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Smooth muscle cells. A smooth-muscle cell is a spindle-shaped myocyte with a wide middle and tapering ends, and a single nucleus. Like striated muscle, smooth muscle can tense and relax. In the relaxed state, each cell is 30–200 micrometers in length, some thousands of times shorter than a skeletal muscle cell. [ 1 ]
A muscle cell, also known as a myocyte, is a mature contractile cell in the muscle of an animal. [ 1 ] In humans and other vertebrates there are three types: skeletal, smooth, and cardiac (cardiomyocytes). [ 2 ] A skeletal muscle cell is long and threadlike with many nuclei and is called a muscle fiber. [ 3 ]
Vascular smooth muscle contracts or relaxes to change both the volume of blood vessels and the local blood pressure, a mechanism that is responsible for the redistribution of the blood within the body to areas where it is needed (i.e. areas with temporarily enhanced oxygen consumption). Thus the main function of vascular smooth muscle tone is ...
17743. Anatomical terminology. [edit on Wikidata] The myometrium is the middle layer of the uterine wall, consisting mainly of uterine smooth muscle cells (also called uterine myocytes[1]) but also of supporting stromal and vascular tissue. [2] Its main function is to induce uterine contractions.
The muscle fiber cells are arranged in 5 to 7 layers of circular and longitudinal smooth muscle with about 50μ in length and contain well-marked, rod-shaped nuclei, which are often slightly curved. Separating the tunica media from the outer tunica externa in larger arteries is the external elastic membrane (also called the external elastic ...
Tropomyosin is a two-stranded alpha-helical, coiled coil protein found in many animal and fungal cells. In animals, it is an important component of the muscular system which works in conjunction with troponin to regulate muscle contraction. It is present in smooth and striated muscle tissues, which can be found in various organs and body ...
A peritubular myoid (PTM) cell is one of the smooth muscle cells which surround the seminiferous tubules in the testis. [ 1 ][ 2 ] These cells are present in all mammals but their organization and abundance varies between species. [ 2 ] The exact role of PTM cells is still somewhat uncertain and further work into this is needed.
The structure and function is basically the same in smooth muscle cells in different organs, but the inducing stimuli differ substantially, in order to perform individual actions in the body at individual times. In addition, the glomeruli of the kidneys contain smooth muscle-like cells called mesangial cells.