the surrounding extracellular
compartment of endoneurium. Its presence
ensures the rapid conduction of nerve
impulses.
• The axon hillock and the terminal arborizations
where the axon synapses with its target cells
are not covered by myelin.
Synaptic Communication
• Synapses are sites where nerve impulses are transmitted from
one neuron to another, or from neurons and other effector cells.
The transmission at the synapse is unidirectional.
• Most synapses act by releasing neurotransmitters, which
are usually small molecules that bind specific receptor proteins. A
synapse has the following components:
■ The presynaptic axon terminal (terminal bouton)
contains mitochondria and numerous synaptic vesicles from
which neurotransmitter is released by exocytosis.
 The postsynaptic cell membrane contains receptors for the
neurotransmitter, and ion channels or other mechanisms to
initiate a new impulse.
■ A 20- to 30-nm-wide intercellular space called the synaptic cleft
separates these presynaptic and postsynaptic membranes.
Types of synapses.
Peripheral Nerve
• A peripheral nerve is a bundle of nerve fibers held
together by connective tissue.
• The cell bodies of peripheral nerves may be located
within the CNS or outside the CNS in peripheral
ganglia
The cell bodies of peripheral nerves
may be located within the CNS or
outside the CNS in peripheral ganglia

Motor neuron cell bodies of the PNS

lie in the CNS.

Sensory neuron cell bodies are

located in ganglia outside
of, but close to, the CNS.
Structure of Peripheral Nerve Trunk
1-Nervous component:
Bundles of nerve fibers (myelinated
with neurolemma).
[Link]:
• Epineurium :- Dense C.T.
• -Surrounds the whole trunk.
• Perineurium : -Dense C.T.
-Surrounds the bundles
• Endoneurium :- Delicate loose C.T.
-Between individual
• fibers.
NERVE GANGLIA
Definition:
Collection of nerve cells and nerve fibers, covered by a
C. T. capsule, outside the C. N. S.

Types:
• Cerebro–spinal: e.g. spinal ganglia.
• Autonomic
- Sympathetic
- Parasympathetic
NB: a collection of nerve cells inside the C. N. S. is
called nucleus.