Chapter 10

Muscle Tissue
1. Introduction

1) components:
---cell: muscle fiber-myofiber
elongated thread-liked
Sarcolemma: cell membrane, or plasmalemma
Sarcoplasm: the cytoplasm of muscle cells;
sarcoplasmic reticulum: SER
---CT with BV, LV and N
2) classification

According to the structure and function

skeletal muscle: striated, voluntary
cardiac muscle: striated, involuntary
smooth muscle: unstriated, involuntary
2.    Skeletal muscle
 A. LM structure of Muscle fibers
1. Long, cylindrical cells
2. Multinucleated, with nuclei lying beneath sarcolemma
3. Having alternating dark and light bands (cross striations)
 Longitudinal section of skeletal muscle (HE)

＆ Long, cylindrical cells: 10-100µm in diameter and 1-40mm in length

＆ Multinucleated: nuclei are elongated and lie beneath the sarcolemma
＆ Cross striations: alternating dark and light bands
cross section of skeletal muscle (HE)
Longitudinal section of striated muscle fibers. With blood
vessels were injected with plastic material before the animal
was killed. Note the extremely rich network of blood capillaries
around the muscle fibers.(Giemsa stain)
collagen
fibers
Cross
striation

Striated skeletal muscle in longitudinal section. In the left

side of the photomicrograph the insertion of collagen
fibers with the muscle is clearly seen.
 Cross striations

Longitudinal section of skeletal muscle (special stain)

 Myofibrils

cross section of skeletal muscle (special stain)

 4. Myofibrils
Long, cylindrical structures arranged in parallel in the muscle fibers
A (anisotropic)band, I (isotropic)band, Z line, H band, M line
Sarcomere: 1/2 I + A + 1/2 I , smallest repetitive subunit of the contractile of skeletal
muscle.
Longitudinal section of skeletal muscle
Fig. Structure
and position of
the thick and thin
filaments in the
sarcomere. The
molecular
structure of these
components is
shown at the
right.
 myofibril

LM ： Cross striation ： I band ： Z line

A band ： H band ； M line

Sarcomere ： -extends from Z line to Z line.

-constitutes the functional unit of

contraction in skeletal muscle.

= ½ I+ A + ½ I
B. Ultrastructure

Myofibril
Sarcoplasmic
reticulum

Mitochondrium

Transverse
tubule
 Myofibrils
1. Myofibrils

cross section of skeletal muscle （ EM ）

mad up of thick and thin filaments
a. Thick filaments
• 1.5μm long and
10nm in diameter
• Occupying A band
• Made up of myosin
molecules: rods
overlap; globular
heads direct toward
either of the ends
forming cross
bridges and have
ATPase activity.
b. Thin filaments
• 1μm long and 5 nm in
diameter;
• One end is inserted
into the Z line, the other
is free and extends into
the A band;
• Composed of actin,
tropomyosin and
troponin(TnI, TnT, TnC).
 Schematic drawing of the thin filament.
Actin: long filamentous polymers consisting of two strands of globular monomers,
twisted around each other in a double helical formation. Each actin monomer contains a
binding site for myosin.
Tropomyosin: a long thin molecule , contains two polypeptide chains. These molecules
are bound head to tail, froming filaments that run over the actin subunits alongside the
outer edges of the groove between the two twisted actin strands.
Troponin: is a complex of three subunits and attached at one specific site on each
tropomyosin molecule.
c. Arrangement
• I band -- only thin
filaments
• A band -- both thick
and thin filaments
• H band -- only thick
filaments
• Z line -- anchor for
thin filaments
• M line – fixation of
thick filaments
 myofibril

EM ： thick filament ： myosin （ cross bridge ）

thin filament ： actin
tropomyosin
troponin ： TnT(strongly attaches to tropomyosin)
TnI (inhibits the actin-myosin interaction)
TnC (binds calcium ions)
2. Transverse (T)
tubules
• Formed by
sarcolemma
invagination at A-I
junctions;
• Form an
anastomosing tubules
encircling every
myofibril;
• Responsible for
rapid conduction of
impulses.
3. Sarcoplasmic
reticulum (L tubule)
• Network of smooth
endoplasmic
reticulum
• Encircling each
myofibril between 2
adjacent T tubules.
• Ends dilated and
fused to form terminal
cisternae
 • T tubule + 2 terminal
cisternae = a triad.
• Storing Ca2+,
regulating
concentration of Ca2+
within sarcoplasm.

A triad in amphibian muscle

Longitudinal section of skeletal muscle (tadpole)
（ EM ）
4. Mitochondria, glycogen, lipid
droplet
C. Muscles: made up of
skeletal muscle fibers
surrounded by CT.

