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Related Concept Videos

Skeletal Muscle Anatomy00:55

Skeletal Muscle Anatomy

Skeletal muscle is the most abundant type of muscle in the body. Tendons are the connective tissue that attaches skeletal muscle to bones. Skeletal muscles pull on tendons, which in turn pull on bones to carry out voluntary movements.
Fascicle Arrangement in Skeletal Muscles01:25

Fascicle Arrangement in Skeletal Muscles

Fascicles are bundles of muscle fibers in a skeletal muscle. Muscle fascicle arrangement is directly associated with the power and range of motion of various muscles. The configuration of these fascicles can vary, leading to different functional outcomes.
The four primary types of muscle based on fascicle arrangement are:
Gross Anatomy of Skeletal Muscles01:12

Gross Anatomy of Skeletal Muscles

The connective tissues play a significant role in arranging the muscle fibers into a hierarchical structure that forms a complete muscle. Consider a muscle like the bicep brachii, commonly called the bicep. This muscle comprises thousands of muscle fibers enclosed by a protective layer of connective tissue called the endomysium. The endomysium is primarily composed of reticular fibers, a type of thin collagen fiber. It allows the exchange of nutrients and waste products at the fiber level,...
Microscopic Anatomy of Skeletal Muscles01:13

Microscopic Anatomy of Skeletal Muscles

Skeletal muscle cells, also called muscle fibers, are distinctly elongated, multi-nucleated, slender biological units. They are packed with specialized structures designed to facilitate their primary function, which is contraction.
The muscle sarcolemma is a plasma membrane enclosing each muscle cell that conducts electrical signals called action potentials. The sarcolemma extends into the cell to form T-tubules, ensuring the neural impulses are uniformly distributed across the entire muscle...
Axial and Appendicular Muscles01:18

Axial and Appendicular Muscles

Skeletal muscles, the key players in our body's movement, can be classified into two groups based on their location and function: axial muscles and appendicular muscles. These classifications reflect the primary roles the muscles play in the body's structure and movement.
Axial Muscles
Axial muscles, situated along the body's midline, are intricately connected to the axial skeleton, which includes the skull, spine, ribs, and sternum. These muscles facilitate facial expressions and play a...
Excitation-Contraction Coupling in Skeletal Muscles01:20

Excitation-Contraction Coupling in Skeletal Muscles

Excitation-contraction coupling is a series of events that occur between generating an action potential and initiating a muscle contraction. It occurs at the triad, a structure found in skeletal muscle fibers that comprise a T-tubule and terminal cisternae of the sarcoplasmic reticulum on each side. These triads are visible in longitudinally sectioned muscle fibers. They are typically located at the A-I junction — the junction between the A and I bands of the sarcomere.
When an action potential...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 25, 2026

Dissection of the Transversus Abdominis Muscle for Whole-mount Neuromuscular Junction Analysis
06:12

Dissection of the Transversus Abdominis Muscle for Whole-mount Neuromuscular Junction Analysis

Published on: January 11, 2014

The interscutularis muscle connectome.

Ju Lu1, Juan Carlos Tapia, Olivia L White

  • 1Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

Plos Biology
|February 13, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers mapped mouse neuromuscular circuits, revealing varied wiring diagrams and challenging wiring minimization principles. This provides insights into mammalian neural circuit structure and function.

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Isolation and Characterization of Satellite Cells from Rat Head Branchiomeric Muscles

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Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 25, 2026

Dissection of the Transversus Abdominis Muscle for Whole-mount Neuromuscular Junction Analysis
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Published on: January 11, 2014

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Published on: January 7, 2019

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07:37

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Published on: July 20, 2015

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Connectomics
  • Mammalian neurobiology

Background:

  • Understanding neural circuit connectomes is crucial for function.
  • Complete connectomes are only available for invertebrates like C. elegans.
  • Mammalian circuit mapping remains a significant challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To reconstruct and analyze the connectomes of interscutularis muscles in adult transgenic mice.
  • To identify organizational principles governing mammalian neuromuscular circuits.
  • To compare structural variations in neuronal wiring within and between individuals.

Main Methods:

  • Reconstruction of neuromuscular connectomes from adult transgenic mice.
  • Utilized fluorescent protein expression in all motor axons for visualization.
  • Analyzed axonal caliber, length, synapse number, and wiring patterns.

Main Results:

  • Revealed anatomical basis for the size principle in graded muscle tensions.
  • Established quantitative relationships between axonal properties and synapse count.
  • Demonstrated significant structural variations in motor neurons between left and right sides of the same animal.
  • Found that axonal wiring length is often longer than theoretically minimized.

Conclusions:

  • Mammalian muscle function relies on diverse neuromuscular wiring diagrams with shared global features but distinct anatomical forms.
  • Synaptic competition likely plays a dominant role in shaping final circuit architecture.
  • The study provides a foundational connectomic map for mammalian motor circuits.