The Muscular System

I. Types of Muscle
Smooth Muscle Cardiac Muscle Skeletal Muscle
Found in walls of hollow organ.
Functions to move them.
Pump heart Attach to skeleton.
Movement and posture.
Non striated Striated (striped) Striated
Involuntary & Rhythmic Involuntary & Rhythmic Voluntary (except reflexes)
Single Nucleus Single Nucleus Cells are long with multiple
nuclei

Smooth Muscle
Rhythmic contractions are called
PERISTALSIS

II. Anatomy of Skeletal Muscle and Muscle Contraction
A. Fused cells form a Sarcomere (the action unit)
B. Sarcomeres are made up of ACTIN and MYOSIN filament proteins.
C. Myosin (thick) and actin (thin) overlap (causing striations) and slide past each other to cause
contraction.
1. Muscle contraction occurs when a motor neuron (nerve cell) stimulates a skeletal muscle and
causes the release of NEUROTRANSMITTERS from sacs in the AXON TERMINAL. They diffuse across the
SYNAPTIC CLEFT and bind with receptors on the neighboring muscle cell - causing myosin to slide along actin.
2. Acetylcholine (ACh) is the neurotransmitter involved with muscle contraction.
3. Contraction stops when acetylcholinesterase breaks down ACh and calcium gets pumped back
into the muscle cell.

III. Sliding filament theory
A. Without calcium - Myosin cannot walk along actin because binding sites are covered by chain.
Troponin = lock Tropomyosin = chain

Calcium binds to troponin causing it to unlock. Tropomyosin slides down. Binding sites exposed. Myosin walks
along actin - muscle contracts

IV. Energy for contraction
A. Cellular respiration makes ATP (and gives off heat). Stage 1: Glycolysis (no O2 needed) Stage 2:
Citric acid cycle (O2 needed) Stage 3: Electron transport chain (O2 needed)
1. Blood supplies oxygen needed during citric acid cycle.
2. MYOGLOBIN (found in muscles) stores oxygen.
B. When oxygen runs out during strenuous activity, glycolysis is used to make ATP.
1. Less ATP is released
1. Toxic PYRUVATE molecules are converted into lactic acid.
2. LACTIC ACID builds up in the muscles (before diffusing into blood) and causes muscle
soreness.
C. Energy sources for contraction CREATINE PHOSPHATE can regenerate ATP from ADP (10 sec.).


V. Muscular responses

A. THRESHOLD STIMULUS - The minimum stimulus required to cause contraction (called a twitch)
B. Each twitch has both a period of contraction and relaxation.
1. The LATENT PERIOD describes the time between two muscle twitches.
2. The REFRACTORY PERIOD is the amount of time when a muscle fiber is unresponsive.