Muscle and Movement - Chapter 19

I.  The musculoskeletal system:

            A.  Provides the basic form and shape of the organism

            B.  Mechanical function of support

            C.  Means of protection for vulnerable organ within body

            D.  Allows body movement; provides a set of levers

            E.  Heat production

 

 II.  The skeletal system - bone and cartilage. 

            A.   Homeostatic function - 3 ways:

                    1.  Maintain a constant state - involves behavioral responses to environmental changes- produces locomotion

                    2.  Erythrocytes and other formed elements of the blood produced in the red marrow

                    3.  Stores minerals - calcium and phosphorus, sodium, magnesium, and manganese

  B.  Movement - muscles responsible for movement of the skeleton are attached to he bones by stringy connective tissue- tendons

                    1.  Movement produced by a contracting muscle involves a stationary base- origin, and a moving base- insertion

                    2. All muscles produce their effects by contraction.

      Opposite movements at a joint are due to the existence of antagonistic muscle pairs, 

      which oppose one another in their contraction e.g. biceps and triceps

          3.  Characteristics of muscle fibers

                a.  Irritability - property of receiving and responding to stimuli

                b.  Contractibility - ability to shorten and thicken

                c.  Extensibility - ability to be stretched or extended

                d.  Elasticity - ability to return to original shape after contraction or extension

                   4.  Kinds -

                a.  Skeletal muscle tissue - attached to bones, striated, voluntary

                b.  Smooth muscle tissue - located in viscera. nonstriated and involuntary

                c.  Cardiac muscle tissue - forms the walls of heart, striated and involuntary

 

III.  Structural basis of contraction--  490

            A.  Fascia

            1.  Sheet or broad band of fibrous connective tissue underneath the skin or

                     around muscle 

            2.  3 types - superficial, deep and subserous

            B.  Connective tissue components

            1.  The entire muscle is covered by the epimysium.

            Fasciculi are covered by perimysium.  Fibers are covered by endomysium.

            2.  Tendons and aponeuroses (broad flat tendon) attach muscle to bone

            C.  Nerve and blood supply

            Nerves convey impulses, and blood provides nutrients and oxygen for   contraction  

            D.  Components of a skeletal muscle fiber 

            1.  Multinucleated, striated

   2.  Parallel bundles - myofibrils - actin and myosin, troponin and tropomyosin -

       repeated units - sarcomeres

            a.  Sarcolemma - cell membrane; sarcoplasm - cytoplasm

                  sarcoplasmic reticulum - membranous channels, T tubules

            b.  Each fiber contains myofilaments; myofilaments are compartmentalized  intosarcomeres

            c.  Dark bands - A bands - anisotropic bands

            d.  Light bands - I bands - isotropic bands

            e.  I bands bisected by dark Z lines, sarcomeres bounded by Z lines

      

IV.  Mechanisms of contraction-- sliding-filament theory 494

            A.  A bands - thick filaments - myosin

                     1.  Edges of A band - thin filaments overlapped with thick

            2.  Central regions of A bands- only thick filament-H bands

            3.  I bands - only thin filaments - protein = actin

            4.  Thin filaments composed of: globular actin subunits, tropomyosin, and troponin attached to the tropomyosin

            B.  Myosin cross-bridges extend out from the thick filaments to the thin filaments

            1. At rest - cross-bridges - not attached to actin

                        a.  Cross-bridge heads - function as ATPase enzymes

b.      ATP --- ADP + P, activating the cross-bridges

 2.  Contraction - A nerve impulse travels over the sarcolemma and enters the transverse (T) tubules.

 

            3.  Action potential in the T tubules stimulate the release of calcium from the sarcoplasmic reticulum

                 triggering the contractile process  

 

  4.      Ca++ binds with troponin, conformation of tropomyosin exposes the binding sites on the actin to the c-b

 

 

  5.      When the activated cross-bridges attach to actin, power stroke occurs and

          in the process ADP + P are released

 

                     6.  At the end of the power stroke - cross-bridges bond to a new ATP. 

This allows the detachment from actin and repeats cycle.

