The Muscular System ▪ Perimysium—wraps around a fascicle (bundle) of

muscle fibers
The Muscular System ▪ Epimysium—covers the entire skeletal muscle
▪ Muscles are responsible for all types of body ▪ Fascia—on the outside of the epimysium
movement
▪ Three basic muscle types are found in the body
1. Skeletal muscle
2. Cardiac muscle
3. Smooth muscle

Muscle Types
▪ Skeletal and smooth muscle cells are elongated
(muscle cell = muscle fiber)
▪ Contraction and shortening of muscles are due to
the movement of microfilaments
▪ All muscles share some terminology
▪ Prefixes myo- and mys- refer to “muscle”
▪ Prefix sarco- refers to “flesh“

▪ The epimysium of skeletal muscle blends into a

connective tissue attachment
▪ Tendons—cordlike structures
▪ Mostly collagen fibers
▪ Often cross a joint because of their toughness and
small size
▪ Aponeuroses—sheetlike structures
▪ Attach muscles indirectly to bones, cartilages, or
connective tissue coverings
▪ Smooth muscle
▪ No striations
▪ Involuntary—no conscious control
▪ Found mainly in the walls of hollow visceral organs
(such as stomach, urinary bladder, respiratory
passages)
▪ Spindle-shaped fibers that are uninucleate
▪ Contractions are slow and sustained

▪ Skeletal muscle
▪ Most skeletal muscle fibers are attached by tendons to
bones
▪ Skeletal muscle cells are large, cigar-shaped, and ▪ Cardiac muscle
multinucleate ▪ Striations
▪ Also known as striated muscle because of its obvious ▪ Involuntary
stripes ▪ Found only in the walls of the heart
▪ Also known as voluntary muscle because it is the only ▪ Uninucleate
muscle tissue subject to conscious control ▪ Branching cells joined by gap junctions called
▪ Skeletal muscle cells are surrounded and intercalated discs
bundled by connective tissue ▪ Contracts at a steady rate set by pacemaker
▪ Endomysium—encloses a single muscle fiber

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 ▪ Contain ATPase enzymes to split ATP to release
energy for muscle contractions
▪ Possess projections known as myosin heads
▪ Myosin heads are known as cross bridges when they
link thick and thin filaments during contraction
▪ Thin filaments = actin filaments
▪ Composed of the contractile protein actin
▪ Actin is anchored to the Z disc
▪ At rest, within the A band there is a zone that
lacks actin filaments called the H zone
▪ During contraction, H zones disappear as actin
and myosin filaments overlap

Muscle Functions
▪ Whereas all muscle types produce movement,
skeletal muscle has three other important roles:
▪ Maintain posture and body position
▪ Stabilize joints
▪ Generate heat

Microscopic Anatomy of Skeletal Muscle

▪ Sarcolemma—specialized plasma membrane
▪ Myofibrils—long organelles inside muscle cell ▪ Sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR)
▪ Light (I) bands and dark (A) bands give the muscle its ▪ Specialized smooth endoplasmic reticulum
striated (banded) appearance ▪ Surrounds the myofibril
▪ Stores and releases calcium

Stimulation and Contraction of Single Skeletal

Muscle Cells
▪ Special functional properties of skeletal muscles
▪ Irritability (also called responsiveness)—ability to
receive and respond to a stimulus
▪ Contractility—ability to forcibly shorten when an
adequate stimulus is received
▪ Extensibility—ability of muscle cells to be stretched
▪ Elasticity—ability to recoil and resume resting length
after stretching
▪ Banding pattern of myofibrils
▪ I band = light band
The Nerve Stimulus and Action Potential
▪ Contains only thin filaments
▪ Skeletal muscles must be stimulated by a motor
▪ Z disc is a midline interruption
neuron (nerve cell) to contract
▪ A band = dark band
▪ Motor unit—one motor neuron and all the skeletal
▪ Contains the entire length of the thick filaments
muscle cells stimulated by that neuron
▪ H zone is a lighter central area
▪ M line is in center of H zone

▪ Sarcomere—contractile unit of a muscle fiber

▪ Structural and functional unit of skeletal muscle
▪ Organization of the sarcomere
▪ Myofilaments produce banding (striped) pattern
▪ Thick filaments = myosin filaments
▪ Thin filaments = actin filaments
▪ Thick filaments = myosin filaments
▪ Composed of the protein myosin

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▪ Neuromuscular junction
▪ Association site of axon terminal of the motor neuron
and sarcolemma of a muscle
▪ Neurotransmitter
▪ Chemical released by nerve upon arrival of nerve
impulse in the axon terminal
▪ Acetylcholine (ACh) is the neurotransmitter that
stimulates skeletal muscle
▪ Synaptic cleft
▪ Gap between nerve and muscle filled with interstitial
fluid
▪ Although very close, the nerve and muscle do not
make contact
▪ When a nerve impulse reaches the axon terminal
of the motor neuron,
Step 1: Calcium channels open, and calcium ions enter
the axon terminal
Step 2: Calcium ion entry causes some synaptic
vesicles to release acetylcholine (ACh)
Step 3: ACh diffuses across the synaptic cleft and
attaches to receptors on the sarcolemma of the muscle cell
Step 4: If enough ACh is released, the sarcolemma
becomes temporarily more permeable to sodium ions
(Na+)
▪ Potassium ions (K+) diffuse out of the cell
▪ More sodium ions enter than potassium ions leave
▪ Establishes an imbalance in which interior has
more positive ions (depolarization), thereby opening more
Na+ channels
Step 5: Depolarization opens more sodium channels
that allow sodium ions to enter the cell
▪ An action potential is created
▪ Once begun, the action potential is unstoppable
▪ Conducts the electrical impulse from one end of
the cell to the other
Step 6: Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) breaks down
acetylcholine into acetic acid and choline
▪ AChE ends muscle contraction
▪ A single nerve impulse produces only one
contraction
▪ Cell returns to its resting state when:
1. Potassium ions (K+) diffuse out of the cell
2. Sodium-potassium pump moves sodium and
potassium ions back to their original positions

