PHYSIOLOGY OF MUSCLES

1
Muscles Physiology
• Muscle is the fleshy organ of the body that converts
potential energy of food into mechanical energy.
• Muscle cells have a special capacity to utilize chemical
energy to produce force and movt that enable us to
produce speech and to manipulate objects around us.
• Accounts 40% of the BW
• Muscle is one of our 4 tissue types.
• Muscle tissue combined with nerves, blood vessels,
and various connective tissues is what makes up those
muscle organs that are familiar to us.
• Muscles are quite complex and are a marvel of both
biology and physics.

2
Types of Muscle Tissue

3
Characteristics of Muscle Tissue
1. Excitability
– The ability to receive and respond to a stimulus
• In smooth muscle, the stimulus could be a
neurotransmitter, a hormone, stretch, pH, Pco2, or
Po2.
• In cardiac muscle, the stimulus could be a
neurotransmitter, a hormone, or stretch.
• In skeletal muscle, the stimulus is a
neurotransmitter released by a neuron.
– The response is the generation of an electrical
impulse that travels along the plasma
membrane of the muscle cell.
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Characteristics of Muscle Tissue cont…

2. Contractility
– The ability to shorten forcibly when adequately
stimulated.
– This is the defining property of muscle tissue.
3. Extensibility
– The ability to be stretched
4. Elasticity
– The ability to recoil and resume original length
after being stretched or contracted.

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Muscle Functions
1. Produces Movement
– Movement of body parts
– Movement of blood throughout the
body
– Movement of lymph through the
lymphatic vessels
– Movement of food through the GI tract
– Movement of bile out of the gallbladder
and into the digestive tract
– Movement of urine through the urinary
tract
– Movement of semen through the male
and female reproductive tracts
– Movement of a newborn through the
birth canal
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Muscle Functions cont…

2. Maintenance of posture
– Muscle contraction is constantly
allowing us to remain upright.
– The muscles of your neck are keeping
your head up right now.
– As you stand, your leg muscles keep
you on two feet.
3. Thermo genesis
– Generation of heat.
– Occurs via shivering – an involuntary
contraction of skeletal muscle.

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Muscle Functions cont…

4. Stabilization of joints
– Muscles keep the tendons that
cross the joint nice and firm.
– This does a wonderful job of
maintaining the integrity of
the joint.

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Skeletal Muscle

• Skeletal muscles are

dominated by muscle
tissue and also contain
nervous, vascular and
connective tissues.

• It surrounded by dense
irregular connective
tissue known as the
epimysium

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Skeletal Muscle cont…

• Epimysium surrounds several bundles

known as fascicles.

• Each fascicle is a bundle of super-long

skeletal muscle cells (muscle fibers),
surrounded by a layer of dense irregular CT
called the perimysium (peri=around).

• Each muscle cell extends the length of the

whole muscle organ and is surrounded by a
fine layer of loose connective tissue, the
endomysium.
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Skeletal Muscle cont…

• Each skeletal muscle is

supplied by
 one nerve,
 an artery and
 one or more veins.
• They all enter/exit via the
connective tissue coverings
and branch extensively.

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Skeletal Muscle cont…

• Most joints are attached to bones.

– The attachment of the muscle to the
immoveable bone in a joint is its origin, while
the attachment to the moveable bone is its
insertion.

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Skeletal Muscle cont…
• Each skeletal muscle cell is known as a skeletal
muscle fiber because they are so long.
– Their diameter can be up to 100µm and their
length can be as long as 30cm.
– They’re so large because a single skeletal muscle
cell results from the fusion of hundreds of
embryonic precursor cells called myoblasts.
• A cell made from the fusion of many others is
known as a syncytium.

• Muscle fiber PM is known as sarcolemma.

• Muscle fiber cytoplasm is known as sarcoplasm.

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Skeletal Muscle cont…

• Sarcolemma
has
invagination
s that
penetrate
through the
cell called
transverse
tubules or T
tubules.

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Sarcoplasmic Reticulum
• Sarcoplasm has lots of mitochondria (why?),
lots of glycogen granules (to provide glucose
for energy needs) as well as myofibrils and
sarcoplasmic reticuli.
• Sarcoplasmic reticuli has functions as a
calcium storage depot in muscle cells.
• Loose network of this membrane bound
organelle surrounds all the myofibrils in a
muscle fiber.

