Initiation of Muscle Contraction Muscle

initiation of muscle contraction muscle
action begins with a signal coming from

the brain this electrochemical signal is
sent from the brain down the spinal cord
to the motor neuron existing at the
neuromuscular Junction the motor neuron
at the neuromuscular Junction will then
fire an action potential the action
potential is carried as positively
charged sodium ions down the axon of the
motor neuron when these positively
charged sodium ions reach the axon
terminal this triggers the opening of
voltage-gated calcium channels when
these channels open calcium floods into
the axon terminal the presence of
calcium in the axon terminal triggers
the release of synaptic vesicles from
their docking sites then the synaptic
vesicles fuse to the presynaptic
membrane and release neurotransmitter
into the synaptic cleft the type of
neurotransmitter used at the
neuromuscular Junction is acetylcholine
acetylcholine once released will
passively diffuse across a synaptic
cleft of the neuromuscular Junction
these molecules will then bind to
nicotinic acetylcholine receptors
located on the muscle fiber nicotinic
acetylcholine receptors are ligand gated
sodium ion channels when acetylcholine
binds to these receptors the ion
channels open and sodium floods into the
muscle fiber sodium is a positively
charged ion so the ado so the addition
of sodium in the muscle fiber causes a
localized depolarization if there is
enough depolarization nearby
voltage-gated sodium channels will then
open when voltage-gated sodium channels
are opened there is a further influx of
positively charged sodium ions entering
the muscle fiber
this further depolarizes the muscle
fiber triggering even more voltage-gated
sodium channels to open this chain
reaction is the action potential this
action potential is then propagated
across the sarcolemma and down the t
tubules when the action potential is
propagated voltage-gated calcium
channels located on the sarcoplasmic
reticulum will open when these channels
open the sarcoplasmic reticulum releases
calcium ions into the sarcoplasm when
calcium is in the sarcoplasm it is able
to bind to troponin when calcium binds
to troponin troponin will undergo a
conformational change which pulls
tropomyosin off of the myosin binding
site now that the myosin binding site is
available for binding the crossbridge
cycle to begin
contraction full part 2
sliding filament theory is the mechanism

by which muscles are thought to contract
at a cellular level an understanding of
the structure of skeletal muscle is
useful when learning how sliding
filament theory works each muscle is
made up of a number of bundles of muscle
fibers each bundle of muscle fibers
contains anywhere from ten and a hundred
individual fibers each muscle fiber
itself contains cylindrical organelles
known as myofibrils which themselves are
bundles of proteins called actin and
myosin surrounding the myofibril there
is a network of tubules and channels
called the sarcoplasmic reticulum where
calcium is stored each myofibril can be
broken down into functional repeating
segments called sarcomeres
if we look at a two-dimensional model of
a sarcomere it consists of actin and
myosin when a nerve impulse arrives at
the muscle it causes a release of a
chemical called acetylcholine the
presence of acetylcholine causes
depolarization enabling calcium to be
released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum
the calcium binds to troponin changing
its shape and so moving tropomyosin from
the active site of the actin the myosin
filaments can now attach to the actin
forming a cross bridge the breakdown of
ATP releases energy which enables the
myosin to pull the actin filaments
inwards contracting the muscle this
occurs along the entire length of every
myofibril in the muscle cell when an ATP
molecule binds to the myosin head the
myosin detaches from the actin and the
cross bridge is broken when the ATP is
then broken down the myosin head can
again attach to an actin binding site
further along the actin filament and
repeat the process
this repeated pulling of the actin over
the myosin is often known as the ratchet
mechanism this process of muscular
contraction can last for as long as
there are adequate ATP and ca+ stores
once the nerve impulse stops the ca+ is
pumped back to the sarcoplasmic
reticulum and the actin returns to its
resting position causing the muscle to
lengthen and relax
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Initiation of Muscle Contraction Muscle

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Initiation of Muscle Contraction Muscle

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initiation of muscle contraction muscle

action begins with a signal coming from

contraction full part 2

sliding filament theory is the mechanism

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