Chapter 8

Muscular System
Introduction to the Muscular System
 All movements require
 Use chemical energy from nutrients to contract and move attached structures
 Provide muscle tone
 Propel body fluids and food
 Generate the heartbeat
 Generate body heat
 The 3 types of muscle tissue in the body



Structure of a Skeletal Muscle
 Each muscle is an organ
 Skeletal muscle tissue
 Nervous tissue
 Blood
 Other connective tissues
 Connective tissue coverings over muscles:
 Layers of dense connective tissue, called , surround and separate each muscle
 Extends beyond the ends of the muscle, and gives rise to that are fused to the
periosteum of bones

 Muscles are connected to each other by broad sheets of connective tissue
Connective Tissue Coverings

 Around each skeletal muscle
 Fascia blends with it

 Surrounds bundles of skeletal muscle fibers


 Surround each muscle cell (fiber)

Superficial and Deep Fasciae

Skeletal Muscle Fibers
 Each is a single, long, cylindrical
 Fibers respond to stimulation by contracting
 The cell membrane of a muscle fiber is the
 The cytoplasm of a muscle cell is the ; it contains many mitochondria and nuclei
 The sarcoplasm contains parallel , which are active in muscle contraction:

 Myosin

 , but also contains and
 The organization of these filaments produces bands called

Skeletal Muscle Medium Magnification

Nuclei of skeletal muscle fiber

Skeletal muscle fiber

The Sarcomeres of Myofibrils
 Myofibrils are made up of many units called , joined end-to-end
 A sarcomere extends from one to the next
 Striations consist of an alternating pattern of light and dark bands

 are
made up of actin filaments, which are anchored to the Z lines
 are made up of overlapping thick and thin filaments
 In the center of the A band is the , which consists of myosin filaments only
 The , in the center of the H zone, consists of proteins that hold the myosin filaments in place
The Sarcoplasm of a Skeletal Muscle Fiber
 Beneath the sarcolemma of a muscle fiber lies a network of membranous channels, called the
 Endoplasmic reticulum of a muscle cell
 The SR is associated with

Invaginations of the sarcolemma

  T tubules are open to the outside of the muscle fiber
 The sarcoplasmic reticulum and transverse tubules activate the muscle contraction mechanism when the
fiber is stimulated

The SR and T Tubules of the Sarcoplasm

Neuromuscular Junction
 Skeletal muscle fibers contract only when stimulated by a
 Each skeletal muscle fiber (cell) is functionally (not physically) connected to the axon of a motor neuron

 The neuron communicates with the muscle fiber by way of chemicals called
 : a synapse between a motor neuron and a muscle fiber that it regulates

 The cytoplasm of the distal end of the motor neuron contains numerous and
storing neurotransmitters
 The muscle fiber membrane in this area contains a specialized region called the , in
which the sarcolemma is tightly folded
 The motor end plate contains specific receptors for the neurotransmitter
 When an electrical impulse reaches the end of the axon of a motor neuron, synaptic vesicles release
neurotransmitter into the , the gap between the membranes of the neuron and muscle
fiber
  The neurotransmitters diffuse across the cleft, bind to the motor end plate, and stimulate the muscle fiber
to contract

Skeletal Muscle Contraction

 Muscle contraction involves several events, that result in the shortening of , and the pulling of
the muscle against its attachments
  The pulling force is exerted by the binding of molecules to molecules
 The shortening of a muscle fiber results from an increase in the overlap between actin and myosin
filaments, as they slide past each other

 Shortening of muscle fibers results in shortening of the entire muscle, which then pulls on the attached
body part to cause movement

Role of Myosin and Actin

 consists of two twisted strands, with globular projected outward along the
strands
 A group of myosin molecules forms a
 is a globular protein arranged in twisted filaments (a double helix), containing myosin binding
sites
 (Ca+2 binding site)
 (myosin binding site)
 Together, these 3 proteins form the

The Sliding Filament Model

Sarcomere Shortening in Muscle Contraction

Energy Sources for Contraction

 ATP
 Limited supply
 Must be
 Creatine phosphate is present to initially
 ATP
 Whenever the supply of ATP is sufficient
 promotes the
synthesis of creatine phosphate
 As ATP decomposes
 Energy from creatine phosphate can be transferred to
ADP molecules, converting them back to ATP
 Creatine phosphate is rapidly used up
 Muscle cell must rely on to generate ATP
Oxygen Supply and Cellular Respiration
 is the first phase of cellular respiration; it is anaerobic and occurs in the cytoplasm
  Glycolysis is an incomplete breakdown of glucose, and yields per molecule of glucose
 is a complete breakdown of glucose; it is aerobic (requires oxygen) and occurs in
the mitochondria
 Aerobic respiration yields per molecule of glucose
 in red blood cells carries oxygen to muscle tissue
 The pigment stores oxygen in muscle tissue for aerobic respiration; this increases
oxygen availability

Oxygen Debt
 During rest or moderate activity, there is enough oxygen available to support aerobic respiration
 Oxygen deficiency may develop during minutes of strenuous exercise
 In this case, forms, and then reacts to form , which accumulates
as an end product of anaerobic respiration in the form of
 Lactate diffuses out of muscle cells and is carried in the bloodstream to the liver
 Using ATP, liver cells convert lactate back into glucose
  During strenuous exercise, oxygen is used to produce ATP for muscle contraction, rather than for
converting lactate back to glucose
 As lactate builds up, an
develops; this must be repaid
 Oxygen debt
 Amount of oxygen that
require to convert the
accumulated lactate into
glucose
 Plus the amount that muscle cells need to resynthesize ATP and creatine phosphate
 Also called -
• Repaying the oxygen debt may take several hours
 Physical training helps to a muscle’s capacity to improve energy production
Heat Production and Muscle Fatigue
 Less than half of energy released in reactions of cellular respiration is used to form ATP; the rest
becomes
 Carried by the blood to other tissues

