Chapter

9
The Muscular
System—Skeletal
Muscle Tissue
and Organization
PowerPoint® Lecture Slides
prepared by Jason LaPres
North Harris College
Houston, Texas

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publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings
Introduction

 Humans rely on muscles for many of our

physiological processes, and virtually all our
dynamic interactions with the environment
involve muscle tissue.

Muscles and Life

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Introduction

 There are three types of muscle tissue:

 Skeletal muscle—Skeletal muscle tissue moves
the body by pulling on bones of the skeleton.
 Cardiac muscle—Cardiac muscle tissue pushes
blood through the arteries and veins of the
circulatory system.
 Smooth muscle—Smooth muscle tissues push
fluids and solids along the digestive tract and
perform varied functions in other systems.

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Introduction

 Muscle tissues share four basic properties:

 Excitability: the ability to respond to stimulation
 Skeletal muscles normally respond to stimulation by the nervous
system.
 Cardiac and smooth muscles respond to the nervous system and
circulating hormones.
 Contractility: the ability to shorten actively and exert a
pull or tension that can be harnessed by connective tissues
 Extensibility: the ability to continue to contract over a
range of resting lengths
 Elasticity: the ability of a muscle to rebound toward its
original length after a contraction

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Functions of Skeletal Muscle

 Skeletal muscles are contractile organs directly or

indirectly attached to bones of the skeleton.
 Skeletal muscles perform the following functions:
 Produce skeletal movement
 Maintain posture and body position
 Support soft tissues
 Regulate entering and exiting of material
 Maintain body temperature

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Anatomy of Skeletal Muscles

Figure 9.1 Structural Organization of Skeletal Muscle

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Anatomy of Skeletal Muscles

Figure 9.2 Skeletal Muscle Innervation

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Anatomy of Skeletal Muscles

Figure 9.3 The Formation and Structure of a Skeletal Muscle Fiber

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Anatomy of Skeletal Muscles

Figure 9.4 Sarcomere Structure

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Sarcomereof Skeletal Muscles
Anatomy

 Sarcomere Organization
 Thick and thin filaments within a myofibril are
organized in the sarcomeres.
 All of the myofibrils are arranged parallel to the
long axis of the cell, with their sarcomeres lying
side by side.

Sarcomere Structure

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Anatomy of Skeletal Muscles

Figure 9.5 Levels of Functional Organization in a Skeletal Muscle Fiber

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Layers of of
Anatomy a Muscle
Skeletal Muscles
 Layers of a Muscle
 Breakdown skeletal muscle from large to small

Anatomy of Muscle Review

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M
Anatomy of Skeletal Muscles
 Thin and Thick Filaments
 Each thin filament consists of a twisted strand of several
interacting proteins 5–6 nm in diameter and 1 μm in length.
 Troponin holds the tropomyosin strand in place.
 Thick filaments are 10–12 nm in diameter and 1.6 μm in
length, making them much larger than thin filaments.

Thin Filament

Troponin

Thick Filament

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Anatomy of Skeletal Muscles

Figure 9.6 Thin and Thick Filaments

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Muscle Contraction

 Contracting muscle fibers exert a pull, or

tension, and shorten in length.
 Caused by interactions between thick and
thin filaments in each sarcomere
 Triggered by presence of calcium ions
 Contraction itself requires the presence of
ATP.

Muscle Contraction

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Muscle Contraction

 The Sliding Filament Theory

 Explains the following changes that occur between
thick and thin filaments during contraction:
 The H band and I band get smaller.
 The zone of overlap gets larger.
 The Z lines move closer together.
 The width of the A band remains constant throughout
the contraction.

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Muscle Contraction

Figure 9.7 Changes in the Appearance of a Sarcomere during

Contraction of a Skeletal Muscle Fiber
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Muscle Contraction

Figure 9.8 The Effect of Sarcomere Length on Tension

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M
Muscle Contraction
 The Start of a Contraction
 Triggered by calcium ions in the sarcoplasm
 Electrical events at the sarcolemmal surface
 Trigger the release of calcium ions from the terminal
cisternae
 The calcium ions diffuse into the zone of overlap and
bind to troponin.
 Troponin changes shape, alters the position of the
tropomyosin strand, and exposes the active sites on the
actin molecules.

Calcium and Troponin Interaction

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Muscle Contraction

Figure 9.9 The Orientation of the Sarcoplasmic Reticulum, T

Tubules, and Individual Sarcomeres
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Muscle Contraction

 The End of a Contraction

 When electrical stimulation ends:
 The SR will recapture the Ca2+ ions.
 The troponin–tropomyosin complex will cover the
active sites.
 And, the contraction will end.

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Muscle Contraction

Figure 9.10 The Neuromuscular Synapse

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Muscle Contraction

Figure 9.11 The Events in Muscle Contraction

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Motor Units and Muscle Control

Figure 9.12 The Arrangement of Motor Units in a Skeletal

Muscle
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Motor Units and Muscle Control

 Muscle Tone
 Some of the motor units of muscles are always
contracting, producing a resting tension in a
skeletal muscle that is called muscle tone.
 Resting muscle tone stabilizes the position of
bones and joints.

