Physiology of the Muscular System

A.General Functions
1. Movement
2. Heat Production
a. How? via catabolism
b. Skeletal muscle contractions contribute important part of homeostasis of body T.
3. Posture
c. Continued, partial contraction of many skeletal muscles help make every day movements relatively
stable (sitting, standing, walking, running…)
B. Characteristics or properties of Skeletal Muscle Tissue
1. Excitability (aka irritability)
a. Ability to be stimulated allows for response by muscle tissue to nerve signals.
2. Contractility
a. Ability to contract or shorten which pulls on bones for movement.
3. Extensibility
a. Ability to extend or stretch; allows for muscles to return to resting length
C. Overview of the Muscle Cell
1. Structural Terms
a. Fiber: cell (muscle fibers rather than muscle cells due to threadlike shape)
b. Sarcolemma: plasma membrane
c. Sarcoplasm: cytoplasm
d. Sarcoplasmic reticulum (pumps in Ca 2+): analogous, but not identical to endoplasmic reticulum
e. Muscle fibers contain numerous mitochondria (ATP producers) and several nuclei (protein synthesis)
f. One muscle fiber consists of…
i. Many myofibrils which consist of…
 Many myofilaments (thick and thin)
g. T tubules (transverse tubules): unique to muscle fibers; allow electric signals or impulses sarcolemma
to move deeper into cell
D.The Sarcomere
1. Basic contractile unit of the muscle fiber
a. Z-line or Z-disk: thin filaments directly attach to the disk; Z-line to Z-line = 1 sarcomere
b. M line: made of protein molecules that hold together and stabilize thick filaments (myosin)
c. A band: runs entire length of thick filaments
d. I band: includes Z-line and ends of thin filaments
e. H zone: middle region of thick filaments
f. Elastic filaments: titin (connectin); thought to give myofibrils elasticity
g. Dystrophin: helps anchor fiber to surrounding matrix so muscle doesn’t break during a contraction.
E. Myofilaments
1. Each muscle fiber has 1000+ myofibrils
a. Myofibril contains 1000+ myofilaments
i. 4 different proteins: (pg. 315, fig. 11-4 a, b, & c at bottom)
 Myosin (thick) (compare to golf clubs) myosin heads have chem. Attraction to actin
 “Heads” called cross bridges when attached to actin
 Actin (thin) (beads): active binding sites are on actin but are covered by tropomyosin at rest
 Tropomyosin (thin): covers active sites of actin during rest; held in place by troponin
 Troponin (thin): spaced at intervals on thin filament; thought to hold tropomyosin in place
F. Mechanism of Contraction
1. http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/movies/actin_myosin_gif.html
2. http://www.wiley.com/college/pratt/041393878/student/animations/actin_myosin/actin_myosin.swf
3. The “players” of excitation of the sarcolemma:
a. Motor neuron
b. Motor endplate
 c. Neuromuscular junction (synapse)
d. Acetylcholine [ACD] (neurotransmitter)
4. Contraction (Sliding Filament Theory)
a. Electrical impulse continues inwardly along T tubules which triggers Ca 2+ to be release from SR.
b. Ca2+ combine with troponin which causes tropomyosin to shift exposing the active sites of actin.
c. Myosin heads bind to active sites and pull thin myofilaments past them.
d. Myosin heads release (ATP) from active site only to bind to the next active site pulling again.
e. http://bioactive.mrkirkscience.com/38/ch38intro.html
5. Muscle Relaxation
a. After SR releases Ca2+, it begins pumping the ions back into the SR.
b. Troponin loses Ca2+ and tropomyosin recovers the open bonding sites.
c. Myosin cross bridges, unable to bind to open sites, can no longer sustain the contraction
d. Muscle fibers return to resting length
G.Energy Sources for Muscle Contraction
1. ATP
a. Hydrolysis RX
b. ATP binds to myosin and then hydrolysis occurs to release energy and Pi
c. Breakdown of Creatine phosphate releases energy to resynthesize ADP + P → ATP
2. Glucose and Oxygen
a. Catabolism of glucose releases energy to be stored in CP and ATP
b. Muscle fibers store glucose in form of glycogen; store O 2 by binding to myoglobin (red muscle vs. white
fibers or pink tone)
c. Read box 11-4 on pg. 320. Compare/contrast slow, fast, & intermediate fibers.