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Myofibrils
• Each muscle fiber contains rod like structures called
myofibrils that extend the length of the cell.
• They are basically long bundles of protein structures called
myofilaments and their actions give muscle the ability to
contract.
• The myofilaments are classified as thick filaments and thin
filaments.

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Myofilaments
• 2 types of myofilaments (thick & thin) make up
myofibrils.
• Thick myofilaments are made up of the protein myosin

A single myosin protein

resembles 2 golf clubs
whose shafts have been
twisted about one another

About 300 of these

myosin molecules are
joined together to form a
single thick filament

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Contractile filaments
1. Myosin Filament
 The myosin filament is composed of multiple myosin molecules
 Toward the two ends of a myosin filament there are outward
protruding structures called cross-bridge
 The cross-bridge has an arm and a head part
 The hinged head participates in the actual contraction process
 The myosin head that is essential for muscle contraction functions
as an ATPase enzyme

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2. Actin filament
 It is composed of three protein components: actin, tropomyosin,
and troponin
 The backbone of the actin filament is a double stranded F-actin
protein molecule; the two strands are wound in a helix
 There are active sites on the actin filaments with which the cross
bridges of the myosin filaments interact to cause muscle contraction
 In the resting state, the tropomyosin molecules lie on top of the
active sites of the actin strands, so that attraction cannot occur between
the actin and myosin filaments to cause contraction
 the strong affinity of the troponin for calcium ions is believed to
initiate the contraction process

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Functional structure … cont’d

Active site

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Sarcomeres
• Each myofibril is made up 1000’s of repeating
individual units known as sarcomeres.

• Each sarcomere is an ordered arrangement of

thick and thin filaments. it has:-
– regions of thin filaments by themselves (pinkish
fibers)
– a region of thick filaments by themselves (purple
fibers)
– regions of thick filaments and thin filaments
overlapping.
• The sarcomere is flanked by 2 protein structures known as Z
discs.
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Sarcomeres con t…

• The portion of the sarcomere which contains the thick

filament is known as the A band.
• A stands for anisotropic which is a fancy way of saying
that it appears dark under the microscope.
– The A band contains a zone of overlap (btwn
thick & thin filaments) and an H zone which
contains only thick filaments.
– The portion of the sarcomere which does not
contain any thick filament is known as the I band.
– The I band contains only thin filament and is
light under the microscope (it is isotropic).
– One I band is actually part of 2 sarcomeres at
once.
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Sarcomeres con t…
In the middle of the H zone is a structure called the M
line which functions to hold the thick filaments to one
another

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T-Tubules and the SR
• Each muscle fiber has many T-tubules
– Typically each myofibril has a branch of a T-
tubule encircling it at each A-I junction
• At each A-I junction, the SR will expand and
form a dilated sac (terminal cisterna).
• Each T-tubule will be flanked by a terminal
cisterna.
• This forms a so-called triad consisting of 2
terminal cisternae and one T-tubule branch.

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Muscle Contraction
The Sliding Filament
Hypothesis
• Place your right palm on the back of your left
hand.
• Now slide your right palm toward your left
elbow.
– What happened to the distance between
your elbows?
• It got shorter!
– This is how muscle contraction occurs.

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The Sliding Filament Hypothesis

– The thin filaments slide over the thick

filaments.
– This pulls the Z discs closer together.
– When all the sarcomeres in a fiber do this,
the entire fiber gets shorter which pulls on
the endomysium, perimysium, epimysium
and attached tendon and then pulls on the
bone.

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27
Sliding Filaments
• All the sarcomeres in a fiber will contract together.
• This contracts the fiber itself.
• The number of fibers contracting will determine
the force of contraction of the whole muscle.
• We can actually divide the whole process of muscle
contraction into 4 steps:
– Excitation
– Excitation-contraction coupling
– Contraction
– Relaxation

28
Excitation
• All cells have a voltage difference across their plasma
membrane.
• This is the result of several things:
1. The ECF is very high in Na+ while the ICF is very high in K+.
- The PM is impermeable to Na+ but slightly permeable to K+.
As a result, K+ is constantly leaking out of the cell; In other
words, positive charge is constantly leaking out of the cell.

