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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 ...
To elicit muscle contraction, the muscle is stimulated by a series of electrical pulses delivered by an electrode to stimulate either the motor nerve or the muscle tissue itself. Simultaneously, a computer-controlled servo motor in the testing apparatus oscillates the muscle while measuring the force generated by the stimulated muscle.
Muscle contraction ends when calcium ions are pumped back into the sarcoplasmic reticulum, allowing the contractile apparatus and, thus, muscle cell to relax. Upon muscle contraction, the A-bands do not change their length (1.85 micrometer in mammalian skeletal muscle), [ 5 ] whereas the I-bands and the H-zone shorten.
L-type calcium channels are responsible for the excitation-contraction coupling of skeletal, smooth, cardiac muscle, and for aldosterone secretion in endocrine cells of the adrenal cortex. [1] They are also found in neurons, and with the help of L-type calcium channels in endocrine cells, they regulate neurohormones and neurotransmitters.
It also initiates muscle contraction in skeletal and cardiac muscles and muscle relaxation in smooth muscles. Ca 2+ sparks are important in physiology as they show how Ca 2+ can be used at a subcellular level, to signal both local changes, known as local control, [3] as well as whole cell changes.
It allows the motor neuron to transmit a signal to the muscle fiber, causing muscle contraction. [2] Muscles require innervation to function—and even just to maintain muscle tone, avoiding atrophy. In the neuromuscular system, nerves from the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system are linked and work together with muscles. [3]
[1] [2] [3] The calcium ion concentration in sarcoplasma is also a special element of the muscle fiber; it is the means by which muscle contractions take place and are regulated. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] The sarcoplasm plays a critical role in muscle contraction as an increase in Ca 2+ concentration in the sarcoplasm begins the process of filament sliding.