Muscle Tissue
Mrs P. Hampango
Objectives
• At the end of this lecture, students should be able to describe;
• The general organisation of muscle tissue
• Function of muscle tissue
• Differences between the different types of muscles
• Mechanism of muscle contraction
• Applied anatomy relating to muscle tissue
• Muscle tissue is a collection of muscle fibres supported by
connective tissue.
• Mesodermal in origin.
Functions of muscle tissue
Movement
Maintenance of posture
Joint stabilization
Heat generation
Special functional characteristics of muscle
Contractility
Only one action: to shorten
Shortening generates pulling force
Excitability
Nerve fibers cause electrical impulse to travel to the
muscle tissue and elicit a response
Extensibility
Stretch with contraction of an opposing muscle
Elasticity
Recoils passively after being stretched
Special terms
• Plasma membrane – Sarcolemma
• Cytoplasm – sarcoplasm
• Smooth ER – sarcoplasmic reticulum
• Mitochondria – sarcosomes
• Muscle tissue is basically made up of cells called MYOCYTES
• Myocytes are elongated in one direction
MUSCLE FIBRES
Types
1. Skeletal Muscle
2. Smooth Muscle
3. Cardiac Muscle
Skeletal Muscle
• Elongated fibres
• Has many flat nuclei located just beneath the sarcolemma
• Shows cross striations
• Made up of compactly packed long cylindrical myofibrils in
the sarcoplasm arranged parallel to the long axis
Skeletal muscle structure
• Fibers (each is one cell) have
striations
• Myofibrils are organelles of the
cell: these are made up of
-an organelle
filaments
• Sarcomere
• Basic contractile units
• Myofibrils are long rows of
repeating sarcomeres
• Boundaries: Z discs (or lines)
Myofibrils
• Made of three types of filaments (or myofilaments):
• Thick (myosin)
• Thin (actin)
• Elastic (titin)
______actin
titin_____
_____________myosin
Organization of skeletal muscle fibres
• As observed with the light microscope, longitudinally sectioned muscle
fibers show cross-striations of alternating light and dark bands.
• The darker bands are called A bands (anisotropic, ie, are birefringent in
polarized light)
• The lighter bands are called I bands (isotropic, ie, do not alter polarized
light).
• In the electron microscope, each I band is bisected by a dark, the Z line.
• The smallest repetitive subunit of the contractile apparatus, the sarcomere
extends from Z line to Z line and measures about 2.5 micrometres long in
resting muscle.
Types of skeletal muscle fibers
• Fast, slow and intermediate
• Whether or not they predominantly use oxygen to produce ATP (the
energy molecule used in muscle contraction)
• Fast fibers: “white fibers” – large, predominantly anaerobic, fatigue
rapidly (rely on glycogen reserves); most of the skeletal muscle fibers
are fast
• Slow fibers: “red fibers” – half the diameter, 3X slower, but can
continue contracting; aerobic, more mitochondria, myoglobin
• Intermediate: in between
• A skeletal muscle contracts when its motor units are
stimulated
• Amount of tension depends on
1. the frequency of stimulation
2. the number of motor units involved
• Single, momentary contraction is called a muscle twitch
Muscle contraction follows an All or none principle: each muscle
fiber either contracts completely or not at all
General Architecture
• Supported by connective tissue framework
Carries blood vessels & nerves
Transmits the force of contraction
The framework of connective tissue provides support to muscle fibres in
the following manner:
EPIMYSIUM: dense connective tissue sheath surrounding the entire
muscle.
PERIMYSIUM: connective tissue covering bundles of muscle fibres
fascicles.
ENDOMYSIUM: loose connective tissue composed of reticular fibres
supporting individual muscle fibre.
Smooth Muscle
• Smooth muscle fibres are elongated spindle shaped cells
• Non striated
• Contain a single elongated nucleus central in position
• Involuntary
• Supplied by autonomic nervous system
L.S. Of Smooth Muscle
• Found in the walls of hallow viscera
G.I.T , blood vessels, ureters etc
Cardiac Muscle
• Shows many structural characteristics intermediate between
those of skeletal & smooth muscle.