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Mechanism of Muscle Contraction: The
Sliding Filament Theory
▪ What causes filaments to slide?
▪ Calcium ions (Ca2+) bind regulatory proteins on thin
filaments and expose myosin-binding sites, allowing
the myosin heads on the thick filaments to attach
▪ Each cross bridge pivots, causing the thin filaments to
slide toward the center of the sarcomere
▪ Contraction occurs, and the cell shortens
▪ During a contraction, a cross bridge attaches and
detaches several times
▪ ATP provides the energy for the sliding process, which
continues as long as calcium ions are present

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 ▪ In most types of muscle activity, nerve impulses are
delivered at a rapid rate
▪ As a result, contractions are “summed” (added)
together, and one contraction is immediately followed
by another

▪ When stimulations become more frequent, muscle

contractions get stronger and smoother
▪ The muscle now exhibits unfused (incomplete) tetanus

Contraction of a Skeletal Muscle as a Whole

▪ Fused (complete) tetanus is achieved when the
▪ Graded responses
muscle is stimulated so rapidly that no evidence of
▪ Muscle fiber contraction is “all-or-none,” meaning it will
relaxation is seen
contract to its fullest when stimulated adequately
▪ Contractions are smooth and sustained
▪ Within a whole skeletal muscle, not all fibers may be
stimulated during the same interval
▪ Different combinations of muscle fiber contractions
may give differing responses
▪ Graded responses—different degrees of skeletal
muscle shortening
▪ Graded responses can be produced in two ways
▪ By changing the frequency of muscle stimulation
▪ By changing the number of muscle cells being
stimulated at one time
▪ Muscle response to increasingly rapid stimulation
▪ Muscle twitch ▪ Muscle response to stronger stimuli
▪ Single, brief, jerky contraction ▪ Muscle force depends upon the number of fibers
▪ Not a normal muscle function stimulated
▪ Contraction of more fibers results in greater muscle
tension
▪ When all motor units are active and stimulated, the
muscle contraction is as strong as it can get

Providing Energy for Muscle Contraction

▪ ATP
▪ Only energy source that can be used to directly power
muscle contraction
▪ Stored in muscle fibers in small amounts that are
quickly used up

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 ▪ After this initial time, other pathways must be utilized to
produce ATP
▪ Three pathways to regenerate ATP
1. Direct phosphorylation of ADP by creatine phosphate
2. Aerobic pathway
3. Anaerobic glycolysis and lactic acid formation
▪ Direct phosphorylation of ADP by creatine
phosphate (CP)—fastest
▪ Muscle cells store CP, a high-energy molecule
▪ After ATP is depleted, ADP remains
▪ CP transfers a phosphate group to ADP to regenerate
ATP
▪ CP supplies are exhausted in less than 15 seconds
▪ 1 ATP is produced per CP molecule

▪ Anaerobic glycolysis and lactic acid formation

▪ Reaction that breaks down glucose without oxygen
▪ Glucose is broken down to pyruvic acid to produce
about 2 ATP
▪ Pyruvic acid is converted to lactic acid, which causes
muscle soreness
▪ This reaction is not as efficient, but it is fast
▪ Huge amounts of glucose are needed

▪ Aerobic respiration
▪ Supplies ATP at rest and during light/moderate
exercise
▪ A series of metabolic pathways, called oxidative
phosphorylation, use oxygen and occur in the
mitochondria
▪ Glucose is broken down to carbon dioxide and water,
releasing energy (about 32 ATP)
▪ This is a slower reaction that requires continuous
delivery of oxygen and nutrients

Muscle Fatigue and Oxygen Deficit

▪ If muscle activity is strenuous and prolonged,
muscle fatigue occurs
▪ Suspected factors that contribute to muscle
fatigue include:
▪ Ion imbalances (Ca2+, K+)
▪ Oxygen deficit and lactic acid accumulation
▪ Decrease in energy (ATP) supply
▪ After exercise, the oxygen deficit is repaid by
rapid, deep breathing

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Types of Muscle Contractions
▪ Isotonic contractions
▪ Myofilaments are able to slide past each other during
contractions
▪ The muscle shortens, and movement occurs

▪ Example: bending the knee; lifting weights, smiling

▪ Isometric contractions
▪ Muscle filaments are trying to slide, but the muscle is
pitted against an immovable object
▪ Tension increases, but muscles do not shorten
▪ Example: pushing your palms together in front of you

Muscle Tone
▪ Muscle tone
▪ State of continuous partial contractions
▪ Result of different motor units being stimulated in a
systematic way
▪ Muscle remains firm, healthy, and constantly ready for
action

Effect of Exercise on Muscles

▪ Exercise increases muscle size, strength, and
endurance
▪ Aerobic (endurance) exercise (biking, jogging) results
in stronger, more flexible muscles with greater
resistance to fatigue
▪ Makes body metabolism more efficient
▪ Improves digestion, coordination
▪ Resistance (isometric) exercise (weight lifting)
increases muscle size and strength
▪ Individual muscle fibers enlarge

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