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Excitation cont…

2. The Na+/K+ pump is constantly pumping 3 Na+

ions out and 2 K+ ions in for every ATP used.
Thus more positive charge is leaving than
entering.
3. There are protein anions (i.e., negatively
charged proteins) within the ICF that cannot
travel through the PM.
• What this adds up to is the fact that the inside of the
cell is negative with respect to the outside.
• The interior has less positive charge than the exterior.
• This charge separation is known as a membrane
potential (abbreviated Vm).
• The value for Vm in inactive muscle cells is typically
btwn –80 and –90 millivolts.
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Excitation cont…

• Cells that exhibit a Vm are said to be polarized.

• Vm can be changed by influx or efflux of

charge.
• The PM has integral proteins that act as gated
ion channels.
• These are channels that are normally closed, but
in response to a certain signal, they will open and
allow specific ions to pass through them.

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Excitation cont…
• Ion channels may be:
– Ligand-gated  the binding of an extracellular
molecule (e.g., hormone, neurotransmitter)
causes these channels to open.
– Voltage-gated  Vm causes these channels to
open.
– Mechanically-gated  stretch or mechanical
pressure opens these channels.
• When a channel is open, its specific ion(s) will enter or
exit depending on their electrochemical gradient.
• In general each muscle is served by one nerve – a
bundle of axons carrying signals from the spinal cord to
the muscle.
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Excitation cont…
• With the muscle, each axon will
go its own way and eventually
branch into multiple small
extensions called telodendria.
• Each telodendrium ends in a
bulbous swelling known as the
synaptic end bulb.
• The site of interaction b/w a
neuron and any other cell is
known as a synapse.
• The synapse b/w a neuron and a
muscle is known as the
neuromuscular junction.
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Excitation cont…
• The minute space between the
synaptic end bulb and the
sarcolemma is known as the
synaptic cleft.
• There is a depression in the
sarcolemma at the synaptic
cleft known as the motor end
plate.
• The synaptic end bulb is filled
with vesicles that contain the
neurotransmitter,
acetylcholine.
• The motor end plate is chock
full of acetylcholine receptors.

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How Excitation Occurs?
1. A nerve signal will arrive at the synaptic end bulb and
this will cause the ACh-containing vesicles to undergo
exocytosis.
2. ACh will diffuse across the synaptic cleft and bind to the
ACh receptors. These receptors are actually ligand-
gated Na+ channels. The binding of ACh causes them to
open.
3. Na+ will rush into the cell, making the local cell interior
more positive. This is known as depolarization. It is a
local event!
4. Adjacent to the motor end plate, the sarcolemma
contains voltage-gated ion channels. In order for these
channels to open, the Vm must depolarize from its
resting value of –90mV to approximately –50mV. This is
the threshold. Vm must become this positive for the
voltage-gated channels to open.
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How Excitation Occurs cont…
• The degree of depolarization depends on how
much Na+ influx occurred which in turn
depends on how many Na+ channels were
opened by binding ACh.
• If the Vm fails to depolarize to threshold,
nothing will happen.
• The Vm will soon return to normal and
no muscle contraction will occur.
• If the Vm does reach threshold, 2 types of
voltage-gated ion channels will open:
– Fast Na+ channels
– Slow K+ channels
36
Excitation cont…
• If Vm reaches threshold, fast Na+ channels open and Na+
rushes in causing the Vm to depolarize to +30mV.
• The depolarization stops when the Na+ channels become
inactivated.
• At this point, slow K+ channels have opened & K+ efflux
occurs. This returns Vm back to its resting level. This is
repolarization.
• If we were to graph this change in Vm over time, it would
look somewhat like the animation below.
• This is known as an action potential.

37
Excitation cont…
• An AP can propagate itself across
the surface of the PM.
• The depolarization caused by the
Na+ influx in one particular area of
the sarcolemma causes voltage-gated
channels in the adjacent membrane to
open.
• The resulting ionic influx then
causes voltage-gated channels to open
in the next patch of membrane and so
on and so on.
•Thus the AP propagates itself.

