HISTOLOGY

CHAPTER 10: MUSCLE TISSUE

OUTLINE Organization of a Skeletal Muscle
Muscle Tissue
Skeletal Muscle  Epimysium – an external sheath of dense irregular
Organization of a Skeletal Muscle connective tissue; surrounds the entire muscle
Organization within Muscle Fibers
Sarcoplasmic Reticulum & Transverse Tubule System
 Perimysium – a thin connective tissue layer that
Mechanism of Contraction immediately surrounds each bundle of muscle fibers
Innervation termed a fascicle
Muscle Spindles & Tendon Organs  Endomysium – a very thin delicate layer of reticular
Skeletal Muscle Fiber Types
fibers that surrounds the external lamina of
Cardiac Muscle
Smooth Muscle individual muscle fibers
Regeneration of Muscle Tissue  Myotendinous junctions – joins the muscle to bone,
skin, or another muscle
Muscle Tissue
 Muscle tissue – composed of cells that optimize the
universal cell property of contractility
 Three types of muscle tissue can be distinguished on
the basis of morphologic and functional
characteristics, with the structure of each adapted to
its physiological role
o Skeletal Muscle – contains bundles of very
long, multinucleated cells with cross-
striation; their contraction is quick, forceful,
and usually under voluntary control
o Cardiac Muscle – has cross-striations and is
composed of elongated, often branched cells
bound to one another at structures called
intercalated discs which are unique to
cardiac muscle; contraction is involuntary,
vigorous and rhythmic
o Smooth Muscle – consists of collections of
fusiform cells which lack striations and have
slow, involuntary contraction Figure 2. Organization of Skeletal muscle

Organization Within Muscle Fibers

 Myofibrils – long cylindrical filament bundles that
run parallel to the long axis of the fiber
 A bands – darker bands on the myofibrils
(anisotropic or birefringent in polarized light
microscopy)
 I bands – light bands (isotropic, do not alter
polarized light)
Figure 1. Three types of muscles  Z disc – a dark transverse line that bisects the I band
 Sarcomere – repetitive functional subunit of the
Skeletal Muscle contractile apparatus; extends from Z disc to Z disc
 Skeletal (Striated) muscle – consists of muscle  Thick myofilament – composed of myosin, a large
fibers, which are long, cylindrical multinucleated complex with two identical heavy chains and two
cells with diameters of 10-100 μm; during pairs of light chains
embryonic muscle development, mesenchymal  Thin myofilament – contains F-actin
myoblasts fuse, forming myotubes with many nuclei
 G-actin – contains binding site for myosin
that further differentiate to form striated muscle
 Tropomyosin – a 40 nm long coil of two polypeptide
fibers
chains located in the groove between the two twisted
 Muscle satellite cells – reserve progenitor cells that
actin strands
remain adjacent to most fibers of differentiated
skeletal muscle

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 Troponin – a complex of three subunits: TnT,  Sarcoplasmic Reticulum – contains pumps and other
attaches to tropomyosin; TnC, binds to Ca and TnI, protein for Ca2+ sequestration and surrounds the
regulates the actin-myosin interaction myofibrils
 Transverse or T-tubules – tubular infoldings; long
fingerlike invaginations of the cell membrane that
penetrate deeply into the sarcoplasm and encircle
each myofibril near the aligned A- and I- band
boundaries of sarcomeres
 Triad – composed of a T-tubule with two terminal
cisternae; allows the depolarization of the
sarcolemma in a T-tubule to affect the sarcoplasmic
reticulum and trigger release of Ca 2+ ions into
cytoplasm around the thick and thin filaments, which
initiates contraction of sarcomeres

