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Depiction of smooth muscle contraction. Muscle contraction is the activation of tension-generating sites within muscle cells. [1] [2] In physiology, muscle contraction does not necessarily mean muscle shortening because muscle tension can be produced without changes in muscle length, such as when holding something heavy in the same position. [1]
To elicit muscle contraction, the muscle is stimulated by a series of electrical pulses delivered by an electrode to stimulate either the motor nerve or the muscle tissue itself. Simultaneously, a computer-controlled servo motor in the testing apparatus oscillates the muscle while measuring the force generated by the stimulated muscle.
There are several mechanisms directly linked to the terminal cisternae which facilitate excitation-contraction coupling. When excitation of the membrane arrives at the T-tubule nearest the muscle fiber, a dihydropyridine channel (DHP channel) is activated. [2] This is similar to a voltage-gated calcium channel, but is not actually an ionotropic ...
These enzymes are important in the mechanism of contraction in muscle. Once there is an influx of calcium cations (Ca 2+) into the muscle, either from the sarcoplasmic reticulum or from the extracellular space, contraction of smooth muscle fibres may begin. First, the calcium will bind to calmodulin. [7]
Like skeletal muscle contractions, Calcium (Ca 2+) ions are required for polarization and depolarization through a voltage-gated calcium channel. The rapid influx of calcium into the cell signals for the cells to contract. When the calcium intake travels through an entire muscle, it will trigger a united muscular contraction.
It allows the motor neuron to transmit a signal to the muscle fiber, causing muscle contraction. [2] Muscles require innervation to function—and even just to maintain muscle tone, avoiding atrophy. In the neuromuscular system, nerves from the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system are linked and work together with muscles. [3]
When these cells are depolarized, the L-type calcium channels open as in smooth muscle. In skeletal muscle, the actual opening of the channel, which is mechanically gated to a calcium-release channel (a.k.a. ryanodine receptor, or RYR) in the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), causes opening of the RYR.
Skeletal muscle, is a type of striated muscle, composed of muscle cells, called muscle fibers, which are in turn composed of myofibrils. Myofibrils are composed of sarcomeres, the basic building blocks of striated muscle tissue. Upon stimulation by an action potential, skeletal muscles perform a coordinated contraction by shortening each sarcomere.