38
Excitation-Contraction Coupling
* The AP travels along the sarcolemma going in both directions
away from the motor end plate.
* Since T-tubules are simply invaginations of the sarcolemma,
the AP will spread down and through them as well.

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Excitation-Contraction Coupling cont…
• The T-tubular sarcolemma contains voltage
sensitive proteins that change their
conformation in response to a significant
Vm.
– These are physically linked to calcium channels in the SR
membrane
– Upon Vm, the voltage sensors change their conformation. This
mechanically opens the Ca2+ channels in the SR membrane.
• The SR Ca2+ channels are only open briefly, but a large Ca2+
gradient exists so a large amount of calcium enters the
sarcoplasm.
• The Ca2+ interacts with the 2 regulatory proteins of
the sarcomere so that the 2 contractile proteins
can slide & the sarcomere can shorten.
40
Excitation-Contraction Coupling cont…
• Normally, tropomyosin obstructs the myosin binding
site on the G-actin subunits.
• Calcium binds to the troponin-C polypeptide of the
troponin triad.
• This changes of troponin which changes the
conformation of tropomyosin, which exposes the myosin
binding site of actin.

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Contraction
• Once actin’s myosin binding site is exposed, myosin will
attach to it.
– At this point myosin has just hydrolyzed ATP into ADP and
Pi – however both molecules are still bound to the myosin.
– The ATP hydrolysis provides the energy for the “cocking” of
the myosin head.
• Once myosin is bound to actin, the myosin head will
release the ADP and Pi which will cause it change of
conformation.
• This results in the thin filament sliding along the thick
filament.
• Myosin then remains bound to actin until it binds to
another ATP.
• Myosin then hydrolyzes the new ATP and the cycle can
begin again.
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43
Contraction cont…
• The cycle of attachment, power stroke, and release
continues as long as calcium and ATP remain available.
• Typically half the myosin molecules at any time are
bound to the actin while the other half are preparing to
bind again.
• A common analogy is climbing a rope hand over hand.
 Contraction Strength
 Is a function of:
1.The number of crossbridges that can be made
per myofibril
2.The number of myofibrils per muscle fiber
3.The number of contracting muscle fibers in a
muscle.
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Relaxation
• Calcium pumps in the SR membrane work constantly
to get the calcium out of the sarcoplasm and back into
the SR.
• They are unable to do this as long as the muscle is
still binding ACh.
• ACh is released by the motor neuron as long as it
keeps being stimulated.
• Note that ACh does not remain bound to the AChR for
very long.
• It quickly releases and either binds again or more
likely is hydrolyzed by the enzyme
acetylcholinesterase which exists as part of the
sarcolemma and free with the synaptic cleft.

45
Relaxation cont…
• When the muscle ceases being stimulated, the
calcium pumps “win” and sarcoplasmic [Ca2+]
drops.
– Calcium stops being available for troponin and
then tropomyosin shifts back into its inhibitory
position.
• The muscle then returns back to its original
length via the elasticity of the connective tissue
elements, plus the contraction of antagonistic
muscles, and gravity.

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Mechanism of muscle contraction 10 Steps
1. A nerve impulse enters the presynaptic terminal
2. The impulse causes Ach to be released from the synaptic vesicles
3. Ach diffuses across the synaptic cleft and opens Na+ channels in
muscle membranes.
4. Na+ enters the muscle cell and depolarizes it.
5. “T” tubules carry impulses into the sarcoplasmic reticulum and
releases Ca2+ ions.
6. Ca +2 enters the individual muscle fibrils and binds to troponin
molecules on tropomyosin to expose the active sites.
7. Myosin binds to actin forming crossbridges that ATP can bind to.
8. ATP breaks down, releasing energy, causing cross bridges to pull actin
strand.
9. Another ATP binds to myosin cross bridge for the recovery stroke
10. When the action potential ends Ca +2 ions are pumped back into the
sarco. retic. Tropomyosin covers the binding sites and myosin can no
longer bind.
Cardiac Muscle

• Found only in heart

• Striated
• Each cell usually has one nucleus
• Has intercalated disks and gap junctions
• Autorhythmic cells
• Action potentials of longer duration and longer refractory
period
• Ca2+ regulates contraction

9-48
Muscular Disorders
Rigor Mortis
• Upon death, muscle cells are unable to prevent
calcium entry.
• This allows myosin to bind to actin.
• Since there is no ATP made postmortem, the myosin
cannot unbind and the body remains in a state of
muscular rigidity for almost the next couple days.