3. Aerobic Respiration vs. Anaerobic Respiration
a. Aero: max amount of energy
b. Anaero: very rapid process
c. Anaero: lactic acid buildup…carried to liver and converted back to glucose…build up of lactic acid
causes burning sensation
4. (Heat Production)
a. Hypothalamus determines drop in T compared to set point T (37°C); signals skeletal muscles to shiver
to ↑ T.
H.Function of Skeletal Muscle Organs
1. A. Motor Unit pg. 322 fig. 11-11
a. Motor neuron and all muscle fibers to which it “attaches”
b. As a rule: the fewer fibers innervated by motor neuron, the more precise the movements
2. Myography “muscle graphing”
a. Threshold (electrical) stimulus applied to produce a twitch contraction
3. The Twitch Contraction (pg. 323, fig. 11-12)
a. Latent period: stimulus travels through sarcolemma and T tubules to SR…triggers Ca 2+ release
b. Contraction phase… Ca2+ binds to troponin and sliding begins
c. Relaxtion phase… Ca2+ pumped back to SR
4. Treppe: The Staircase Phenomenon
a. A muscle contract more forcefully after it has contracted a few times than when it first contracts
b. Warm muscles have more rapid Ca2+ diffusion and accumulation in sarcoplasm occurs
5. Tetanus
a. Smooth, sustained contractions (pg. 323, fig. 11-13 c & d)
b. Kind of contraction exhibited by normal skeletal muscle most of the time
I. Muscle Tone
1. Read pg. 324, box 11-5 Sports and Fitness
a. Terms
i. Flaccid: not firm or stiff
 ii. Spastic: involuntary and abnormal contraction of muscle or muscle fibers or of a hollow
organ that consists largely of involuntary muscle fibers
iii. Spinal reflex: any reflex action mediated through a center of the spinal cord.
iv. Recruitment: the orderly increase in number of activated motor units with increasing
strength of voluntary muscle contractions.
v. Length-tension relationship- short initial length (sarcomeres already compressed) or
overextension weakens (thick and thin myofilaments are too far away from each other)
2. The Graded Strength Principle
a. Metabolic condition (ATP/oxygen/glucose levels)
b. # of fibers contracting simultaneously
c. Recruitment of other motor units will increase strength
d. Amount of load
3. Isotonic and Isometric Contractions
a. Isotonic: = tension, length changes (static tension) lifting weights
b. Isometric: same length, tension changes (dynamic tension) pushing on wall or wall sits
J. Characteristics of Cardiac and Smooth Muscle
1. Cardiac Muscle
a. Synctium (group contracts together)
b. Intercalated disks
c. Self-exciting
d. Sustains impulse longer… Ca2+ remains in Sarcoplasm longer
e. No tetanic contractions…thus ATP does not run low bringing fatigue
f. Sarcomeres present; thus, fibers have striated appearance
2. Smooth Muscle
a. No T tubules
b. Ca2+ comes from extracellular fluid
c. Not organized into sarcomeres, no striations
d. Visceral vs. multiunit
i. Visceral…peristalsis: autorhythmic contractions that push contents progressively through lumen of
tracts
ii. Multiunit…individual fibers: respond to nervous input (blood vessels)
K. Mechanisms of Disease
1. Myopathies: muscle disorders
a. Read pg. 332 & 333
2. Muscle Injury
3. Muscle Infections
4. Muscular Dystrophy
5. Myasthenia Gravis
6. Hernias