 When a muscle loses its ability to contract during strenuous exercise, it is referred to as fatigue
 May arise from
 Decreased levels
 The role of lactic acid is clear
 A muscle cramp
 Thought to occur due to changes in the around the muscle fibers
 Leading to uncontrolled muscle fiber stimulation by its
Muscular Responses
 One method of studying muscle function is to remove a single fiber and connect it to a device that
records its responses to electrical stimulation
 Threshold Stimulus
 strength of stimulus required to generate a through the muscle,
release ions, activate , and the muscle
 In the body, one motor neuron impulse releases sufficient (ACh) in the neuromuscular
junction to bring a muscle fiber to its threshold
Recording of Muscular Contraction
 The response of a single muscle fiber to a single
impulse is referred to as a
 Consists of a cycle of contraction and
relaxation
 A is the recording of an
electrically-stimulated muscle contraction
 The is a brief delay between the
stimulation and beginning of the contraction
 The latent period is followed by a period of
contraction and a period of relaxation
 When a muscle fiber contracts, it
contracts to its full extent, with each
twitch generating the same force
 This is called the
 Muscle fibers vary in the speed of contraction, but muscles usually consist of a combination of both
types:


Muscle Twitch Summation
 A muscle fiber receiving a series of stimuli of
reaches a point
when it is unable to relax completely, and the
force of individual twitches combine by the
process of
 Summation allows for a of
contraction than a single twitch can generate
 When exposed to higher frequency of
stimulation, relaxation time becomes very short;
this is called
 If the frequency of stimulation is very high, and
the sustained contraction lacks any relaxation, it
is called a
 Partial tetany occurs in the body, but complete
tetany can only be accomplished in a
Recruitment of Motor Units
 A motor neuron and the muscle fibers it controls
make up a ; when stimulated,
the muscle fibers of the motor unit contract all at
once
 Motor unit recruitment
 An in the number of
within a
muscle
 Will increase in the strength of a
contraction
 A muscle achieves
when all of its motor units have been recruited
Sustained Contraction
 Summation and recruitment together can produce a of increasing strength
 Sustained contraction of muscles allow for performance of daily activities
 is achieved by a continuous state of sustained contraction of a few motor units at
a time within a muscle
 Important for maintenance of
Smooth Muscle
 Smooth muscle cells are elongated with
tapered ends, lack striations (look “smooth”)
 Relatively undeveloped sarcoplasmic
reticulum
 Contain thick and thin filaments
 But they are arranged more randomly
Types of Smooth Muscle:

 In blood vessels and iris of the eye
 Fibers occur
rather than as sheets
 Stimulated by neurons and some hormones

 Occurs in sheets and is found in the walls of hollow organs
 Can stimulate one another and display rhythmicity
 in tubular organs
Smooth Muscle Contraction

Similarities to skeletal muscle contraction:

 Reaction between
 Stimulated by membrane
 Require an in Ca+2 in the cells
 Use ATP energy
Differences from skeletal muscle contraction:
 Both acetylcholine (ACh) and norepinephrine stimulate and inhibit smooth muscle contraction
 Only ACh stimulates skeletal muscle
 Hormones can stimulate or inhibit contraction of smooth muscle
 Not skeletal muscle
 Smooth muscle is slower to contract and relax
 Smooth muscle maintains a contraction longer with the same amount of ATP
 Smooth muscle can change length without change in tautness

Cardiac Muscle
 Only found in the heart
 Consists of muscle
fibers
 Striated cells that interconnect in three-
dimensional networks
 The mechanism of contraction in cardiac muscle
is essentially the same as that for skeletal and
smooth muscle, but with some differences:
 Sarcoplasmic reticulum is not well-
developed
 Does not store much
 Transverse tubules supply extra calcium from
 Twitches last longer
 Cardiac muscle is self-exciting and rhythmic
 Pattern of contraction and relaxation

 Complex membrane junctions
 Join cells and transmit the force of contraction from one cell to the next
Skeletal Muscle Actions
 Bones and muscles interact as for movement
 Bending and straightening of the arm (upper limb) at the elbow is a good example of bones and muscles
acting as levers
 Parts of a lever, using bending of upper limb as example:
 : forearm bones
 , on which bar turns: elbow joint
 : the hand is moved against the resistance of a weight being lifted
 : anterior arm muscles
 Bending is accomplished by the muscle pulling on its tendon as it contracts; the
tendon is attached to the , a bone of the
forearm
Levers and Movement

Origin and insertion

 Origin
 The movable end of a skeletal
muscle
 Insertion
 The movable end of a skeletal
muscle
 Muscle contraction pulls the insertion
the origin
 Some muscles have more than one insertion or origin
Major Skeletal Muscles
 Skeletal muscles are named according to:
 Size  Action
 Shape  Number of attachments
 Location  Direction of its fibers

 Examples:
 Pectoralis major: named for size and location; large size, located in chest
 Deltoid: named for shape; shaped like a triangle
 Extensor digitorum: named for action; extends digits (fingers, toes)
 Biceps brachii: named for number of attachments and location; has 2 origins/heads, and is found
in the arm (brachium)
 Sternocleidomastoid: named for attachments; attaches to sternum, clavicle, and mastoid process
 External oblique: named for location and direction of fibers; located near outside of body, and
fibers run at a slant
Anterior and Posterior View of Superficial Skeletal Muscles