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Muscle Metabolism
• The chemical energy released by
the hydrolysis of ATP is necessary
for both muscle contraction and
muscle relaxation.
• Muscles typically store limited
amounts of ATP – enough to power
4-6s of activity.
– So resting muscles must have energy
stored in other ways.

50
Resting Muscle and the Krebs Cycle
• Resting muscle fibers typically takes up
fatty acids from the blood stream.
– How might they enter the cell?
– Inside the muscle fiber, the FA’s are oxidized to several
molecules of a compound called Acetyl-CoA. This oxidation
will also produce several molecules of NADH and FADH2.
– Acetyl-CoA will then enter a cyclical series of reactions known
as the Krebs cycle or Tricarboxylic Acid cycle.
– In the Krebs cycle, acetyl-CoA combines with the compound
oxaloacetate and then enters a series of rxns.
– The end products of these rxns are: CO2, ATP, NADH, FADH2,
and oxaloacetate (thus we call it a cycle)

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Krebs Cycle Products
• Oxaloacetate will simply combine with another molecule of
acetyl-CoA and reenter the cycle.
• NADH and FADH will enter another series of rxns known as the
Electron Transport Chain.
• These rxns occur along the inner membrane of the mitochondrion
and they basically consist of the passing of electrons from
compound to another compound with energy being released each
time and used to drive the synthesis of ATP.
• The final electron acceptor is oxygen when it combines with 2
hydrogen atoms to yield water.

52
Krebs Cycle Products

53
Krebs Cycle Products
• CO2 will diffuse out of the mitochondria, out of the muscle
fiber, and into to the blood stream which will take it to the
lungs.
• The ATP made in the Krebs cycle plus the ATP made during
the ETC will be used in many ways.

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ATP Use in the Resting Muscle Cell
• ATP is necessary for cellular housekeeping duties.
• ATP powers the combination of glucose
monomers (which have been taken up from
the blood stream) into the storage polymer
glycogen.
• ATP is used to create another energy storage
compound called creatine phosphate or
phosphocreatine:
ATP + Creatine  ADP + Creatine-phosphate

creatine kinase
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Working Muscle
• As we begin to exercise, we almost immediately
use our stored ATP.
• For the next 15 seconds or so, we turn to the
phosphagen system, the energy stored in creatine-
phosphate.
Creatine-P + ADP Creatine Kinase Creatine + ATP
– The ATP is then available to power contraction
and relaxation: myosin ATPase, Ca2+ ATPase in
the SR membrane, and Na+/K+ ATPase in the
sarcolemma.
– The phosphagen system dominates in events
such as the 100m dash or lifting weights.
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57
Working Muscle

• After the phosphagen system is depleted, the

muscles must find another ATP source.
• The process of anaerobic metabolism can maintain
ATP supply for about 45-60s.
• Anaerobic means “without air,” and it is the
breakdown of glucose without the presence of
oxygen.
– It usually takes a little time for the respiratory
and cardiovascular systems to catch up with the
muscles and supply O2 for aerobic metabolism.

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Anaerobic Metabolism
• Glucose is supplied by the breakdown of glycogen or
via uptake from the bloodstream.
• Glucose is broken down into 2 molecules of pyruvic
acid, with the concomitant of 2 ATP and the
conversion of 2 molecules of NAD+ into NADH.
• This process is known as glycolysis and it occurs in
the sarcoplasm.
– Unfortunately, without O2, we cannot use the
NADH in the ETC.
– In order for more glycolysis to proceed, the muscle
cell must regenerate the NAD+.
– It does this by coupling the conversion of pyruvic
acid into lactic acid with the conversion of NADH
into NAD+
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Anaerobic Metabolism
• Lactic acid typically diffuses out of
muscles into the blood stream and
is taken to the liver, kidneys, or
heart which can use it as an energy
source.
• Anaerobic metabolism is
inefficient.
• Large amounts of glucose are used
for very small ATP returns.
• Plus, lactic acid is a toxic end
product whose presence
contributes to muscle fatigue.
• Anaerobic metabolism dominates
in sports that requires bursts of
speed and activity, e.g., basketball.

