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A sarcomere (Greek σάρξ sarx "flesh", μέρος meros "part") is the smallest functional unit of striated muscle tissue. [1] It is the repeating unit between two Z-lines. Skeletal muscles are composed of tubular muscle cells (called muscle fibers or myofibers) which are formed during embryonic myogenesis .
Sliding filament theory: A sarcomere in relaxed (above) and contracted (below) positions. The sliding filament theory explains the mechanism of muscle contraction based on muscle proteins that slide past each other to generate movement. [1]
Sarcoplasm is the cytoplasm of a muscle cell.It is comparable to the cytoplasm of other cells, but it contains unusually large amounts of glycogen (a polymer of glucose), myoglobin, a red-colored protein necessary for binding oxygen molecules that diffuse into muscle fibers, and mitochondria.
Upon stimulation by an action potential, skeletal muscles perform a coordinated contraction by shortening each sarcomere. The best proposed model for understanding contraction is the sliding filament model of muscle contraction. Within the sarcomere, actin and myosin fibers overlap in a
The sarcolemma generally maintains the same function in muscle cells as the plasma membrane does in other eukaryote cells. [4] It acts as a barrier between the extracellular and intracellular compartments, defining the individual muscle fibre from its surroundings.
In mammals, triads are typically located at the A-I junction; [1] that is, the junction between the A and I bands of the sarcomere, which is the smallest unit of a muscle fiber. Triads form the anatomical basis of excitation-contraction coupling , whereby a stimulus excites the muscle and causes it to contract.
Costameres have several primary functions. [8] [9] [10] First, they keep the sarcolemma in line with the sarcomere during contraction and subsequent relaxation. [10]They are also responsible for the lateral transmission of the sarcomere-generated contractile force to the sarcolemma and the extracellular matrix.
A myofibril (also known as a muscle fibril or sarcostyle) [1] is a basic rod-like organelle of a muscle cell. [2] Skeletal muscles are composed of long, tubular cells known as muscle fibers, and these cells contain many chains of myofibrils. [3]