Histology – Muscle tissue

Question 1

Name the 3 different types of muscle

Answer 1

1. Skeletal muscles
2. Cardiac muscles
3. Smooth muscles

Question 2

Characteristics of skeletal muscle

Answer 2

• Moves skeleton
• Voluntary
• Very long cells (fibers)
• Many nuclei/cell
• Striated

Question 3

Characteristics of smooth muscle

Answer 3

• Controls movement of
substances through tubes and
hollow organs (digestive track)
• Around vessels and other organs
• Involuntary
• 1 nucleus/cell
• Not striated

Question 4

Characteristics of cardiac muscle

Answer 4

• Pumps blood (heart)
• Involuntary
• The heart controls its contractions
• Under the influence of the nervous system
• Nucleus: 1 or 2/cell
• Striated
• Intercalated discs
• Connect cells

Question 5

Skeletal muscle structure

Answer 5

Skeletal muscle contains muscle fascicle,

muscle fascicle contains muscle fibers,

muscle fibers contains myofibrils

myofibrils are surrounded by sarcoplasmic reticulum

myofibrils contains sarcomeres

sarcomeres contains myofilaments (actin=thin, myosin=thick)

Question 6

What are myofilaments?

Answer 6

They give the striped appearance to skeletal
muscles

They are responsible for muscle contraction