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Aerobic Metabolism

• Occurs when the respiratory and cardiovascular systems

have “caught up with” the working muscles.
– Prior to this, some aerobic respiration will occur
thanks to the muscle protein, myoglobin, which binds
and stores oxygen.
• During rest and light to moderate exercise, aerobic
metabolism contributes 95% of the necessary ATP.
• Compounds which can be aerobically metabolized
include:
– Pyruvic acid (made via glycolysis), fatty acids, and
amino acids.
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Aerobic Metabolism

• It occurs in the mitochondria.

• Pyruvic acid from glycolysis is
the primary substrate.
• The cell also utilizes fatty
acids and amino acids.
• Aerobic respiration typically
yields 36 ATP per molecule of
glucose.
• Compare this to anaerobic
metabolism.

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Muscle Fatigue

• Physiological inability to contract

• Results primarily from a relative deficit of
ATP.
• Other contributing factors include the
decrease in sarcoplasmic pH, increased
sarcoplasmic [ADP], and ionic imbalances.

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Oxygen Debts

• Refers to the fact that post-exercise breathing rate > resting

breathing rate.
• This excess oxygen intake serves many tasks:
– Replenish the oxygen stored by myoglobin and hemoglobin
– Convert remaining lactic acid back into glucose
– Used for aerobic metabolism to make ATP which is used
to:
• Replenish the phosphagen system
• Replenish the glycogen stores
• Power the Na+/K+ pump so as to maintain RMP

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Motor Units
• A motor unit is defined as a somatic
motor neuron and all the skeletal muscle
fibers it innervates.
• When this neuron is stimulated, all the
muscle fibers it synapses upon will be
stimulated and will contract as a unit
• The # of muscle fibers per motor unit
may be as high as several hundred or as
few as four.
– The smaller the motor unit, the finer
and more delicate the movements.
– Extraocular muscles typically have
small motor units while the large Notice that the muscle fibers of a
single unit are not clustered together
postural muscles have large motor but are spread out.
units
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Types of Contractions

Contractions can be:

1. Isometric
Iso =same,
metr=measure
1. Isotonic
Iso=same,
ton=tension

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Isotonic Contraction
• Tension reaches a plateau and then the muscle shortens. Consider
the following experiment:
1. A skeletal muscle 1cm2 in cross-sectional area can develop
roughly 4kg of force in complete tetanus.
2. If we hang a 3kg weight from that muscle and stimulate it, the
muscle will shorten.
3. Before the muscle can shorten, the cross-bridges must produce
enough tension to overcome the resistance – in this case the 3kg
weight.
 Over this period, internal tension in the muscle fibers rises until
the external tension in the tendon exceeds the amount of
resistance.
4. As the muscle shortens, the internal and external tensions in the
muscle remain constant at a value that just exceeds the resistance.

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68
Resistance and Speed of Contraction

• There is an inverse relationship

between the amount of resistance and
the speed of contraction.
• The heavier the load, the longer it
takes for the movement to begin
because muscle tension, which
increases gradually, must exceed the
resistance before shortening can occur
– More cross-bridges must be
formed, more fibers involved. This
takes more time.

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Isometric Contractions
• The muscle as a whole does not change length and the
tension produced never exceeds the resistance.
• Consider the following:
– To the same muscle as before, we attach a 6kg weight.
– Although cross-bridges form and tension rises to peak values, the
muscle cannot overcome the resistance of the weight and cannot
shorten.
– Although the muscle as a whole does not shorten, the individual
fibers shorten until the tendons are taut and the external tension
equals the internal tension. The muscle fibers cannot shorten
further because the external tension does not exceed the
resistance.

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Muscle Tone

 Some of the motor units with in particular muscle are always

active, even when the muscle is not contracting.

 Their contractions do not produce enough tension to cause

movement, but they do tense and firm the muscle.

 This resting tension in a skeletal muscle is called tone.

 The identity of the motor units involved changes constantly.

