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Seeley's Essentials of Anatomy & Physiology Chapter

7

Fundamental Human Form and Function (University at Buffalo)

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Ch. 7: Muscular System

● Functions of the Muscular
System ○ Movement of
body
■ Contraction of skeletal muscles is responsible for the
overall movements of body ○ Posture
■ Skeletal muscles constantly maintain
tone ○ Respiration
■ Muscles of thorax carry out movements for respiration
○ Body Heat Production
■ Skeletal muscles contract to give off heat as a by-product
○ Communication
■ Involved in all aspects of communications like speaking and
writing ○ Constriction of Organs & Vessels
■ Contraction of smooth muscle within walls of internal
organs causes them to constrict ○Contraction of Heart
■ Contraction of cardiac muscle causes heart to beat

● Characteristics of Skeletal Muscle

○ 40% of body weight
○ Striated muscle → transverse bands, striations, can be seen in muscle
○ 4 Functions of Skeletal
Muscle : ■ Contractility
● Ability to shorten w/ force, causing
movement ■ Excitability
● Ability to respond to stimulus ■
Extensibility
● Ability to stretch ■ Elasticity
● Ability to recoil after stretching
○ Skeletal Muscle Structure (Striated) ■ Connective Tissue Coverings
of Muscle
● Epimysium (muscular fascia): connective tissue sheath
that surrounds entire muscle
● Perimysium: loose connective tissue surrounding each
bundle of fasciculi (visible bundles)
● Endomysium: surrounds muscle fiber

■ Muscle Fiber Structure

● Single, cylindrical fiber
● Multi-nuclear
● Sarcolemma: cell membrane of a muscle fiber

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○ Has many tubelike invaginations (transverse

tubules, “T tubules”) along the surface
○ Associated with the sarcoplasmic reticulum
(endoplasmic reticulum of a muscle fiber)
■ T tubules connect sarcolemma to
sarcoplasmic reticulum
● Sarcoplasmic reticulum stores high
concentration of calcium ions → crucial
for muscle contraction
● Sarcoplasm: cytoplasm of muscle fiber
○ Contains many myofibrils (threads that extend from
one end of the muscle fiber to the other)
■ Myofibrils consist of 2 protein
fibers: ● Actin
Myofilaments: thin
● Myosin Myofilaments: thick
■ Actin & Myosin myofilaments are arranged into
sarcomeres (basic structural & functional unit of
a muscle → extend from Z disk to Z disk)

■ Actin & Myosin Myofilaments

● Actin
○ Thin
○ Consists of actin, troponin, and tropomyosin
■ Actin strands: attachment sites for myosin
myofilaments
■ Troponin: binding sites for calcium ions
■ Tropomyosin: block myosin myofilament
binding sites on actin myofilament in an
unstimulated muscle
● If no calcium ions are present,
tropomyosin filaments cover attachment
sites on actin myofilament

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● If calcium ions are present, they bind to

troponin so that tropomyosin filaments
expose the attachment sites on actin
myofilaments
● Myosin
○ Thick
○ Myosin head properties:
■ Heads can bind to attachment sites on actin
myofilaments
■ Heads can bend and straighten during
contraction
■ Heads can break down ATP, releasing energy
■ Sarcomeres
● Basic structural and functional unit of skeletal muscle
● When sarcomeres shorten, myofibrils shorten, causing
contraction of muscle fiber during contraction ● Extends
from Z disk to Z disk
一 Z disk → network of protein fibers forming an attachment
site for actin myofilaments
● I band:
一 Light
○ Consists of only actin myofilaments
○ Spans each Z disk & ends at myosin myofilaments ○
Decrease in size during contraction

● A band
○ Dark
○ Consists of an overlap between actin and myosin
myofilaments
○ Extends length of myosin myofilaments
○ Stays same size during
contraction ● H zone:
○ Light
○ At center of sarcomere → when contracting → decrease in
size during contraction
○ Consists of only myosin
myofilaments ● M line:
○ Dark
○ Myosin myofilaments are anchored here
● I band & A band are responsible for striations in skeletal
muscle fiber

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● Excitability of Muscle Fibers

