Muscular Tissue

• Myocytes

  • cells that make up muscle tissue
• Cytoplasm of myocytes is filled with actin and myosin filaments, allowing myocytes to contract
• 3 types of muscle tissue

  • skeletal
  • smooth
  • cardiac
• Skeletal muscle

  • striated and contain more than one nucleus
• Syncytium

  • Multi-nucleated state of skeletal muscles
• Tendons

  • strong and elastic specialized specialized connective tissue
  • attach skeletal muscle to bones
• Skeletal muscle

  A) nucleus

  B) myocyte

  C) A-band

  D) I-band

  
• Smooth muscle

  • involuntary muscle
  • no striations, one nucleus per cell, may occur singly or in groups
• Smooth muscle

  • often arranged in sheets in the walls of stomach, intestines, uterus
• Inner smooth muscle

  • oriented along circumference of small intestine
• Outer smooth muscle

  • oriented along the length of small intestine
• Cardiac muscles

  • striated muscles only found in vertebrate hearts
• Cardiac muscle cells

  • mononucleated and branching
• Intercalated discs

  • connect the cardiac muscle cells to help synchronize contraction of muscle
• Contraction of heart is involuntary and is regulated by hormones and autonomic nervous system