Figure 3. Molecules composing thin and thick filaments

 α-actinin – actin-binding protein

 Titin – largest protein in the body; with scaffolding
and elastic properties which supports the thick
myofilaments and connects the to the Z disc
 Nebulin – binds each thin myofilament laterally;
helps anchor them to α-actinin and specifies the
length of the actin polymers during myogenesis
 H zone – a region with only the rodlike portions of Figure 5. Organization of a Skeletal Muscle fiber
the myosin molecule and no thin filaments
 M line – bisects the H zone; contains a myosin- Mechanism of Contraction
binding protein myomesin that holds the thick  Contraction is induced when an action potential
filaments in place, and creatine kinase arrives at a synapse, the neuromuscular junction
(NMJ), and is transmitted along the T-tubules to
terminal cisternae of the sarcoplasmic reticulum to
trigger Ca2+ release

Figure 4. Structure of a myofibril

Sarcoplasmic Reticulum & Transverse Tubule

System

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HISTOLOGY 2ND SEMESTER (AY 2022-2023)

 Motor unit – made up of a single axon and all the

muscle fibers in contact with its branches
Muscle Spindle & Tendon Organs
 Muscle Spindles – stretch detectors; approximately 2
mm long and 0.1 mm wide; encapsulated by
modified perimysium, with concentric layers of
flattened cells containing interstitial fluid
o Intrafusal fibers – thin muscle fibers filled
with nuclei
 Golgi tendon organ – detect changes in tension
within tendons produced by muscle contraction;
inhibits motor nerve activity if tension becomes
excessive
 Both help to regulate the amount of effort required
to perform movements that call for variable amounts
of muscular force

Innervation Figure 6. Sensory Receptors associated with skeletal muscles

 Myelinated motor nerves branch out within the
perimysium where each nerve gives rise to several Skeletal Muscle Fiber Types
unmyelinated terminal twigs that pass through the  Types of fibers can be identified on the basis of:
endomysium and forms synapses with individual o maximal rate of contraction (fast or slow
muscle fibers
fibers)
 Motor end plates (MEP) – dilated termination o major pathway for ATP synthesis (oxidative
situated within the trough on the muscle cell surface
phosphorylation or glycolysis)
 Synaptic cleft – located between the axon and the
 Slow oxidative muscle fibers are adapted for slow
muscle
contractions over long periods without fatigue,
 Junctional folds – provide for greater postsynaptic having many mitochondria, many surrounding
surface area and more transmembrane acetylcholine capillaries, and much myoglobin, all features that
receptors make fresh tissue rich in these fibers dark or red in
 Acetylcholine – a neurotransmitter color
 Nerve action potential – when it reaches the MEP  Fast glycolytic fibers are specialized for rapid,
acetylcholine is liberated from the axon terminal, short-term contraction, having few mitochondria or
diffuses across the cleft, and bind to its receptors in capillaries and depending largely on anaerobic
the folded sarcolemma metabolism of glucose derived from stored
 Acetylcholine Receptor – contains nonselective glycogen, features which make such fibers appear
cation channel that opens upon neurotransmitter white. Rapid contractions lead to rapid fatigue as
binding, allowing the influx of cations, depolarizing lactic acid produced by glycolysis accumulates
the sarcolemma, and producing muscle action  Fast oxidative-glycolytic fibers have physiological
potential and histological features intermediate between those
 Acetylcholinesterase – enzyme that removes free of the other two types.
neurotransmitter (acetylcholine) from the synaptic
cleft preventing prolonged contact of the Slow, Oxidative Fast, Oxidative- Fast, Glycolytic
Fibers (Type I) Glycolytic Fibers Fibers (Type IIb)
neurotransmitter with its receptor (Type IIa)
Mitochondria Numerous Numerous Sparse

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HISTOLOGY 2ND SEMESTER (AY 2022-2023)
Capillaries Numerous Numerous Sparse
Fiber diameter Small Intermediate Large
Size of motor Small Intermediate Large
unit
Myoglobin High (red fibers) High (red fibers) Low (white
content fibers)
Glycogen content Low Intermediate High
Major source of Oxidative Oxidative Anaerobic
ATP Phosphorylation Phosphorylation glycolysis
Glycolytic Low Intermediate High
enzyme activity
Rate of fatigue Slow Intermediate Fast
Myosin-ATPase Low High High
activity
Speed of Slow Fast Fast
contraction
Typical major Postural muscles Major muscles of Extraocular
locations of back legs muscles