○ Muscle fibers have electrical properties, similar to neuron
■ Inside of the membrane → NEGATIVE (-) charge
■ Outside of membrane → POSITIVE (+) charge
○ Cell membrane is polarized
○ Resting Membrane Potential: charge difference across the membrane of
a resting cell
■ Uneven distribution of ions across the cell
membrane ■ Develops for 3 reasons:
● Concentration of potassium ions inside cell is higher than
outside of cell
● Concentration of sodium ions outside the cell is higher than
inside of cell
● Cell membrane is more permeable to potassium ions than
sodium ions
○ Excitable cells have many leak channels for
potassium
■ Potassium leaks out of cell faster than sodium
leaks into cell
○ Potassium channels = open
○ Sodium channels (and other ion channels) = closed
○ Other negatively-charged molecules like proteins are also
trapped inside cell due to being impermeable → negative
inside

(Ion Channels & the Action Potential, Diagram)

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○
Outward concentration gradient & inward electrical gradient for
potassium ions
■ Since potassium is positively charged, moving from inside of cell to
outside of cell makes inside of cell membrane even more
negatively charged
○ Resting membrane potential is an equilibrium in which the tendency for
potassium to diffuse out of cell is opposed by negative charges inside of
cell (attract potassium into cell)
■ Active transport of sodium and potassium by the sodium-potassium
pump maintains this uneven distribution across the cell membrane
○ A change in resting membrane potential is done by changes in membrane
permeability to potassium/sodium ions
■ Stimulation in a muscle fiber causes sodium channels to open
● Depolarization! → excitation → action potential
○ After inside of cell membrane is more positive than
outside due to increased sodium permeability,
these sodium channels close and additional
potassium channels to reach equilibrium again ■
Repolarization!
○ Action Potential: results in muscle contraction in a muscle fiber; consists
of the rapid depolarization and repolarization by the cell membrane

● Nerve Supply & Muscle Fiber Stimulation (Control of Movement)

○ Motor Neurons: specialized nerve cells that stimulate muscles to contract
after being activated by the brain
■ Generate action potentials (travel to skeletal muscle fibers)
● Axons of these neurons enter muscles and send branches to
several muscle fibers
○ Neuromuscular Junction: synaptic junction between
nerve axon and a muscle fiber
■ (also known as a synapse)
○ Motor Unit: single motor neuron and all skeletal muscle fibers it innervates
(all-or-none law → once stimulated, all will contract)
■ The fewer fibers in a motor unit (e.g. hand), the greater control you
have over that muscle
■ Large motor unit vs. smaller motor unit

○ Neuromuscular Junction (NMJ)

■ Connection between the motor neuron and muscle fiber
○ Motor End Plate
○ Presynaptic Terminal → enlarged axon terminal

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○ Synaptic Cleft → space between presynaptic terminal and muscle fiber

membrane
○ Postsynaptic Membrane → muscle fiber membrane
■ Contains many synaptic vesicles
● Contain acetylcholine (ACh) → neurotransmitter
○ When action potential reaches presynaptic terminal,
calcium-ion channels open
○ Calcium ions enter presynaptic terminal and cause
synaptic vesicles to release ACh into synaptic cleft via
exocytosis
○ ACh diffuses across synaptic cleft and binds to ACh
receptor sites (nicotinic ACh receptors, nAChRs)
on sodium-ion channels in postsynaptic membrane
■ ACh binding to ACh receptor site opens sodium-ion
channels → inflow of sodium ions
■ Inflow of sodium ions causes action potential
once threshold is reached
○ Action potential travels along length of muscle fiber and
causes contraction (sliding-filament model)
○ ACh left in the synaptic cleft is broken down by an
enzyme, acetylcholinesterase (AChe)
■ This breakdown ensures that one action
potential in neuron equals one action potential
in skeletal muscle fibers which equals one
contraction of each muscle fiber

● Predict the Effect

○ Curare → blocks nAChRs → ACh can’t bind, no action potential nor contraction
○ Sarin → inhibits AChe → contraction constantly
○ Nicotine → stimulates nAChRs → contractions easier, faster heart beat

● Muscle Contraction (Sliding Filament Model)

○ Contraction of skeletal muscle tissue occurs when actin and myosin myofilaments
slide past one another → sarcomeres shorten!
○ Sliding Filament Model: actin and myosin myofilaments slide over one
another during muscle contraction
■ Neither actin nor myosin fibers shorten during contraction!
■ H zones & I bands shorten during contraction, but A bands do
NOT change in length
○ During relaxation, sarcomeres lengthen (requires opposing force)