Resting muscle tone stabilizes the position of bones and joints.

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Muscle Fiber Types
2 main types:
1. Slow fibers
2. Fast fibers

Slow fibers
 Contract slowly because its myosin ATPases work slowly.
 Depends on oxygen delivery and aerobic metabolism.
 Is fatigue resistant and has high endurance.
 Is thin in diameter – large amount of cytoplasm impedes O2 and
nutrient diffusion.

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Slow Fibers Cont’d…
• Cannot develop high tension – small diameter
means few myofibrils.
• Has rich capillary supply and lots of mitochondria.
• Contains lots of the O2-storing protein, myoglobin
which gives it a red color.
• Uses lipids, CHO, and amino acids as substrates for
its aerobic metabolism.
• Best suited for endurance type activities.
• Red fibers, slow oxidative fibers, type I fibers.

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Fast Fibers
• So named because they can contract in 0.01 seconds or
less after stimulation.
• Fast fibers are large in diameter; they contain densely
packed myofibrils, large glycogen reserves, and
relatively few mitochondria.
• Able to develop a great deal of tension b/c they contain a large
number of sarcomeres.
• Use ATP in massive amounts. Supported by anaerobic
metabolism. Fatigue rapidly.
• fast fatigue (FF) fibers, fast glycolytic (FG) fibers, white fibers.
• Best suited for short term, power activities.

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Myasthenia Gravis
• My=muscle, asthen=weakness, gravi=heavy
• Autoimmune disease were antibodies attack the
ACh receptors on neuromuscular junctions.
• Results in progressive weakening of the skeletal
muscles. Why?
• Treated with anticholinesterases such as
neostigmine or physostigmine.
- These decrease the activity of acteylcholinesterase.

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Muscular Dystrophy
• Group of inherited muscle-destroying diseases
that generally appear during childhood.
• Dys=faulty; Troph=growth
• The Most common is Duchene muscular
dystrophy
– DMD is caused by an abnormal X-linked recessive
gene
– Diseased muscle fibers lack the protein dystrophin
which normally links the cytoskeleton to the ECM
and stabilizes the sarcolemma
– Age of onset is btwn 2 and 10. Muscle weakness
progresses. Afflicted individuals usually die of
respiratory failure, usually by age 25.
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• Flaccid paralysis
– Weakness or loss of muscle tone typically due
to injury or disease of motor neurons
• Spastic paralysis
– Sustained involuntary contraction of muscle(s)
with associated loss of function
• How do flaccid and spastic paralysis differ ???
• Spasm
– A sudden, involuntary smooth or skeletal
muscle twitch.
– Can be painful and Often caused by chemical
imbalances.
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• Cramp
– A prolonged spasm that causes the muscle
to become taut and painful.
• Hypertrophy
– Increase in size of a cell, tissue or an organ.

• In muscles, hypertrophy of the organ is always

due to cellular hypertrophy (increase in cell size)
rather than cellular hyperplasia (increase in cell
number).
• Muscle hypertrophy occurs due to the synthesis
of more myofibrils and synthesis of larger
myofibrils.
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• Fibrosis
– Replacement of normal tissue with heavy
fibrous connective tissue (scar tissue).
– How would fibrosis of skeletal muscles
affect muscular strength?
– How would it affect muscle flexibility?

• Atrophy
– Reduction in size of a cell, tissue, or
organ
• In muscles, its often caused by disuse.
• Could a nerve injury result in disuse?
• Why might astronauts suffer muscle atrophy?
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Smooth Muscle
• Involuntary, non-striated muscle tissue
• Occurs within almost every organ, forming sheets,
bundles, or sheaths around other tissues.
• In Cardiovascular system:
– Smooth muscle in blood vessels regulates blood flow
through vital organs.
– Smooth muscle also helps regulate blood pressure.
• Digestive systems:
– Rings of smooth muscle, called sphincters, regulate
movement along internal passageways.
– Smooth muscle lining the passageways alternates
contraction and relaxation to propel matter through
the alimentary canal.

