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Cardiac muscle Cardiac sarcomere structure . Cardiac muscle tissue or myocardium forms the bulk of the heart. The heart wall is a three-layered structure with a thick layer of myocardium sandwiched between the inner endocardium and the outer epicardium (also known as the visceral pericardium).
T-tubules (transverse tubules) are extensions of the cell membrane that penetrate into the center of skeletal and cardiac muscle cells.With membranes that contain large concentrations of ion channels, transporters, and pumps, T-tubules permit rapid transmission of the action potential into the cell, and also play an important role in regulating cellular calcium concentration.
Intercalated discs are complex structures that connect adjacent cardiac muscle cells. The three types of cell junction recognised as making up an intercalated disc are desmosomes, fascia adherens junctions, and gap junctions. [2] Fascia adherens are anchoring sites for actin, and connect to the closest sarcomere. [3]
The fibres of striated muscle have a cylindrical shape with blunt ends, whereas those in smooth muscle are spindle-like with tapered ends. Striated muscle tissue has more mitochondria than smooth muscle. Both smooth muscle cells and cardiac muscle cells have a single nucleus, and skeletal muscle cells have many nuclei. [6]
[4] [5] Skeletal muscle cells and cardiac muscle cells both contain myofibrils and sarcomeres and form a striated muscle tissue. [6] Cardiac muscle cells form the cardiac muscle in the walls of the heart chambers, and have a single central nucleus. [7] Cardiac muscle cells are joined to neighboring cells by intercalated discs, and when joined ...
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 ...
Their fractal branching pattern helps to maintain cardiac performance in both healthy and failing hearts by increasing contractility and stroke work. [3] Trabecular morphology is also important to intraventricular conduction, suggesting these complex structures are involved in cardiac electrophysiology as well as mechanical function. [ 4 ]
When two independently beating embryonic cardiac muscle cells are placed together, the cell with the higher inherent rate sets the pace, and the impulse spreads from the faster to the slower cell to trigger a contraction. As more cells are joined, the fastest cell continues to assume control of the rate. A fully developed adult heart maintains ...