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Motor Units and Muscle Control
 Muscle Hypertrophy and Atrophy
 Exercise causes increases in
 Number of mitochondria
 Concentration of glycolytic enzymes
 Glycogen reserves
 Myofibrils
 Each myofibril contains a larger number of thick and thin
filaments.
 The net effect is an enlargement, or hypertrophy, of the
stimulated muscle.
 Disuse of a muscle results in the opposite, called
atrophy.

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Types of Skeletal Muscle Fibers

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Types of Skeletal Muscle Fibers

 The features of fast fibers, or white fibers, are:

 Large in diameter—due to many densely packed
myofibrils
 Large glycogen reserves
 Relatively few mitochondria
 Their mitochondria are unable to meet the demand.
 Fatigue easily
 Can contract in 0.01 seconds or less following
stimulation

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Types of Skeletal Muscle Fibers
 Slow fibers, or red fibers, features are
 Only about half the diameter of fast fibers
 Take three times as long to contract after
stimulation
 Contain abundant mitochondria
 Use aerobic metabolism
 Have a more extensive network of capillaries than
do muscles dominated by fast muscle fibers.
 Red color because they contain the red pigment
myoglobin

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Types of Skeletal Muscle Fibers
 Intermediate fibers have properties
intermediate between those of fast fibers and
slow fibers.
 Intermediate fibers contract faster than slow fibers
but slower than fast fibers.
 Intermediate fibers are similar to fast fibers except
 They have more mitochondria.
 They have a slightly increased capillary supply.
 They have a greater resistance to fatigue.

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Types of Skeletal Muscle Fibers

Figure 9.14 Skeletal Muscle Fiber Organization (Parallel Muscle)

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Types of Skeletal Muscle Fibers

Figure 9.14 Skeletal Muscle Fiber Organization (Convergent Muscle)

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Types of Skeletal Muscle Fibers

Figure 9.14 Skeletal Muscle Fiber Organization (Unipennate Muscle)

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Types of Skeletal Muscle Fibers

Figure 9.14 Skeletal Muscle Fiber Organization (Bipennate Muscle)

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Types of Skeletal Muscle Fibers

Figure 9.14 Skeletal Muscle Fiber Organization (Multipennate Muscle)

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Types of Skeletal Muscle Fibers

Figure 9.14 Skeletal Muscle Fiber Organization (Circular Muscle)

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Muscle Terminology

 Origin remains stationary

 Insertion moves
 Commonly the origin is proximal to the insertion.
 If the muscle extends from a broad aponeurosis to a
narrow tendon:
 Aponeurosis = origin
 Tendon = insertion
 If there are several tendons at one end and just one at
the other:
 Multiple = origins
 Single = insertion

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Muscle Terminology

 Muscle Actions
 There are two methods of describing actions.
 The first references the bone region affected.
 For example, the biceps brachii muscle is said to perform
―flexion of the forearm.‖
 The second method specifies the joint involved.
 For example, the action of the biceps brachii muscle is
described as ―flexion of the elbow.‖

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Muscle Terminology
 Muscles can be grouped according to their
primary actions into three types:
 Prime movers (agonists): are muscles chiefly
responsible for producing a particular movement
 Synergists: assist the prime mover in performing
that action
 If a synergist stabilizes the origin of the agonist, it is
called a fixator.
 Antagonists: are muscles whose actions oppose
that of the agonist
 If the agonist produces flexion, the antagonist will
produce extension.

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Muscle Terminology

 Muscles are named for:

 Specific body regions  Specific or unusual
 Brachialis
features
 Biceps (two origins)
 Shape of the muscle  Identification of
 Trapezius origin and insertion
 Orientation of muscle  Sternocleidomastoid
fibers  Primary functions
 Flexor carpi radialis
 Rectus, transverse,
oblique  References to actions
 Buccinator

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Levers and Pulleys: A Systems Design for Movement

 First-class levers
 Second-class levers
 Characteristics of second-class levers are:
 The force is magnified.
 The resistance moves more slowly and covers a shorter distance.
 Third-class levers
 The characteristics of the third-class lever are:
 Speed and distance traveled are increased.
 The force produced must be great.

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Levers and Pulleys: A Systems Design for Movement

 Although every muscle does not operate as

part of a lever system, the presence of levers
provides speed and versatility far in excess of
what we would predict on the basis of muscle
physiology alone.

Levers

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Levers and Pulleys: A Systems Design for Movement

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Levers and Pulleys: A Systems Design for Movement

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Levers and Pulleys: A Systems Design for Movement

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Levers and Pulleys: A Systems Design for Movement

Figure 9.16 Anatomical Pulleys

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Aging and the Muscular System

 Skeletal muscle fibers become smaller in diameter.

 Skeletal muscles become smaller in diameter and less

elastic.

 Tolerance for exercise decreases.

 The ability to recover from muscular injuries

decreases.

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Aging and the Muscular System

Figure 9.17 The Life Cycle of Trichinella spiralis

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