(Rigor mortis - inability of cross-bridges to detach from actin due to a lack of ATP)

            C.  The activity of the c-b causes the thin filaments to slide towards the centers of the sarcomeres

            1.  The filaments slide; not shortened during muscle contraction

            2.  A bands stay the same length, H and I bands shortens

                      3.  Chemical energy is translated in to mechanical energy

                               - rocking or rotation of myosin head produces force, and this force is

                                 transmitted to the thick filament

    ATP - not needed to produce c.b. bridge force, but is required to detach the myosin head from actin filament.

-         c.b. attachment requires intracellular free calcium -at conc. above 10 -7 M.

-         When action potential cease , calcium is removed from the sarcoplasm and store in the sarcoplamic reticulum

             E.   Sequence of events in stimulation and contraction of muscle

            1.  Stimulation

            a.  Sarcolemma depolarized

            b.  T system depolarized

            c.  Ca ++ released from sarcoplasmic reticulum

            d.  Ca ++ diffuses to thin filament

            2.  Contraction

            a.  Ca ++ binds to troponin

            b.  Troponin-Ca ++ complex removes tropomyosin blockage of actin sites

            c.  Heads of thick filament (containing preexisting

                  myosin-ATP complex) form cross bridges to actin strand

            d.  Cross bridges swivel as ATP is hydrolyzed and ADP is released

            3. Relaxation

            a.  Ca ++ sequestered from thin filament by sarcoplasmic reticulum

            b.  Calcium diffuses from thin filament toward sarcoplasmic reticulum

            c.  Ca ++ released from troponin-Ca ++ complex

            d.  Troponin permits tropomyosin return to blocking position

            e.  Myosin-actin cross bridges break

            f.  ATP-myosin complex reformed in heads of thick filament

 

 V.  Muscle in vitro can exhibit twitch, summation, and tetanus 498

            A.  Twitch - rapid contraction and relaxation

            B.  A whole muscle can produce a twitch in response to a single electrical pulse in vitro

          1.  The stronger the electric shock - stronger the twitch

 2.  Graded contraction - different no. of fibers contracting

            C.  Summation of fiber twitches - occur so rapidly - muscle produces a smooth sustained contraction - tetanus

 VI.  Contraction of muscle fibers in vivo - stimulated by motor neurons

            A.  Each somatic motor axon branches to innervate a number of muscle fibers.

            B.  The motor neuron and the muscle fibers - motor unit

           1.  When a muscle is composed of many motor units - hand - fine control   

                     2.  Large muscle of the leg - relatively few motor units

                     3.  Sustained contractions are produced by the asynchronous stimulation of different motor units.

                     4.  Motor unit -

            a.  Transmits the stimulus to a skeletal muscle for contraction

                      b.  Motor end plate - region of the sarcolemma specialized to receive stimulus                                                   

            c.  Myoneural junction - area of contact between a motor neuron and muscle fiber

                      d.  Muscle fibers of a motor unit contract to their fullest extend or not at all

            e.  The weakest stimulus capable of causing contraction is a minimal or threshold stimulus

 VII.  Isometric vs. isotonic contraction: isometric- muscle exerts tension without shortening; 473-474

            twitch, summation and tetanus, isotonic vs isometric

            Isotonic - shortening occur-- force, work and power  

            Isometric  - no shortening -- tension increases

 VIII.  Physiology- Excitation-contraction coupling 494

            A.  When a nerve impulse reaches the motor end plate,

       the neuron releases acetylcholine - electrical changes occur

            B.  This change releases calcium ions- activate the myosin, catalyzing the breakdown of ATP

            C.  The energy released - causes the sliding of the myofilaments.

 IX. Neural control of skeletal muscles- stretch receptor-spindles - stimulate the production of nerve impulse in sensory neurons when the muscle is stretched