Cardiac Muscle Figure 8. Smooth muscle

 Cardiac muscle cells – form complex junctions
between interdigitating processes; 15-30 μm in
diameter and 85-120 μm long with striated banding Regeneration of Muscle Tissue
pattern comparable to that of skeletal muscle  Skeletal muscle – display limited regeneration
 Intercalated discs – represent the interfaces between o Satellite cells – inactive, reserve myoblasts
adjacent cells and consist of many junctional which persist after muscle differentiation
complexes; composed of desmosomes and fascia  Cardiac muscle – lacks satellite cells and shows very
adherens junctions which provide strong little regenerative capacity beyond early childhood;
intercellular adhesion damage to heart muscle are generally replaced by
 Gap junctions – provide ionic continuity between proliferating fibroblast and growth of connective
cells; serve as electrical synapses promoting rapid tissue
impulse conduction through many cardiac muscle  Smooth muscle – composed of simpler, smaller,
cells simultaneously and contraction of many mononucleated cells; capable of a more active
adjacent cells as a unit regenerative response
 Cardiac muscle contraction is intrinsic and
spontaneous

Comparisons of the Three Types Of Muscles

Skeletal Cardiac Smooth

Fibers Single Aligned cells in Single small,

multinucleated branching closely packed
cells arrangement fusiform cells
Cell/fiber shape Cylindrical, 10- Cylindrical, 10-20 Fusiform, diameter
and size 100 μm in μm diameter, 50- 0.2-10 μm, length
diameter, many 100 μm long 50-200 μm
cm long
Striations Present Present Absent
Location of Peripheral, Central Central, at widest
nuclei adjacent to part of cell
Figure 7. Cardiac muscle sarcolemma
T tubules Center of triads at In dyads at Z discs Absent; caveolae
A-I junctions may be functionally
Smooth Muscle similar
 Smooth muscle – specialized for slow, steady Sarcoplasmic Well-developed, Less well- Irregular smooth
reticulum with two terminal developed, one muscle ER without
contraction under the influence of autonomic nerves cisterns per small terminal distinctive
sarcomere in triads cistern per organization
and various hormones; range in length from 20-500 with T tubule sarcomere in dyad
μm, diameter 5-10 μm single elongated nucleus with T tubule
Special Very well- Intercalated discs Gap junction,
 Smooth muscle acting filaments are associated with structural organized joining cell, with caveolae, dense
calmodulin and calcium sensitive myosin light-chain features sarcomeres, SR, many adherent and bodies
and transverse gap junctions
kinase (MLCK) to produce contraction tubule system
 Dense bodies – functionally similar to the Z discs of Control
contraction
of Troponin C binds
Ca, moving
Similar to that of
skeletal muscle
Actin-myosin
binding occurs with
striated and cardiac muscle tropomyosin and myosin
exposing actin for phosphorylation by
myosin binding MLCK triggered
when calmodulin
bonds Ca

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HISTOLOGY 2ND SEMESTER (AY 2022-2023)
Connective Endomysium, Endomysium; Endomysium and
tissue perimysium and subendocardial and less-organized CT
organization epimysium subpericardial CT sheaths
layer
Major locations Skeletal muscles, Heart Blood vessels,
tongue, digestive and
diaphragm, eyes respiratory tracts,
and upper uterus, bladder and
esophagus other organs
Key function Voluntary Automatic Involuntary
movements (involuntary) movements
pumping of blood
Efferent Motor Autonomic Autonomic
innervation
Contractions All-or-none, All-or-none Involuntary
triggered at motor intrinsic (beginning movements
end plates at nodes of
conducting fibers)
Cell response to Hypertrophy Hypertrophy Hypertrophy and
increase load (increase in fiber hyperplasia
size) (increase in
cell/fiber number)
Capacity for Limited involving Very poor Good, involving
regeneration satellite cells mitotic activity of
mainly muscle cells

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