• Cardiac muscle fibres are shorter than the skeletal muscle fibres
& show branching pattern.
• One or two nuclei placed in the centre
• Striated
• Presence of darkly staining transverse lines across the fibres
intercalated discs
• Specialised cell junctions between the
ends of adjacent muscle fibres
L.S
Muscle Contraction
Sliding Filament Theory
Muscular Contraction
• The sliding filament model of muscle contraction
• Muscle shortening occurs due to the movement of the
actin filament over the myosin filament
• Reduction in the distance between Z-lines of the
Sarcomere is what causes contraction
Structure Of Myofibrils
Neuromuscular Junction
• Motor neurons innervate muscle fibers
• Motor end plate is where the nerve fibre meets a muscle
fibre which it innervates
• Neurotransmitters are released by nerve signal: this initiates
calcium ion release and muscle contraction
• Motor Unit: A motor neuron and all the muscle fibers it
innervates (these all contract together)
• Average number of muscle fibres is 150, but range is four to
several hundred muscle fibers in a motor unit
• The finer the movement, the fewer muscle fibers /motor unit
• The fibers are spread throughout the muscle, so stimulation
of a single motor unit causes a weak contraction of the entire
muscle
Mechanism Of Muscle Contraction
• Step 1. Nerve impulse, travels towards the synaptic knob.
• Step 2. Ca++ ion from Extra Cellular Fluid (ECF) enter into the synaptic knob
through calcium channels.
• Step 3. As Ca++ enter into synaptic knob, Ach. Vesicles ruptures and Ach.
release out into synaptic cleft by exocytosis.
• Step 4. Ach diffuses across the neuromuscular junction and binds to the
receptor sites on postsynaptic membrane.
Steps 1-4
• Step 5. Stimulation of the receptor causes conformational
change in post synaptic membrane and generate an action
potential.
Ach. destroyed by an enzyme
(acetylcholinestrase)
• Step 6. This action potential travels along the length of
muscle fiber, and then penetrates deep into the muscle
through the T-tubular system.
• Step 7. The electrical impulse stimulates the sarcoplasmic
reticulum to release calcium into the contractile unit
(sarcomere) of a myofibril
• Step 8. Calcium bind with tropnin-C and Tropomyosin slipped off, G-
actin exposed.
• At the same time, calcium activates myosin ATPase, and as myosin
ATPase become active, ATPase react with ATP.
• Muscle contraction occurs when calcium is pumped into the
sarcoplasmic reticulum.
• When Calcium is removed, the actin and myosin cannot interact, and
the muscle relaxes.
SLIDING FILAMENT
CONTRACTION
During muscle Contraction;
• I- band disappear
• H- band disappear
• M- band disappear
• A-band is intact
• Length of sarcomere decreases.
Sarcomere Relaxed
Sarcomere Partially contracted
Sarcomere completely contracted
Stages Of Muscle Contraction
Applied Anatomy
• Hyperplasia: increase in size of the muscle due to increase in
number of muscle fibres
• Muscle atrophy: loss of tone and mass from lack of
stimulation
• Muscle becomes smaller and weaker
• Muscle hypertrophy
• Weight training (repeated intense workouts): increases diameter
and strength of “fast” muscle fibers by increasing production of
• Mitochondria (sarcosomes)
• Actin and myosin protein
• Myofilaments containing these contractile proteins
• The myofibril organelles these myofilaments form
• Fibers enlarge (hypertrophy) as number and size of myofibrils
increase
[Muscle fibers (=muscle cells) don’t increase in number but
increase in diameter producing large muscles]
• Direct trauma with fibrosis
• Fibrositis- an inflammation of fibrous connective tissue,
resulting in stiffness and pain
• Ischaemic muscular disorders
• Muscular dystrophy (degenerative, inherited)
• Fibromyalgia, or chronic muscle pain syndrome
• Muscle cramps, irritation within a muscle that causes a reflex
contraction
END…