            A.  Stretch reflex-- somatic neurons -

                     1.  Alpha motorneurons - innervate muscle fibers -

            2.  Gamma motorneurons - innervate muscle spindles

            B.  Muscle spindles and Golgi tendon organ- length and tension detectors in the muscle

            1.  Golgi tendon organ- detect the tension that the muscle exerts on its tendon

                 E.g. If a muscle is stretched extensively, it will relax- inhibitory effects produced by Golgi tendon organ

            2.  Spindles - several intrafusal fibers wrapped together and in parallel with the extrafusal fibers (muscle fibers)

            Number of spindles increases with finer degree of control

            3.  Stretch the muscle - stretch the spindles - this excite sensory endings -

            a.  Impulses in the sensory neurons --> spinal cord -->in the dorsal root of spinal nerves

            b.  Sensory neuron synapse directly with an alpha neuron within spinal cord monosynaptic reflex

            c.  Alpha motor neuron stimulate the extrafusal muscle fibers to contract stretch reflex

                       4.  Gamma neurons - make the spindles sensitive to stretch, better able to monitor the length of muscle fibers

            C.  Neurons in the brain that affect the lower motor neuron - higher motor neurons

              1.  Fibers of neurons from motor cortex, descend to the lower motor neuron

              2.  The left side of the brain controls the musculature on the right side

                        3.  Damage of the cerebellum produces intention tremor.

                        4.  The degeneration of fibers in the basal ganglia - use dopamine as a transmitter produces Parkinson's disease.

 X.  Skeletal muscle type and energy usage- 501

            A.  3 types of muscle fibers-

                        1.  Slow-twitch red fibers - adapted for aerobic respiration - resistant to fatigue

                        2.  Fast-twitch white fibers - adapted for anaerobic respiration

                        3.  Intermediate - fast twitch, but adapted for aerobic respiration

            B.  Muscle fatigue - caused by

  1.      Sustained maximal contraction - may be produced by the accumulation of 

      extracellular K as a result of high levels of nerve activity

            2.  Rhythmic moderate exercise - result of anaerobic respiration by fast twitch fibers

            a.  Production of lactic acid-- lowers the intracellular pH -- inhibit glycolysis and decrease ATP

   b.  Decreased ATP inhibits excitation-contraction coupling- possibly due to a cellular loss of Ca++ 

            C.  Physical training affects the characteristics of the muscle fibers -

                       1.  Endurance training - increases the aerobic capacity of all muscle fiber types;

                              reliance  of anaerobic respiration and their susceptibility to fatigue is decreased

                       2.  Strength training causes hypertrophy of the muscle fibers - an increase in the size      

                            and number of myofibrils.

              

  

 

CHARACTERISTICS OF RED, INTERMEDIATE AND WHITE MUSCLE FIBERS

DESCRIPTION                    

RED   

INTERMEDIATE    

WHITE

Diameter

Small

Intermediate

Large

Z-line thickness

Wide

Intermediate

Narrow

Glycogen content

Low 

Intermediate

High

Resistance to fatigue

High 

Intermediate

Low

Capillaries

Many

Many

Few

Myoglobin content

High

High

Low

Respiration

Aerobic

Aerobic

Anaerobic

Oxidative capacity

High

High

Low

Glycolytic capacity

Low

High

High

Twitch rate

Slow

Fast

Fast

Myosin ATPase content

Low

High

High

 

 

 

 

           

XI.  Cardiac and smooth muscle

            A.  Cardiac muscle - striated and contains sarcomeres

                        1.  Cells are quadrangular and contain centrally placed nuclei

              2.  Fibers form a continuous, branching network that contract as a unit

                        3.  Intercalated discs provide strength and aid impulse conduction

                        4.  Action potentials in the heart originate in myocardial cells; stimulation by neuronsnot necessary

                        5.   Fibers contain many short individual cells electrically coupled to one another via gap junction for through conduction of the action potential

