Muscle Tissues

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Topic Objectives
• Explain the structures and functions of the contractile
cells, particularly the cells related to the muscle tissues
• Describe the characteristics of muscle tissues and
classify them as to their origin, characteristics and
body distribution
• Realize the significance of the histological aspect of
the muscular system
• Apply the terminologies learned in the identification
of different muscle tissues
• Make use of the knowledge acquired in
understanding the terms and concepts of muscle
histology
Basic Terms
• MYOLOGY is the study of muscles

• “Muscle”/ “Musculo-”/ “Myo-” means

“little mouse”

• “Sarco-” means “flesh,” can refer to

muscle or other fleshy mass
Embryonic Origin of Muscles
• MESODERM, except:

Ciliary muscle of the eyes

(ECTODERMAL)
Four Characteristics of Muscle Tissues
• Excitability
• Receive and respond to
stimulation
• Contractility
• Shortening
• Extensibility
• Lengthening
• Elasticity
• Returns back to original length
(after lengthening or
shortening)
Functions of Muscle Tissues
• Movement (e.g. motility of GIT,
gait, etc.)

• Maintenance of posture

• Supporting soft tissues within

body cavities (e.g. rectus
abdominis and abdominal
viscera)

• Maintenance of body
temperature (shivering)
Capillaries and Muscle tissue
• Provide food materials (amino acid, glucose, etc.), O2,
and H2O –NUTRIENT SUPPLY

• Eliminates toxic waste products (CO2, lactic acid, etc.) –

WASTE REMOVAL

• Pathway of hormones to the muscles – HORMONAL

PATHWAY
Muscle Cell
Characteristics:
• Elongated (hence, muscle
fibers)
• Individually enveloped by
basal lamina
Muscle Cell
Components:
• Cell Membrane (Sarcolemma)
• Cytoplasm (Sarcoplasm)
• Organelles:
• Sarcoplasmic reticulum (SER)
• Mitochondria (Sarcosomes)
Muscle Tissue
Types of Muscle Tissues
• Skeletal
• Cardiac
• Smooth
SKELETAL Muscle
Appearance and Structure
• Pink in color (fresh state)
• Due to dissolved myoglobin in its
sarcoplasm
• Usually attached to bones and
cartilages (via tendon)
• Is STRIATED
• Fibers (cells) of muscle are
tapering, cylindrical and
multinucleated
• Bundle of muscle fiber =
FASCICLE/ FASCICULUS
SKELETAL Muscle
Properties
• Each fiber is independent
• Individual fibers are shorter than over all length of the
muscle
• After injury, a few myoblast appear to fuse together to
form new muscle fibers (Regenerative)
• Contraction & relaxation is under voluntary control
• EXCEPT: pharynx and upper part of the esophagus
• With exercise, it increase in size and is due to
hypertrophy and NOT due to hyperplasia
SKELETAL Muscle
Parts
• Coverings
1. ENDOmysium – muscle
fiber (reticular fibers)
2. PERImysium – muscle
fascicle
3. EPImysium – entire muscle,
outermost
SKELETAL Muscle
Differentiation/ Development

• Embryonic:
Mesenchyme → Myoblasts (fuse) → Skeletal Muscle Cells

• Adult:
Satellite cells → Myoblasts (fuse) → Skeletal Muscle Cells
SKELETAL Muscle
Parts
• Sarcolemma (Cell Membrane)

