Muscular System Flashcards Preview

ESA1 - Body Logistics > Muscular System > Flashcards

Flashcards in Muscular System Deck (95)
Loading flashcards...
1
Q

What is myalgia?

A

Muscle pain

2
Q

What is myasthenia?

A

Weakness of the muscles

3
Q

What is the myocardium?

A

Muscular component of the heart

4
Q

What is myopathy?

A

Any disease of the muscles

5
Q

What is myoclonus?

A

A sudden spasm of the muscles

6
Q

What is the sarcolemma?

A

Outer membrane of a muscle cell

7
Q

What is the sarcoplasm?

A

Cytoplasm of a muscle cell

8
Q

What is the sarcoplasmic reticulum

A

The smooth ER of a muscle cell

9
Q

What are the three forms of muscle?

A

Cardiac, smooth and skeletal

10
Q

Which forms of muscle are striated?

A

Skeletal and cardiac

11
Q

Which forms of muscle are non-striated?

A

Smooth

12
Q

What is the cell length of skeletal muscle?

A

1mm-20cm

13
Q

What is the cell length of cardiac muscle?

A

50-100 micrometres

14
Q

What is the cell length of smooth muscle?

A

20-200 micrometres (but up to 0.5mm in uterus)

15
Q

What is the cell diameter of skeletal muscle?

A

10-100 micometres

16
Q

What is the cell diameter of cardiac muscle?

A

10-20 micrometres

17
Q

What is the cell diameter of smooth muscle?

A

5-10 micrometres

18
Q

What is the cell morphology of skeletal muscle?

A

Long parallel cylinders
Multiple peripheral nuclei
Striations

19
Q

What is the cell morphology of cardiac muscle?

A

Short branched cylinders
Single central nucleus
Striations

20
Q

What is the cell morphology of smooth muscle?

A

Spindle shaped
Tapering ends
Single central nucleus
No striations

21
Q

On the basis of certain stains, which three fibre types have been found in skeletal muscle?

A

Narrower red fibres
Intemediate pink fibres
Wider white fibres

22
Q

Which muscle fibre type has numerous mitochondria and rich vascularisation?

A

Red

23
Q

Which muscle fibre type is involved in faster, stronger contractions?

A

White

24
Q

Which enzymes are red fibres rich in?

A

Oxidative enzymes. Poor in ATPase

25
Q

Which muscle fibre type has more neuromuscular junctions?

A

White

26
Q

Where are the typical locations of red fibres?

A

Limb muscles, postural muscles of back

27
Q

Where are the typical locations of white fibres?

A

Extraocular muscles, muscles controlling fingers

28
Q

What is myoglobin?

A

A red protein containing haem, functioning as an oxygen-storing molecule providing oxygen to the working muscles

29
Q

Where is myoglobin present?

A

In skeletal and cardiac muscle but not smooth

30
Q

When does haemoglobin often give up oxygen to myoglobin?

A

When pH is lowered - active muscles produce CO2/lactic acid which results in more acidic conditions that promotes this transfer

31
Q

If there are many nuclei and they are peripheral, which type of muscle is it?

A

Skeletal

32
Q

What is the perimysium?

A

Connective tissue carrying nerves and blood vessels that surrounds a fascicle (bundle of muscle fibres)

33
Q

What are the dark longitudinal streaks in a histological slide of skeletal muscle fibres?

A

Mitochondria

34
Q

What is a striated muscle cell called?

A

Muscle fibre

35
Q

What is a myofibril?

A

Any of the elongated contractile threads found in striated muscle cells.

36
Q

Which are the thin filaments in muscle fibres?

A

Actin, tropomyosin, troponin

37
Q

Which is the thick filament in muscle fibres?

A

Myosin

38
Q

What is the A band?

A

The comparatively dark area entirely within a sarcomere. This area is composed of thick filaments and thin filaments.

39
Q

What is the I band?

A

The lighter areas alternating with A-Bands; these areas straddle the Z-line and are composed of thin filaments

40
Q

What is the H zone?

A

A subdivision of the A-Band in the center of the sarcomere where only thick filaments are present

41
Q

Where do thin filaments attach?

A

Z line

42
Q

Where do thick filaments attach?

A

Span the A band

43
Q

What is the Z line?

A

The partitions within a muscle fibre that section it into sarcomeres.

44
Q

What is the sarcomere?

A

The portion of a muscle fibre between two successive Z-lines.

45
Q

What happens when destruction of muscles > replacement?

A

Atrophy

46
Q

What happens when replacement of muscles > destruction?

A

Hypertrophy

47
Q

What does disuse atrophy involve?

A

Loss of protein, reduced fibre diameter, loss of power

48
Q

When do muscles start to atrophy with age?

A

+30 years old

49
Q

How much loss of muscle is there by 80 years old?

A

50%

50
Q

What does hypertrophy involve?

A

More contractile proteins, increase in fibre diameter, more power

51
Q

What happens to the I band during contraction?

A

Shrinks

52
Q

What happens to the A band during contraction?

A

Does not shrink

53
Q

What happens to the H zone during contraction?

A

Shrinks

54
Q

How is muscle length adjusted?

A

Increases by frequent stretching (addition of sarcomeres)

55
Q

What is thought to often feature in some cardiac pathologies eg enlarged ventricles?

A

Overstretching, such that the A and I filaments can no longer re-engage

56
Q

What is used as a marker for cardiac ischaemia?

A

Troponin assays

57
Q

How soon is troponin released from ischaemic cardiac muscle?

A

Within an hour

58
Q

How soon must you measure troponin levels after cardiac ischaemia?