                        6.  Ionic mechanisms  - specialized for pacemaker activity in the atria and for prolonged action potentials in the ventricle

              B.  Smooth muscle - lack sarcomeres, not striated

                        1.  Contain myosin and actin, not arranged in sarcomeres

                        2.  Myosin - very long; can contract even when they are greatly stretched.

                        3.  Phosphorylation of cross bridges is required for their bonding to actin

     4.      Groups of these cells are connected to each other by gap junctions that permit

                        the electronic spread of current from cell to cell

                        5.  Transmitter substances from the autonomic axons is released at a given varicosity      .

                            (Do not form intimate junction) and diffuses over some distance -

                     affecting   a number of  smooth muscle cells.

                        6.  Autonomic and hormonal control - involuntary contracts and relaxes slowly

                                 than striated muscle

                        7.  Calcium ions have a regulatory function- when stimulated by 

                               graded depolarization, calcium ions enter smooth muscle, and instead of binding to troponin

                               (absent in smooth muscle), Ca binds to calmodulin.  Ca-calmodulin activates a protein

                                kinase  that phosphorylates myosin heads (cross-bridges)

  

  

 

  XI.   Hydrostatic skeleton- 2 types-

A.  Consists of a chamber with flexible walls completely filled with water or body fluid.  the wall contains muscle that attached to each other via connective tissue.

  1.   Muscles contract, create a tension in the wall that pressurizes the fluid

 2.   As water is incompressible, the chamber’s vol = constant. 

 3.  If one part of the chamber is has less tension, it will yield under the pressure, fluid will flow into that part of the chamber while the rest of the chamber constricts- e.g. earthworm, spider legs

               B.  No fluid-filled chamber- filled with muscles; intracellular fluid of the muscles act

            as the hydraulic fluid-- muscular hydrostats.

            E.g. squid’s tentacles, elephant trunk muscles-- longitudinal and circumferential-

                                    Long. Muscles shorten and widen the tentacle, circ muscles elongate

                                    and thin the tentacle.  Radial muscles elongate and thin tentacles,

                                    oblique muscles twist the tentacles

 XII.   Swim bladders - buoyancy- originates as evagination of GI tract

            A.  Connection to esophagus -physotome fish - fill by gulping air; permits gas to escape

            B.  Completely closed swim bladder - physoclist fish -- gases in bladder originates from blood.

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some comparisons of skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscles

Skeletal 

Cardiac 

Smooth

Striated; actin and myosin arranged in sarcomeres 

Same as skeletal

Not striated, more actin than myosin, actin inserts into dense bodies and cell membrane

 Sarcoplasmic reticulum, T tubules

Moderately developed sarcoplasmic reticulum and T tubules

Poorly developed sarcoplasmic reticulum and T tubules

Troponin in the thin filaments

Same as skeletal

Contain a calcium binding protein, may be in thick filaments

Calcium released in to cytoplasm from sarcoplasmic reticulum

Same as skeletal, Ca+ + from extracellular fluid

Ca++ enters cytoplasm from extracellular fluid, sarcoplasmic reticulum  and perhaps mitochondria

Nerve stimulation necessary for contraction

Can contract without nerve stimulation, pacemaker

Maintain tone in absence of nerve stimulation; denervation - hypersensitivity to stimulation

single-unit vs. multi-unit

Muscle fibers stimulated independently; no gap junctions.

Gap junction s - intercalated discs

Gap junctions in most cells

 

Effects of endurance training -

 1.  Improved ability to obtain ATP from oxidative phosphorylation

 2.  Increased size and number of mitochondria

 3.  Less lactic acid produced per given amount of exercise

 4.  Increases myoglobin count

 5.  Increased intramuscular triglyceride content

 6.  Increased lipoprotein lipase - enzymes needed to utilize lipids from blood

 7.  Increased proportion of energy derived from fat, less from carbohydrates

 8.   Lower rate of glycogen depletion during exercise

 9.  Improved efficiency in extracting oxygen from blood