• Sarcoplasm (Cytoplasm) –
acidophilic, with dissolved
myoglobin

• Nuclei – oval, longitudinal

orientation, peripheral, can ranging from <10 to 35 cm in length and 10 to 100 um in dm
total to hundreds per muscle
fiber
SKELETAL Muscle
Parts
• Organelles
1. Golgi complex
2. Mitochondria
3. Sarcoplasmic Reticulum
• ER of muscle fiber
• Stores and releases Calcium ions (Ca 2+)
4. Few RER and ribosomes
5. Myofibrils (cytoskeletal components)
SKELETAL Muscle
Structures
• (Transverse) T-Tubule
• T-tubules are located at the
junction of A and I bands
• connect the sarcoplasmic
reticulum to the sarcolemma
• Usually located in between
terminal cisterns/ cisternae (of
sarcoplasmic reticulum)
• T-tubules + terminal cisternae
= TRIAD
SKELETAL Muscle
Structures
• Myofibrils
• ~5,000 to 10,000 per muscle
fiber
• Diameter: 1 – 2 µm
• Exhibit striations:
❑ Isotropic bands (actin
filaments only)
❑ Anisotropic bands (actin
and myosin filaments)
SKELETAL Muscle
Structures
• Myofibrils
• long filamentous/ thread-like structures in
the sarcoplasm composed of two (2)
myofilaments: (1,000 – 2,000 per sarcomere)
1. actin, troponin, tropomyosin (thin
contractile protein filaments)
• located at the periphery
2. myosin (thick contractile protein
filaments)
• located at the middle zone
SKELETAL Muscle
Structures
• Myofilaments
Thin filaments
• Actin – 15% of total protein in myofibrils; primarily, F-actin
• Troponin-Tropomyosin complex – regulates contraction
Thick filaments
• Myosin – 60% of total protein in myofibrils; 2 Heavy Chains (forms
the head and tail); 4 Light Chains (forms part of tail)
One sarcomere = Two (2) Z lines

Zwischenscheiben line – bisects I band

Heller band – lighter midportion of A band; Consists of

myosin filaments only

M-line Mittelscheibe line – Bisects H-band

1. Sarcomere (top pink arrow): The section of muscle fiber between two Z lines; the basic contractile unit of striated
muscle.
2. Z line (Zwischenscheiben line): The green vertical lines on each side of the sarcomere. They bisect the I band and
anchor the thin filaments (actin).
3. I band (pink arrows): The lighter regions that contain only thin filaments (actin) and span from one sarcomere to
the next.
4. A band: The darker region that includes the entire length of the thick filaments (myosin), along with parts of thin
filaments overlapping.
5. H zone (Heller band): The lighter mid-portion of the A band where there are only thick filaments (no overlap with
thin filaments).
6. M-line (Mittelscheibe line): The black vertical line bisecting the H zone; where supporting proteins hold the thick
filaments together.
7. Thin filaments (red): Represent actin filaments anchored to the Z line and extending toward the center.
8. Thick filaments (blue): Represent myosin filaments located in the A band.
SKELETAL Muscle
Types of Skeletal M. Fiber
1. Extrafusal
▪ RED MUSCLE FIBERS
▪ WHITE MUSCLE FIBERS
▪ INTERMEDIATE

2. Intrafusal (Muscle spindle)

SKELETAL Muscle
Types of Skeletal M. Fiber
▪ RED MUSCLE FIBERS (Type I)
▪ predominant in red muscles
▪ small in diameter with RICH
BLOOD SUPPLY
▪ The sarcoplasm contains
more mitochondria, glycogen
granules and myoglobin
▪ Slow rate of contraction
(slow twitch muscle fibers) Seen mostly on tonic postural muscles of the trunk and limbs
SKELETAL Muscle
Types of Skeletal M. Fiber
▪ WHITE MUSCLE FIBERS (Type
IIB)
▪ forms the bulk of white
muscles
▪ fast rate of contraction (fast
twitch muscle fibers)
▪ the force of contraction is
forceful (fatigue easily)
Seen mostly on phasic muscles of the limbs
SKELETAL Muscle
Types of Skeletal M. Fiber
▪ INTERMEDIATE (Type IIA)
▪ morphologically similar to
red fibers
▪ physiologically similar to
white fibers (contracts in the
same speed as white fibers)
SKELETAL Muscle
Types of Skeletal M. Fiber
Neuromuscular spindle (Muscle Spindle)
• Its capsule has connective tissue that contains (intrafusal) modified
striated muscle fibers and extrafusal (surrounding skeletal muscle
fibers)
• Supplied with sensory nerve endings

Types of Muscle Spindle:

• Nuclear bag – with dilated central area with bunch of nuclei
• Nuclear chain – no dilated central area and nuclei is in a single
row
SKELETAL Muscle
Sensory Organs
General sensory receptors
• Free nerve endings*
• Vater-Pacinian corpuscles
• Ruffini’s corpuscles
Proprioceptors
• Free nerve endings*
• Muscle spindle
• Golgi tendon organ
✓ small, 1mm long
✓ located in tendons
✓ encapsulated in thin, cone-shaped connective tissue
✓ detects muscle contraction
CARDIAC Muscle
Appearance and Structure
• Much smaller than skeletal
muscle
• Fibers form bundles/ fascicles
• STRIATED
• Forms few branches
• With one or two nucleus that
are centrally-located
• Abundant sarcoplasm with
numerous and large
mitochondria
CARDIAC Muscle
Properties
• Controlled by pacemakers
and autonomic nervous
system (involuntary-
controlled)
• Cardiac muscle is more
resistant to injury than the
other types of muscle
• Little or no regeneration
CARDIAC Muscle
Parts
Covering
• ENDOmysium
• PERImysium
• NO Epimysium
CARDIAC Muscle
Parts
• T-tubules
• surround the Z-lines
• Dyad: one terminal cistern +
one T-tubules (occurring at Z-
line level)
CARDIAC Muscle
Structures
• Intercalated Discs
• Unique in cardiac tissue
• Two (2) regions (electron
microscopy):
1. Transverse (contains two
forms of junctional
complexes: fascia adherens
and desmosome)
2. Lateral (contains gap
junctions similar to epithelial
cells)
CARDIAC Muscle
Structures
• Purkinje Fibers
• modified cardiac cells
• non-contractile
- specialized to initiate and conduct
impulses that control cardiac contraction
CARDIAC Muscle
Structures
• Myofibrils
• Similar to Skeletal Muscles,
Contain thick and thin
myofilaments
• Cross-striations less prominent
than skeletal muscles due to
more cytoplasm and
mitochondria
SMOOTH Muscle
Appearance and Structure
• Non-striated: do not form
sarcomeres and myofibrils,
hence cell is the structural
unit
• Fusiform cells: broad at the
middle and taper at both
ends
• Fascicle arrangement:
Muscle cells are parallel to
each other.
SMOOTH Muscle
Appearance and Structure
• With few, long and slender
mitochondria, no T-tubules
present
• Scanty ribosomes and
endoplasmic reticulum
SMOOTH Muscle
Properties
• Involuntary controlled; non-striated
• Slow contractions
• Can divide by mitosis
SMOOTH Muscle
Distribution
• Wall of most visceral (internal
organs), aka “visceral muscle
tissue”
• Arrector pili muscles
attached to hair follicles in
skin
SMOOTH Muscle
Parts
• Sarcoplasm – acidophilic,
appears homogenous in
longitudinal section (light
microscopy)
• Nucleus – oval-shaped
• Organelles – pushed by the
myofilaments at the
perinuclear area
• Sarcoplasmic reticulum – poorly
developed
• NO T-Tubule
SMOOTH Muscle
Structures
• Myofilaments
• Ratio of thin to thick filaments:
15 is to 1
• Less myosin, scattered all over
the cytoplasm
• Actin anchored on dense
bodies
SKELETAL MUSCLE CARDIAC MUSCLE SMOOTH MUSCLE

Action Voluntary Control Involuntary Control Involuntary Control

Presence of Striations Striated Striated Non-Striated

Shape of cell Long, cylindrical Short, branching Short, spindle or

fusiform
Number of nucleus Multinucleated One or two One

Location of nucleus Peripheral Central Central

Organization of Do not branch Branching Closely packed; Do not

muscles into bundles branch
Mechanism of muscle contraction:
Sliding filament theory
• Links the structure of a sarcomere
to its function
• During contraction thin filaments
slide over thick filaments
• Thick filaments= myosin and have
“heads”
• Thin filaments = actin
• Ca2+ and ATP required for sliding
and attachment
Fig 30.9A
Fig 30.9B
Sliding filament theory
• ATP binds to a myosin head, which is released from an actin
filament
• Hydrolysis of ATP cocks the myosin head
• The myosin head attaches to an actin binding site with the
help of CALCIUM
• The power stroke slides the thin filament when ADP and Pi are
released from it
Mechanism of muscle contraction:
smooth muscles
• Ca2+ enters cell
• Ca2+ reacts with calmodulin-myosin light chain kinase
• Myosin light chain kinase activated
= ATP broken down into ADP + Phosphate
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