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Smooth muscle is grouped into two types: single-unit smooth muscle, also known as visceral smooth muscle, and multiunit smooth muscle. Most smooth muscle is of the single-unit type, and is found in the walls of most internal organs (viscera); and lines blood vessels (except large elastic arteries), the urinary tract , and the digestive tract .
A depiction of a slow wave, contraction and electrical threshold in relation to smooth muscle tone and resting membrane potential.. Gastric slow waves occur at around 3 cycles-per-minute in humans and exhibit significance variances in both amplitudes and propagation velocities in the stomach [8] [9] [10] due to the existence of a gradient of resting membrane potential gradient, [11 ...
A corpus cavernosum penis (singular) (from Latin, characterised by "cavities/ hollows" [2] of the penis, pl.: corpora cavernosa) is one of a pair of sponge-like regions of erectile tissue, which contain most of the blood in the penis of several animals during an erection.
The basal electrical rhythm allows the smooth muscle cell to depolarize and contract rhythmically when exposed to hormonal signals. This action potential is transmitted to other smooth muscle cells via gap junctions, creating a peristaltic wave. The specific mechanism for the contraction of smooth muscle in the GI tract depends upon IP3R ...
The sarcoplasmic reticulum is a network of the tubules that extend throughout muscle cells, wrapping around (but not in direct contact with) the myofibrils (contractile units of the cell). Cardiac and skeletal muscle cells contain structures called transverse tubules (T-tubules), which are extensions of the cell membrane that travel into the ...
The unusual microscopic anatomy of a muscle cell gave rise to its terminology. The cytoplasm in a muscle cell is termed the sarcoplasm; the smooth endoplasmic reticulum of a muscle cell is termed the sarcoplasmic reticulum; and the cell membrane in a muscle cell is termed the sarcolemma. [9] The sarcolemma receives and conducts stimuli.
The vessels on the arterial side of the microcirculation are called the arterioles, which are well innervated, are surrounded by smooth muscle cells, and are 10-50 μm in diameter. [2] Arterioles carry the blood to the capillaries , which are not innervated, have no smooth muscle, and are about 5-8 μm in diameter.
Mural cells were described for the first time in the late 19th century as contractile cells lining up around the endothelium. In reality, it was a variety of cells that had been observed and bundled up under the common name of Rouget cells. Later studies brought controversy about their contractility, and this remains an elusive point today. [4]