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Smooth Muscle cont…

• Integumentary system:
– Regulates blood flow to the superficial
dermis
– Allows for piloerection
• Respiratory system
– Alters the diameter of the airways and
changes the resistance to airflow
• Urinary system
– Sphincters regulate the passage of urine
– Smooth muscle contractions move urine into
and out of the urinary bladder

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Smooth Muscle cont…

• Reproductive system
– Females
• Assists in the movement of the egg (and of
sperm) through the female reproductive tract
• Plays a large role in childbirth
– Males
• Allows for movement of sperm along the male
reproductive tract.
• Allows for secretion of the non-cellular
components of semen.
• Allows for erection and ejaculation.

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Smooth muscle cells
– Are smaller: 5-10um in diameter and 30-200um
in length
– Are uninucleate: contain 1 centrally placed
nucleus
– Lack any visible striations
– Lack T-tubules
– Have a scanty sarcoplasmic reticulum
• Smooth muscle tissue is innervated by the autonomic
nervous system unlike skeletal muscle which is
innervated by the somatic nervous system (over which
you have control)
• Only the endomysium is present.
• No perimysium or epimysium.

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Smooth Muscle cont…

• Myosin and actin are present

and crossbridge formation
powers contraction, but the
thick and thin filaments do
not have the strict repeating
arrangement like that found
in skeletal muscle.
• There are no Z discs, instead
thin filaments are attached to
protein structures called
dense bodies which attach to
the sarcolemma.

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Smooth Muscle cont…
• Smooth muscle is always maintaining a
normal level of activity – creating muscle tone.
• Smooth muscle can respond to stimuli by
altering this tone in either direction.
– Smooth muscle can be inhibited and relax
– Smooth muscle can be excited and contract
• Possible stimuli include neurotransmitters,
hormones, pH, Pco2, Po2, metabolites (such
as lactic acid, ADP), or even stretch.

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Smooth Muscle Contraction
• Begins with the opening of membrane channels.
• Channels may be ligand-gated (NTs, hormones,
metabolites), voltage-gated, or mechanically-gated
(stretch).
• Channels will allow significant calcium entry from
the ECF.
• Remember smooth muscle has little SR.
• Calcium binds to a regulatory molecule called
calmodulin and activates it.
• Activated calmodulin activates an enzyme called
Myosin Light Chain Kinase.

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Smooth Muscle Contraction

• Activated MLCK will

add a phosphate group
to the myosin of the
thick filament.
• This enables the
myosin to interact with
actin.
– Tropomyosin is
present but not
blocking actin’s
myosin binding sites
– Troponin is not
present

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Types of Smooth Muscle
• Smooth muscle varies widely from organ to
organ in terms of:
- Fiber arrangement
- Responsiveness to certain stimuli

• Broad types of smooth muscle:

- Single unit
- Multi unit

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Single Unit Smooth Muscle
• More common
• Cells contract as a unit
because they are all connected
by gap junctions.
• There is protein complexes that
span the PM’s of 2 cells
allowing the passage of ions
between them.
- i.e., allowing the
depolarization of one to cause
the depolarization of another.

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Characteristics of Single Unit Smooth Muscle
• Some will contract rhythmically due to pacemaker cells that have
a spontaneous rate of depolarization.
• Not directly innervated.
• The release neurotransmitters at varicosities (swellings along an
axon) will diffuse .
• Responsive to variety of stimuli including stretch and
concentration changes of various chemicals
• Commonly found in the walls of the digestive tract, urinary
bladder, and other organs

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Multi-Unit Smooth Muscle
• Innervated in motor units
comparable to those of skeletal
muscles
• No gap junctions.
• Each fiber is independent of all the
others.
• Responsible to neural & hormonal
controls
• No pacemaker cells
• Less common
• Found in large airways to the lungs,
large arteries, arrector pili, internal
eye muscles (e.g., the muscles that
cause dilation of the pupil)

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Contractile mechanism in smooth and skeletal muscle

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Cardiac Muscle
• Striated, involuntary muscle
• Found in walls of the heart
• Consists of branching chains
of stocky muscle cells.
• Uni- or binucleate.
• Has sarcomeres & T-tubules
• Cardiac muscle cells are
joined by structures called
intercalated discs – which
consist of desmosomes and Notice the branching and the
gap junctions. intercalated disc, indicated
by the blue arrow.

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