Muscle

A muscle is a group of muscle tissues which contract together to produce a force. A muscle consists of fibers
of muscle cells surrounded by protective tissue, bundled together many more fibers, all surrounded in a thick
protective tissue. A muscle uses ATP to contract and shorten, producing a force on the objects it is
connected to. There are several types of muscle, which act on various parts of the body. Muscular tissue is a
specialized tissue in animals which applies forces to different parts of the body by contraction. It is made up
of thin and elongated cells called muscle fibers. It controls the movement of an organism. The cytoplasm in
the muscle fibers is called sarcoplasm. It contains a network of membrane called the sarcoplasmic reticulum.
The membrane surrounding the muscle fibers is called sarcolemma.

Structure of Muscle: A muscle consists of many muscle tissues bundled together and surrounded
by epimysium, a tough connective tissue similar to cartilage. The epimysium surrounds bundles of nerve
cells that run in long fibers, called fascicles. These fascicles are surrounded by their own protective layer,
the perimysium. This layer allows nerves and blood to flow to the individual fibers. Each fiber is then
wrapped in an endomysium, another protective layer. As seen in the image below, a muscle is arranged in a
basic pattern of bundled fibers separated by protective layers.

These layers and bundles allow different parts of a muscle to contract differently. The protective layer
surrounding each bundle allows the different bundles to slide past one another as they contract. The
epimysium connects to tendons, which attach to the periosteum connective tissue that surrounds bones.
Being anchored to two bones allows movement of the skeleton when the muscle contracts. A different type
of muscle surrounds many organs, and the epimysium connects to other connective tissues to produces
forces on the organs, controlling everything from circulation to food processing.

Function of Muscle: Whether it is the largest muscle in your body or the tiny muscle controlling the
movement of your eye, every muscle functions in a similar manner. A signal is sent from the brain along a
bundle of nerves. The electronic and chemical message is passed quickly from nerve cell to nerve cell and
finally arrives at the motor end plate. This interface between the muscle and nerve cells releases a chemical
signal, acetylcholine, which tells the muscle fiber to contract. This message is distributed to all the cells in
the fiber connected to the nerve.
This signal causes the myosin proteins to grab onto the actin filaments around them. These are the purple
proteins in the image below. Myosin uses ATP as an energy source to crawl along the green filament, actin.
As you can see, the many small heads of the myosin fibers crawling along the actin filaments effectively
shortens the length of each muscle cell. The cells, which are connected end-to-end in long fibers, contract at
the same time and shorten the whole fiber. When a signal is sent to an entire muscle or group of muscles, the
resulting contraction results in movement or force being applied.

A muscle can be used in many different ways throughout the body. A certain muscle might contract rarely
with a lot of force, whereas a different muscle will contract continually with minimal force. Animals have
developed a plethora of uses for the forces a muscle can create. Muscles have evolved for flying, swimming,
and running. They have also evolved to be pumps used in the circulatory and digestive systems. The heart is
a specialized muscle, which is uses exclusively for pumping blood throughout the body. These different
types of muscle will be discussed below.

Types of Muscle
Skeletal Muscle: When you think of a muscle, most people generally think of a skeletal muscle. The biceps,
triceps, and quadriceps are all common names for muscles that body builders tend to focus on. In fact, these
general muscles are often composed of many small muscles that attach to different places to give a joint its
full range of motion. Skeletal muscle is a striated muscle. This means that each muscle fiber has striations,
or linear marks, which can be seen when this muscle is put under a microscope. The striations correspond to
the sarcomeres present in striated muscles, which are highly organized bundles of muscle cells which can
contract quickly in concert.
Skeletal muscle is controlled via the somatic nervous system, also known as the voluntary nervous system.
Point your finger to the ceiling. This is your somatic nervous system in action, controlling your skeletal
muscles.
 Cardiac Muscle: Cardiac muscle, while similar to skeletal muscle in some ways, is connected to
the autonomous nervous system. This system controls vital organs such as the heart and lungs and allows us
to not have to focus on pumping our heart each time it needs to beat. While there is a certain amount of
conscience control we have over the autonomous nervous system, it will always kick in when we are
unconscious. For instance, you can hold your breath if you like but you do not have to remember to breathe
all the time. Cardiac muscle surround the chambers of the heart and is used to pump blood through the body.
Cardiac muscle is similar to skeletal muscle in that it is striated. Unlike skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle
fibers are arranged in a branching pattern instead of a linear pattern. Both skeletal muscle and cardiac
muscle need to contract quickly and often, which is why the striations can be seen.

