Bio-254 Experiments in Animal Physiology

Muscle is a very specialized tissue that has both the ability to

contract and the ability to conduct electrical impulses.

Muscle tissue; voluntary

involuntary
Types of muscle tissue due to structure;

- smooth involuntary (smooth) muscle, - striated voluntary (skeletal) muscle - striated involuntary (cardiac) muscle.

 Specific nomenclature associated with muscle commonly

involves the prefix sarco- or myo- . - The cytoplasm of muscle fibers or cells is called sarcoplasm. - The endoplasmic reticulum of fibers or cells is called sarcoplasmic reticulum. - The plasmalemma of fibers or cells is called the sarcolemma. - Individual muscle cells are called myocytes.

 The smooth muscle fibers (myocytes)

are spindle-shaped. The myocytes have one centrally located nucleus. Do no have striations . Lack clearly defined bands of actin and myosin. Its contraction is not under conscious nervous control, referred to as involuntary muscle. The involuntary activity is controlled by autonomic nerves and circulating hormones.

 Slow contractions Little fatigue Low O2 use

Figure 12-24: Duration of muscle contraction in three types of muscle

 abundant throughout the internal organs of the body

especially in regions such as; - in the walls of the digestive tract. - in the walls of the respiratory tracts. - in the walls of blood vessels. - in the dermis of the skin. - in the eye (iris diaphragm). - in the wall of the uterus.

- control the diameter of arterioles and help regulate blood -

pressure. form muscle sphincters at branches of the vascular tree and determine the distribution of blood to different capillary beds. regulate the size and internal pressure of hollow organs. protect the internal organs. propelling the content of the internal organs. help to mix the chyme with the intestinal juice in the stomach, and in the intestine.

 Two types of smooth muscles are distinguished:

unitary s.m. and multiunit s.m.

 Unitary S.M.; display electrical pacemaker activity, and response

to stretch with increased tension. The extrinsic innervation is poor, but the cells are electrically coupled by numerous gap junctions, so that activity, once initiated, spreads rapidly throughout the whole muscle layer, thus the multicellular muscle act as a single unit.
eg. in the walls alimentary tract

 Contractile activity of intestinal smooth muscles is responsible

for the tonic basal tension of the intestinal walls, for slow peristaltic contractions propelling the content, and for more frequent contractions of smaller amplitude referred to as rhythmic segmentation, involved with mixing the chyme and intestinal juices.
Conditions inhibiting Na/K pump, i.e. hypoxia, low temperature,

and treatment with cardiac glycosides depress slow-wave activity of smooth muscles. Conversely, slow waves are enhanced by conditions that stimulate sodium pumping, such as elevated temperature.

 Slow wave depolarizations appear to be generated also through

neural influences, including cholinergic intramural or enteric (within the intestine wall) nerve plexuses;

Application of acetylcholine (ACh), or Ach agonist e.g., eserine (inhibitor of ACh degrading enzyme: acetylcholine esterase) increases intestine motility,

Administration of ACh antagonist e.g., atropine (muscarinic

receptor blocker) slows it down.

 Multiunit S.M.; have motor units that resemble those of skeletal

muscle, and contractile tension is graded by variation in the number of active units. Intermediate between single unit smooth and skeletal muscles. Fibers are structurally independent, and there is little or no spread of activity from cell to cell.
eg. in the walls of the blood vessels, internal eye muscles

 Step 1. Wave of depolarization

along membrane from the neuromuscular junction or adjacent cells. Step 2. Calcium is released from caveolae and endoplasmic reticulum Step 3. Calcium binds to calmodulin Step 4. Calcium-calmodulin complex activates and unfolds myosin light chain kinase

 Step 5. ATP is used to

phosphorylate myosin light chain kinase (this is unique to smooth muscle). Step 6. Phosphorylated light chain kinase is activated so it can bind actin. Step 7. Works like an ATPase to bind actin and move along the F actin chain.
! Smooth muscle myosin has a lower ATPase activity ; corresponding to slower rate of contractions of smooth muscles !

 In short, this works like the

sliding filament to contract the muscle cells.

Intermediate filaments

(desmin and vimentin) help with the contraction by pulling the cell ends in (shortening the cell).

 What are the differences and similarities between the

skeletal muscle and the cardiac muscle with the smooth muscle, in terms of structure and mechanism of contraction???

 Biopac Student Lab System Smooth muscle from the rats intestine Tyrods solution Isolated organ bath Adrenaline

Eserine (Physostigmine)
Acetylcholine Atropine Oxygen source

A. Preparation

- Pith the rat.

- Dissect a portion of small intestine from rat.
- Put Tyrods sln into the organ bath. - Keep the system at 370C.

- Place the isolated portion of

intestine into the organ bath.

- Adjust the screw clamp on

the aeration tubing

B. Recording normal activity C. Effect of Tension D. Effect of Removal of Air Supply E. Effect of Temperature F. Effect of Drugs - adrenalin sln.

- acetylcholine sln. - eserine sln. - atropine sln.

 Two types of nerves help to control the action of the digestive

system. Intrinsic (inside) nerves, embedded in the walls of the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and colon. The intrinsic nerves are triggered to act when the walls of the hollow organs are stretched by food. They release many different substances that speed up or delay the movement of food and the production of juices by the digestive organs. Extrinsic (outside) nerves come to the digestive organs from the unconscious part of the brain or from the spinal cord. They release a chemical called acetylcholine and another called adrenaline.

 Acetylcholine activates muscles by binds to acetylcholine

receptors on skeletal muscle fibers, it opens ligand-gated sodium channels in the cell membrane. Sodium ions then enter the muscle cell, initiating a sequence of steps that finally produce muscle contraction.
Adrenaline functions result from its binding to a variety of

adrenergic receptors It participates in the fight-or-flight response , and cause smooth muscle cells to relax.

 Physostigmine (eserine) acts by interfering with the metabolism

of acetylcholine. It is an inhibitor of Acetylcholinesterase, the enzyme responsible for the breakdown of acetylcholine in the synpatic cleft of the neuromuscular junction. (Ach agonists)
Atropine lowers the parasympathetic activity of all muscles

and glands regulated by the parasympathetic nervous system, because atropine is a competitive antagonist of the muscarinic acetylcholine receptors. They block the acetylcholine receptors. (ACh antagonists)