Muscle Tissues

A. Characteristics of muscle tissue/cells
 1. muscle cells are also called “muscle fibers” b/c long and thin
 2. contain thick and thin filaments of protein that are highly organized into “myofibrils”
 3. the myofibrils shorten when the filaments slide past each other ? contraction
 4. Muscle cells are usually arranged in bundles surrounded with connective tissue

B. Function of muscle tissue
 Moving the body and its parts
 

                     Smooth         Cardiac             Skeletal
Voluntary         No                 No                     Yes
Striated            No                Yes                     Yes

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Skeletal Muscle
Muscle Tissue
Long cells with multiple nuclei; some students say the striations look like fish fillets
Striated
Voluntary
Function:
    Movement of bones at joints
Found
     Skeletal muscles

Photos taken by Dr. S. Desai

    Skeletal muscle
    Smooth muscle
    Cardiac muscle

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Cardiac Muscle
Muscle Tissue
Branched cells with single nucleus and intercalated disks between cells
Striated
Involuntary
Function:
    Pumps blood throughout the body
Found:
     Myocardium of the heart

Photos taken by Dr. S. Desai

Low Power                                                                                              High Power
Green arrows indicated intercalated disks

    Skeletal muscle
    Smooth muscle
    Cardiac muscle

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Smooth Muscle
Muscle Tissue
Spindle-shaped cells with one nuclei per cell
Not striated
Involuntary
Functions:
    Moves parts of the body
    Moves things through the body
Found
    If it is not in the myocardium and it is involuntary, then it is smooth muscle
    arrector pili muscles
    iris of eye
    muscularis of most of the digestive tract
    tunica media of blood vessels
    arrector pili muscle

Photo taken by Theresa Carrera

Tunica media (smooth muscle and indicated by a black bracket) in an artery.

    Skeletal muscle
    Smooth muscle
    Cardiac muscle
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Designed and constructed by
M. E. Janowski-Bell, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biology
Victoria College
tarantula@victoriacollege.edu