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Depiction of smooth muscle contraction. Muscle contraction is the activation of tension-generating sites within muscle cells. [1] [2] In physiology, muscle contraction does not necessarily mean muscle shortening because muscle tension can be produced without changes in muscle length, such as when holding something heavy in the same position. [1]
The sliding filament theory explains the mechanism of muscle contraction based on muscle proteins that slide past each other to generate movement. [1] According to the sliding filament theory, the myosin ( thick filaments ) of muscle fibers slide past the actin ( thin filaments ) during muscle contraction, while the two groups of filaments ...
Cardiac excitation-contraction coupling (Cardiac EC coupling) describes the series of events, from the production of an electrical impulse (action potential) to the contraction of muscles in the heart. [1] This process is of vital importance as it allows for the heart to beat in a controlled manner, without the need for conscious input.
This is the ejection stage of the cardiac cycle; it is depicted (see circular diagram) as the ventricular systole–first phase followed by the ventricular systole–second phase. [2] After ventricular pressures fall below their peak(s) and below those in the trunks of the aorta and pulmonary arteries, the aortic and pulmonary valves close ...
Consequently, this initial phase of ventricular systole is known as isovolumic contraction, also called isovolumetric contraction. [1] In the second phase of ventricular systole, the ventricular ejection phase, the contraction of the ventricular muscle has raised the pressure within the ventricle to the point that it is greater than the ...
The force of each contraction of the heart muscle is proportional to the preload, described as the Frank-Starling mechanism. This states that the force of contraction is directly proportional to the initial length of muscle fiber, meaning a ventricle will contract more forcefully, the more it is stretched. [8] [40]
There are three main stages in the generation of an action potential in a pacemaker cell. Since the stages are analogous to contraction of cardiac muscle cells, they have the same naming system. This can lead to some confusion as phases one and two are absent, leaving only phases zero, three, and four.
As the muscle shortens while generating a tensile force (i.e. "pulling"), then, by convention, the muscle is said to be performing positive work ("acts as a motor") during that phase. As the muscle lengthens (while still generating a tensile force), the muscle is performing negative work (or, alternatively, that positive work is being performed ...