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The unusual microscopic anatomy of a muscle cell gave rise to its terminology. The cytoplasm in a muscle cell is termed the sarcoplasm; the smooth endoplasmic reticulum of a muscle cell is termed the sarcoplasmic reticulum; and the cell membrane in a muscle cell is termed the sarcolemma. [9] The sarcolemma receives and conducts stimuli.
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] Each myofibril has a diameter of 1–2 micrometres. [3]
Skeletal muscle cells are the individual contractile cells within a muscle, and are often termed as muscle fibers. [3] A single muscle such as the biceps in a young adult male contains around 253,000 muscle fibers. [22] Skeletal muscle fibers are multinucleated with the nuclei often referred to as myonuclei.
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.
Three distinct types of muscle (L to R): Smooth (non-striated) muscle in internal organs, cardiac or heart muscle, and skeletal muscle. There are three distinct types of muscle: skeletal muscle, cardiac or heart muscle, and smooth (non-striated) muscle. Muscles provide strength, balance, posture, movement, and heat for the body to keep warm. [3]
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.
The fibres of striated muscle have a cylindrical shape with blunt ends, whereas those in smooth muscle are spindle-like with tapered ends. Striated muscle tissue has more mitochondria than smooth muscle. Both smooth muscle cells and cardiac muscle cells have a single nucleus, and skeletal muscle cells have many nuclei. [6]
The protein complex composed of actin and myosin, contractile proteins, is sometimes referred to as actomyosin.In striated skeletal and cardiac muscle, the actin and myosin filaments each have a specific and constant length in the order of a few micrometers, far less than the length of the elongated muscle cell (up to several centimeters in some skeletal muscle cells). [5]