Section 7: ET - Muscle Flashcards
(145 cards)
Skeletal muscle
Voluntary control
Striated
Single long cylindrical cells
Multiple peripheral nuclei
Cardiac muscle
Located only in the heart
Striated
Branched cells with 1-3 (usually 1) central nuclei
Connected via intercalated discs
Involuntary control
Cells much shorter than in skeletal muscle and tend to be zig-zaggy
Smooth muscle
Involuntary
Found in wall of internal organs (gut, blood vessels and iris)
Spindle shaped (fat in middle where nuclei is located), uninucleated cells
Not straited
Structure of skeletal muscle
Attached to bones via tendons
Cells’ muscle fibres are long (up to 35cm) and reasonably wide (0.1mm)
Cells composed of fibrils containing highly organised contractile filaments
Nuclei located under lipid bilayer
Muscle fibre AKA…
Muscle cell
Microscopic structure of myofibrils
Thick filaments: run the entire length of an A band
Thin filaments: run the length of the I band and partway into the A band
Z disc: coin-shaped sheet of proteins than anchor thin filaments and connects myofibrils to each other
H zone: lighter mid-region where filaments don’t overlap
M line: line of protein myomesin that holds adjacent thick filaments together
T-tubules: deep invaginations continuous with the sarcolemma and circle each sarcomere twice at each of the junctions of the A and I bands. Allows APs to be carried deep within muscle cell
Sarcoplasma reticulum (SR): calcium storage site. Terminal cisternae of SR lie close to T-tubules; if AP comes down the T-tubule, it can v quickly signal to SR
Sarcomere extends from … to ……
Extends from one Z disc/line to the next Z disc/line
If Z discs get closer together…
H zone gets smaller and I band gets smaller
A band stays the same length
Myofibril: Thick filaments
Composed of myosin
Each myosin has 2 sub-units each with a globular head and a tail
Many helices joined tgt - all tails joined in middle and heads projected away from M line; polarised
Titin anchors thick filaments to Z line
Myofibril: Thick filaments - head and tail
Head:
An enzyme that hydrolyses ATP (an ATPase)
Have a binding site for actin
Have a hinge that allows them to move
2 tails intertwine to form a helix
Myofibril: Thin filaments
Composed primarily of globular actin proteins
Have a dip in the middle of actin protiens - myosin binding site
Composed of a double-stranded helical actin chain (polymers)
Troponin and tropomyosin
Myofibril: Thin filaments - troponin and tropomyosin
Regulatory proteins associated with actin in skeletal and cardiac muscle
At rest, tropomyosin lies right on top of actin binding sites - stops binding of myosin
Troponin is what calcium binds onto - when Ca2+ binds onto troponin, it changes shape and pulls the tropomyosin off the binding sites
Sliding filament theory of muscle contraction
The sarcomere shortens as the thin filaments are pulled over the thick filaments
Z-line is pulled toward M-line
I band and H zone become narrower
A zone stays the same
Effectively, myosin has stayed still and grabbed onto the actin and pulled it to the middle
Cross bridge cycle - steps (cycle)
- Cross-bridge formation
- activated myosin head binds to actin, forming a cross-bridge
- inorganic phosphate released
- bond between myosin and actin strengthens - Power stroke
- ADP released and activated myosin head rotates (~45° to actin), sliding the thin filament towards centre of sarcomere (M line) –> shortens sarcomere / Z-line by ~9μm
- relaxation phase (where energy is lost) - Cross-bridge detachment
- when another ATP binds to the myosin head, the link between myosin head and actin weakens, and myosin head detaches - Reactivation/energisation of myosin head
- ATP hydrolysed to ADP and inorganic phosphate
- energy released during hydrolysis reactivates myosin head, returning it to the high-energy cocked position (~90° to actin)
Sarcomere
Functional unit of contraction in skeletal muscle fibres
As long as ……. the cross-bridge cycle will repeat
As long as the binding sites on actin remain exposed
As the cross-bridge cycle repeats…
The thin myofilaments are pulled toward each other, and the sarcomere shortens –> causes whole muscle to contract
When does cross-bridge cycle end
When Ca2+ are actively transported back to the SR
Troponin returns to its original shape, allowing tropomyosin to glide over and cover the myosin binding site on actin
Cross-bridges can only occur in presence of…
Calcium, when the myosin binding site on actin is exposed
2 main things happening in the cross-bridge cycle
Mechanical movement
Chemical events
Rigor mortis
When there’s no ATP available, so myosin head is bound onto actin (stiff; doesn’t move)
So, must have ATP to break bond for detachment
Importance of calcium
Provides ‘on’ switch for cross-bridge cycle
When Ca2+ binds with troponin, the tropomyosin moves to expose the myosin binding sites on actin
Cross-bridge cycle will continue as long as Ca2+ levels remain above the critical threshold (0.001-0.01mM)
In high-calcium situations…
There’s muscle contraction
Ca2+ must be free in intracellular space
Skeletal muscle - calcium regulation
Opening of Ca2+ channels in SR allows movement of Ca2+ into cytosol
Active transport pumps (Ca2+ ATPase) are constantly moving Ca2+ from cytoplasm back into SR where it can’t influence troponin
Only when an AP comes along do these channels open and Ca2+ comes out