○ After a person dies, ATP is not available, and cross-bridges that have formed are
not released → muscles become rigid
■ “Rigor mortis”

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○
○ Calcium essentially causes contraction!
■ If low to no calcium, trouble with contraction
Some energy from ATP is required for muscle contraction, some is released as
heat → increase in body temperature
■ Explains why someone becomes warmer during exercise
■ Shivering is another mechanism to increase body temperature
○ Muscle relaxation occurs as calcium ions are actively transported back
into sarcoplasmic reticulum (requires ATP)
■ Attachment sites on actin molecules are then covered again by
tropomyosin to disable cross-bridging

● Muscle Twitch, Summation, Tetanus, and Recruitment

○ Muscle Twitch: contraction of a muscle fiber in response to single
stimulus
■ Involves all muscle fibers in a motor unit (entire unit!)
○ All-or-None Law
■ Applies to individual myofibrils NOT the entire muscle
■ Strength of muscle contraction has to do w/ summation of an
individual myofibril’s contraction as well as the number of myofibrils
that contract
○ 3 Phases of Contraction :
● Lag (Latent) phase: time between stimulus and contraction
○ Action potentials are produced in 1+ motor neurons
■ Must result in release of calcium ions to form
cross-bridges or contraction phase will NOT
occur
● Contraction phase: time during muscle contraction ○
Force of contraction increased in 2 ways:
■ Summation : increased force by rapidly
stimulating them (increased stimulus
frequency)
● Tetany : sustained contraction, no relaxation due to constant
stimulation
■ Recruitmen t: number of muscle fibers stimulated
increased by increasing number of motor units
stimulated → more force
● Relaxation phase: time during muscle relaxation

● Energy for Contraction

○ Muscle fibers are very energy-demanding → requires either aerobic (w/ O2) or
anaerobic (without O2) ATP production
○ Two sources for ATP:

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■ Cellular
Respiration ●
Aerobic
● Anaerobic
■ Creatine Phosphate
● Energy instantly available
● Stores are depleted quickly
● 1 Creatine phosphate = 1 ATP + 1
Creatine ○ ATP is derived from 4 processes in skeletal
muscle:
■ Aerobic production of ATP during most exercise and normal
conditions
■ Anaerobic production of ATP during intensive short-term work
■ Conversion of creatine phosphate to ATP
■ Conversion of 2 ADP to 1 ATP & 1 AMP during heavy exercise
○ Aerobic Respiration: breakdown of glucose in presence of oxygen to
produce CO2, H2O, and approx. 36 ATP molecules
■ e.g. TCA/Krebs Cycle, Glycolysis, Citric Acid Cycle,
electrontransport chain
■ Can also process lipids or amino acids to make ATP
■ More efficient than anaerobic respiration, more flexible than
anaerobic respiration
○ Anaerobic Respiration: does NOT require oxygen; breaks down glucose
to make 2 ATP & lactate (less efficient and accumulates toxins)
○ Muscle cells store creatine phosphate (high-energy molecule), since they
cannot store ATP
■ Creatine phosphate provides a means of storing energy which can
be quickly used to maintain proper ATP in contracting muscle fibers
■ Excess ATP is used to synthesize creatine phosphate

■ After intense exercise, respiratory rate and volume stay elevated for
a time
● Increased respiratory activity provides oxygen to pay back
oxygen deficit ● Lactic Acid
一 Must get rid of it (toxic to cells in high concentration)
■ Requires oxygen
○ Converted back to glucose to pay back “oxygen debt”
● Recovery oxygen consumption is the amount of oxygen
needed in chem. rxns that occur to:
一 Convert lactate (lactic acid) to glucose
○ Replenish depleted ATP & creatine phosphate stores in
muscle fibers
○ Replenish oxygen stores in lungs, blood, and muscles

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○
● Endurance Training
○ Increases number of mitochondria
■ More energy available
○ Increases ability to get oxygen (e.g. lung volume, hemoglobin, etc.)
○ Increases myoglobin