Smooth Muscle: Unlike skeletal and cardiac muscle, smooth muscle is not striated. This is because the
individual muscle cells are not perfectly aligned into sarcomeres. Instead, they are displaced throughout the
fibers. This gives smooth muscle the ability to contract for longer, although the contraction happens more
slowly. Consider the muscle that contracts the sphincter on your bladder. This muscle may need to stay
clamped shut for hours at a time and only gets a minute of relief when you go to the bathroom. Many other
smooth muscles operate in the same manner.
Like cardiac muscle, smooth muscle is mostly controlled by the autonomous nervous system. The many
muscles that line your digestive tract work together to move food through the digestive system. Muscles
attach to your hair follicles that all your hairs to stand up when it’s cold. Smooth muscle is almost
everywhere in your body and aids in everything from circulation to digestion.

Properties of Muscular Tissue

1. Contractibility– It is the ability of muscle cells to shorten forcefully.
2. Extensibility– A muscle has the ability to be stretched.
3. Elasticity– The muscles have the ability to recoil back to its original length after being stretched.
4. Excitability– The muscle tissue responds to a stimulus delivered from a motor neuron or hormone.

Structure of Muscular Tissue: The muscular tissues are bundled together and surrounded by a tough
connective tissue similar to cartilage known as epimysium. The bundles of nerve cells that run in long fibers
called fascicles are surrounded by the epimysium. The fascicles are surrounded by a protective layer known
as perimysium. It allows the flow of nerves and blood to the individual fibers. Another protective layer, the
endomysium surrounds the fibers. These layers and muscles help in the contraction of different parts of the
muscles. The different bundles slide past one another as they contract.
The epimysium connects to the tendons attached to the periosteum connective tissue that surrounds the
bones. This helps in the movement of the skeleton when the muscles contract. The epimysium connects to
other connective tissues to produce force on the organs and control everything from circulation to food
processing.
 Types of Muscular Tissue
The muscular tissue is of three types: (i) Skeletal Muscle Tissue (ii) Smooth Muscle Tissue (iii) Cardiac
Muscle Tissue
Skeletal Muscle Tissue
 These muscles are attached to the skeleton and help in its movement.
 These muscles are also known as striated muscles because of the presence of alternate patterns of light and
dark bands.
 These light and dark bands are sarcomeres which are highly organized structures of actin, myosin, and
proteins. These add to the contractibility and extensibility of the muscles.
 Skeletal muscles are voluntary muscles composed of muscle fibers.
 40% of our body mass comprises of skeletal muscles.
 Each skeletal tissue contains myofibrils.
 The cells of these tissues are multinucleated.
 These are provided with blood vessels and many elongated mitochondria and glycogen granules.
 They bring about the movement of the organs of the body.
Smooth Muscle Tissue
 These are non-striated, involuntary muscles controlled by the Autonomous Nervous System.
 It stimulates the contractility of the digestive, urinary, reproductive systems, blood vessels, and airways.
 The actin and myosin filaments are very thin and arranged randomly, hence no striations.
 The cells are spindle-shaped with a single nucleus.
Cardiac Muscle Tissue
 These are found only in the heart.
 These are involuntary muscles and the heart pumps the blood through cardiac contractions.
 The cells of the cardiac muscles known as the cardiomyocytes are striated.
 They are single-celled and uninucleated.
 The ends of the cells are joined and the junctions are called intercalated discs. The cells are attached to each
other by desmosomes.

Muscular Tissue Function

The muscular tissues are connected to the same nerve bundles.
The nerve impulse from the brain tells the muscles to contract.
Each muscle cell contains the proteins actin and myosin. These proteins slide past one another when the
signal is received for contraction.
A single cell contracts up to 70% in length. The entire muscle shortens during contraction.
Muscular tissues help in the movement of bones, squeeze different organs, or compress chambers.