1. Epimysium -- dense
CT, surrounds entire
muscle.
2. Perimysium -- fibrous
sheath, surrounds muscle
bundles.
3. Endomysium --
delicate loose CT,
surrounds each muscle
fibers.
 Ep

Pe Ed
 Mechanism of
contraction -- sliding
filament hypothesis
The following is a brief scheme of how actin and myosin
interact during a contraction cycle.

1.Myoneural junction transfer

the impulse from NF to
sarcolemme.

2.The impulse spreads to interior

part of cell by T- tubule, then
through the triad, impulse is
transferred to sarcoplasmic
reticulum, the calcium ions
are released by sarcoplasmic
reticulum.
3.Calcium bind to Tn C,
troponin and tropomyosin
change their position and
structure, the myosin binding
site on actin is exposed
4. Myosin combine with the binding
site on actin , ATP is split into ADP by
ATPase on head of myosin, and
energy is released. The energy is
provided to bend the head in the
direction of M-line, and thin filament
are pulled toward to M line.

5.After contraction, calcium ions in

sarcoplasm are withdrawed into
sarcoplasmic reticulum. A new ATP
molecules bind to the myosin, the
actin-myosin detached, troponin-
tropomyosin complex again cover the
binding site, the myofiber relax.
Mechanism of contraction -- sliding filament

hypothesis (In brief)

1. Thin filaments slide
over thick filaments and
insert further into the A
band.
2. I band and sarcomere
become shorter, H band
shortens or disappears,
and A band remains
constant in length.
3. Ca2+ and ATP play an
important role.
3. Cardiac Muscle
 Pu

A. General features
1. Found only in heart;
2. Has more
connective tissue and
capillaries;
3. Some specialized
as Purkinje fibers.
B. LM structure
1. Short column in shape and branched;
2. show cross striations and fibrils, but less distinct;
3. One centrally placed nucleus;
4. intercalated disks link cells to one

another.
 Intercalated
disk

Intercalated
disk

Longitudinal section of cardiac muscle (iron-hematoxylin stain)

C. EM structure
1. larger T tubules at
Z line level;
2. Sarcoplasmic
reticulum is not well-
developed, small
terminal cisternae;
3. Diads are common
consisting of T tubule
and terminal cisternae
on one side;
4. more sarcoplasm with more mitochondria
and glycogen particles;
5. Intercalated
disks
• Specialized cell
junctions at Z
lines;
•May appear as
straight lines or
may exhibit a
steplike pattern.
•Lateral portion has gap junction providing
synchronous contraction;
• Transverse portion has desmosomes and fascia
adherentes to enhance intercellular junction.
4. Smooth
Muscle
1. Seen in blood vessels and hollow viscera,
arranged in layers;
2. Spindle in shape, with an oval, centrally located
nucleus;
Longitudinal section of smooth muscle
cross section of smooth muscle
Smooth muscle Cardiac muscle
3. Without striations, but contains thin and thick filaments;

4. Adjacent cells are linked by gap junctions.

5.They may range in size from 20µm in small blood vessels to

500µm in the pregnant uterus.

6.Druing pregnancy, uterine smooth muscle cells undergo a

marked increase in size and number.

7.In addition to contractile activity, smooth muscle cells also

synthesize collagen, elastin, and proteoglycans.
 Ultrastructure of smooth muscle
§ caveolae: sarcolemme invaginate into cytoplasm
§ dense patch: under sarcolemma
dense body: in sarcoplasm
§ intermediate filament: connect between dense body
§ thick filament: myosin, 15 nm
thin filament: actin, fixed on dense patch or body
contractile unit: several thick filament and thin filament aggregate
§ Sliding filament hypothesis is also applicable to smooth muscle.
 ﹠Benign tumor formed from muscular
and connective tissues, which is one of
the most common tumors found in
women's reproductive organs.

﹠ Myoma may be located in the

external, middle or inner layers of uterus
(subserous, interstitial and submucous).

﹠ Both growth and regression of

myoma are estrogen-dependant; the
tumor size gets increased during
Uterine myoma pregnancy and is regressed after
menopause
 Highlights
The light microscopic structure of skeletal
muscle, cardiac muscle and smooth muscle;
The ultrastructure of skeletal muscle, cardiac
muscle and smooth muscle;
The molecular structure and contraction
mechanism of skeletal muscle.
Some terms: myofibril, myofilament, sarcomere,
transverse tubule, sarcoplasmic reticulum,
terminal cisternae, triad and intercalated disk.