● Fatigue
Temporary state of reduced work capacity
■ Without fatigue, muscle fibers would work to the point of structural
damage
○ Prevents exhaustion of ATP reserves!
○ Mechanisms :
■ Acidosis & ATP depletion due to increased ATP consumption or
decreased ATP production
● Anaerobic respiration lowers pH (acidosis) because of
breakdown of glucose to lactate & protons
○ Lowered pH decreases effectiveness of calcium ions
on actin and less calcium-ion release from
sarcoplasmic reticulum
■ Oxidative stress (buildup of excess reactive oxygen species,
ROS/Free Radicals)
● During intense exercise, increases in ROS production cause
a breakdown of proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids
● Also, ROS trigger immune system chem. (interleukin →
mediator of inflammation → cause of muscle soreness)
■ Inflammation
● T lymphocytes migrate into heavily worked muscles
○ Increase perception of pain to protect from further
damage
● Physiological Contracture: muscle is incapable of contracting
or relaxing → occurs when too little ATP bind to myosin
myofilaments
● Psychological Fatigue: involves CNS rather than the actual muscle
→ individual “perceives” that muscle contraction is impossible

● Effect of Fiber Type on Activity Leve l

○ Myoglobin: stores & releases oxygen in a muscle
○ Large postural muscles have more slow-twitch fibers
○ Muscles of upper limb have more fast-twitch fibers
○ Exercise increases blood supply to muscles, # of mitochondria per muscle fiber, #
of myofibrils and myofilaments → hypertrophy

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■ With weight training, type IIb myosin can be replaced with type IIa
myosin
■ Vigorous exercise can cause type I myofilaments to be replaced
with type IIa myofilaments
○ Satellite Cells: undifferentiated cells below endomysium
■ Can differentiate when stimulated and develop into new, functional
muscle fibers
● Stimulated by destruction of existing muscle fibers (e.g. injury,
disease, strength training)
● Types of Muscle Contractions
○ Isometric contractions: length of muscle does NOT change
■ Amount of tension increases during contraction (i.e. back muscles)
○ Isotonic contractions: equal tension throughout contraction
■ Length of muscle decreases during contraction (i.e. arm/finger
muscles)
■ Concentric: muscle tension increases as muscle shortens
■ Eccentric: tension does NOT change, but opposing resistance
causes muscle to lengthen
● (slowly lowering a heavy weight)
● Substantial force is produced → muscles can be injured

● Muscle Tone
○ Partial contraction in resting muscles
■ Maintains posture
○ Keeps muscles ready to respond optimally
○ Excitation of alternating/different motor units ○
Requires input from central nervous system (CNS)!

● Smooth muscle cells contain less actin and myosin than skeletal muscles
一 Smooth muscle cells do not have organized myofilaments either
○ Contract more slowly than skeletal muscle cells (do not develop an oxygen
deficit)
● Autorhythmicity: periodic, spontaneous contraction (involuntary)
一 Hormones can stimulate smooth & cardiac muscle to contract
● Cardiac muscle cells have organized myofilaments (sarcomeres) because
they’re striated, but unorganized myofilaments
一 Autorhythmic contraction (involuntary)
○ No oxygen deficit, no fatigue
○ Intercalated Disks: include tight & gap junctions

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● Skeletal Muscle
Anatomy
○ General Principles
■ Tendon: connective tissue connecting muscle to bone
● Broad, sheetlike tendons are called aponeuroses
● Retinaculum: dense regular connective tissue sheath
holding down tendons of wrist, ankle etc.
■ 2 points of attachment for each muscle:
● Origin (head): most stationary end of muscle
一 Typically proximal or medial to insertion points
○ Some muscles have multiple origins (i.e. bicep, tricep)
● Insertion: mobile attachment point of muscle
■ Agonist: muscle contracting
■ Antagonist: muscle opposing contraction; works in opposition to
another muscle
■ For example, when flexing elbow, biceps is agonist while
triceps relax to allow elbow to bend (act as the antagonist) ●
Role is reversed when extending elbow!
■ Synergists: members of a group of muscles working together to
cause a movement
● Prime Mover: muscle among group of synergists that plays
the major role in accomplishing the movement
一 Contributes most
■ Fixators: muscles that hold 1 bone in place relative to body while a
more distal bone is moved
● i.e. scapula muscles holding scapula in place while humerus
is moved

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