A

Within 20 hours

59
Q

True or False:

Quantity of troponin is proportional to degree of damage

A

False

60
Q

What is creatine kinase?

A

An important enzyme in metabolically active tissues like muscle

61
Q

What can creatine kinase be used to diagnose?

A

Heart attacks (MIs)

62
Q

True or False:

Creatine kinase increase is largely proportional to infarct size

A

True

63
Q

What can a rise in plasma creatine kinase also result from?

A

Intramuscular injection, vigorous exercise, a fall (especially in the elderly), rhabdomyolysis, muscula dystrophy and acute kidney injury

64
Q

What does each thick filament consist of?

A

Many myosin molecules, whose heads protrude at opposite ends of the filament

65
Q

What does the actin filament fom?

A

A helix with tropomyosin molecules coiled around it

66
Q

What is attached to each tropomyosin molecule?

A

Troponin complex

67
Q

What happens when increased amounts of ionic calcium bind to TnC of troponin?

A

A conformational change that moves tropomyosin away from actin’s binding sites - allowing myosin heads to bind actin and contraction to begin

68
Q

As the myosin head pivots and bends, pulling the actin filament, what is released?

A

ADP and Pi

69
Q

When new ATP attaches to the myosin head, what happens?

A

The cross bridge detaches

70
Q

As ATP is splt into ADP and Pi in the last step of muscle contraction, what happens?

A

Cocking of the myosin head occurs

71
Q

What is the rigor configuration?

A

Myosin head tightly bound to actin molecule

72
Q

What causes rigor mortis?

A

Lack of ATP that thus perpetuates the tight binding of the myosin head to actin

73
Q

What are the stages of muscle contraction?

A

Myosin head attaches to actin;

ATP binds the myosin head causing it to uncouple from actin;

Hydrolysis of ATP causes the uncoupled myosin head to bend and advance a short distance (5nm);

The myosin heaed binds weakly to actin filament causing release of Pi which strengthens binding and causes the power stroke in which the myosin head returns to its former position

ATP binds to the myosin head causing detachment from actin, myosin head binds tightly again and cycle repeats

74
Q

What is a t tubule?

A

A deep invagination of the sarcolemma

75
Q

What are the events leading to contraction of skeletal muscle?

A

1) Nerve impulse along motor neuron axon arrives at neuromuscular junction
2) Prompts release of acetylcholine into synaptic cleft causing local depolarization of sarcolemma
3) Voltage-gated sodium channels open causing sodium ions to enter the cell
4) General depolarization spreads over sarcolemma and into T tubules
5) Voltage sensor poteins of T tubule membrane change their conformation
6) Gated calcium ion release channels are activated
7) Calcium ions are rapidly released into sarcoplasm
8) Calcium ions bind to the TnC subunit of troponin, thus initiating the contraction cycle

76
Q

In cardiac muscle, distinct myofibrils are absent. What do the myofilaments form instead?

A

Actin and myosin form continuous masses in the cytoplasm

77
Q

In contrast to skeletal musscle, where do the T tubules of cardiac muscle lie in register with?

A

The Z bands, not the A-I junction

78
Q

What is hypertrophy of the cells?

A

Enlargement of individual cells

79
Q

What is hyperplasia of the cells?

A

Multiplication of the cells

80
Q

How do tissues increase in size?

A

Hypertrophy or hyperplasia

81
Q

What is the release of natriuretic peptdes by the heart usually in response to?

A

Heart failure - stimulated by atrial and ventricular distension

82
Q

What are the main physiological actions of natriuretic peptides?

A

Reduce arterial pressure by decreasing blood volume or vascular resistance

83
Q

What is Atrial Natriuretic Peptide (ANP)?

A

28 amino acid peptide that is synthesized, stored and eleased by atrial myocytes in response to atrial distension.

84
Q

In which states are elevated levels of ANP found in?

A

Hypervolemic states which occur in congestive heart failure

85
Q

What is Brain-type Natriuretic Peptide (BNP)?

A

32 amino acid peptide that is synthesised by the ventricles and brain.

86
Q

What does proteolysis of pro-BNP result in?

A

pro-BNP (108 amino acids) results in BNP (32 amino acids) and the N terminal piece of pro-BNP - NT-pro-BNP (76 amino acids)

87
Q

What are both BNP and NT-pro-BNP diagnostic markers for?

A

Heart failure

88
Q

What to natriuretic peptides serve as?

A

A counter-regulatory system for the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system

89
Q

What are Purkinje fibres?

A

Purkinje fibers are special fibers that are located in the atrioventricular, or AV, bundle of the heart. Their function is to send nerve impulses to the cells in the ventricles of the heart and cause them to contract and pump blood either to the lungs or the rest of the body.

90
Q

What do Purkinje fibres consist of?

A

Large cells with abundant glycogen, sparse myofilaments and extensive gap junction sites

91
Q

Does contraction still rely on actin-myosin interactions in smooth muscle?

A

Yes

92
Q

What are myoepithelial cells?

A

Modified smooth muscle cells forming a basketwork around the secretory units of some exocrine glands

93
Q

How does skeletal muscle tissue regenerate?

A

Mitotic activity of satellite cells so that hyperplasia follows muscle injury. Satellite cells can also fuse with existing muscle cells to increase mass

94
Q

Is cardiac muscle capable of regeneration?

A

No, following damage, fibroblasts invade, divide and lay down scar tissue

95
Q

Can smooth muscle cells divide?

A

Yes. Smooth muscle cells retain their mitotic activity and can form new smooth muscle cells