Exam 9: March 20-24 Flashcards
(127 cards)
What is a withdrawal response spinal reflex?
involuntary contraction like when something is too hot
we have to have the threshold reached to get the involuntary response from our spine rather than wait and have our cerebral cortex response
we can’t inhibit the extensor directly because it’s a skeletal muscle but we need to inhibit the motor neuron for the extensor so our flexor can do its job
contraction: flexor - contralateral extensor
relax: extensor - contralateral flexor
where is smooth muscle located?
1) digestive tract lining
2) vessels
3) urogenital tract
4) glands
what does smooth muscle do in digestive tract lining, vessels, urogenital tract and glands?
1) digestive tract lining: to squeeze space and change volume and pressure to move things through digestive system
2) vessels: to change blood pressure - can have different BP in each of your arms by changing the pressure in the vessels
3) urogenital tract: to urinate and reproductive components
4) glands
how do smooth muscles contract?
3D movement/contractions
the actin is connected via dense bodies*
what are dense bodies/what do they do?
actin in smooth muscles is connected via dense bodies
instead of having linear pull with z lines like in skeletal muscles you get a radial pull with our dense bodies
instead of pulling in one line, you extend in a circular motion like an octopus playing tug o war – the radial pull is what you need because you need a 3D tension
is there tropomyosin in smooth muscles?
tropomyosin is associated with smooth muscle but it doesn’t block
it’s always there but it’s always allowing myosin to interact with actin
there’s no troponin associated with the tropomyosin
do smooth muscles depend on calcium?
you still need Ca in the cytosol for a contraction even though there’s no troponin associated with tropomyosin
how do you increase calcium levels in smooth muscles?
smooth is controlled by autonomic nervous system – NT again are what get Ca to increase
unlike skeletal where the only thing that can control it is somatic efferents
with smooth muscle you can have endocrines that can cause contraction because they’ll bind to chemically gated channels that will allow Ca to come in
what are pacemakers?
pacemakers can also impact smooth muscles by setting up a regular pattern
they can trigger a regular activity of that muscle
do chemicals impact smooth muscles?
yes
how does stretch impact smooth muscles?
some of our muscles as they get stretch opens channels and causes movement due to mechanically gated channels
what is calmodulin?
a protein in smooth muscle that is activated by calcium = calcium modulated protein
what happens when calcium binds to calmodulin?
binding of Ca causes a shape change and activates it
activated calmodulin goes and activates myosin light chain kinase
myosin light chain kinase impacts myosin by doing equation 1 and giving myosin energy by phosphorylating myosin - myosin needs ATP
myosin deflexes and reaches out to do another pull
actin is radially arranged and gives you a 3D pull
what does myosin light chain kinase do?
it phosphorylates myosin to give it ATP
the relaxed position is when myosin is in the “flexed” position so we need to energize it so it can deflex and do another pull to get CBC
actin is radially arranged so you get a 3D pull by combining a bunch of different linear pulls in different directions
does smooth muscle have a sarcoplasmic reticulum?
no
you need to get rid of Ca in the cell to get a relaxation
smooth muscles doesn’t have an SR so Ca is coming from outside the cell into the cytosol so we have to pump it back out of the cell
what happens during a smooth muscle relaxation?
1) pump Ca out of the cell since there’s no SR
decreased [Ca] means that calmodulin won’t be activated and will return to inactive form
w/o active calmodulin, myosin light chain kinase also becomes inactive and we no longer have the “reach out” part of CBC
2) get rid of ATP bound myosin heads with myosin light chain phosphatase
what are the two things that need to happen to get a smooth muscle relaxation?
1) pump Ca out out of the cell to deactivate calmodulin
2) get rid of any myosin heads that have ATP bound to them
what is the relaxed position of smooth muscles?
with the myosin heads in the flexed position
what does myosin light chain phosphatase do?
gets rid of ATP energy without resulting in movement
it makes sure all the myosin heads are in the flexed position but without doing the pull to get them there
aka you use the ATP energy to reach out and grab on to be in the flexed position BUT there’s no pull because phosphatase takes the left over energy so you can’t do the pull
how does the endocrine system communicate?
blood carried communication
how fast does the endocrine system work?
slower because it travels over farther distances via the blood so you see the results LATER
does the speed that the endocrine system work at make sense?
yes!
in sympathetic nervous system you get the NT there quickly and get an immediate response like heart rate change because you’re in fight or flight and need to react quickly
adrenal medulla releasing epinephrine in our system kicks in later because it’s slower
how long do endocrine system effects last?
longer lasting effect
if we’re studying and roommate walks in and scares you you’re heart rate will go up really quickly but adrenaline rush will stay around longer even though your heart rate will go back down
how is the endocrine system regulated?
negative feedback regulation
we need to shut down the process of a certain endocrine being released