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Related Concept Videos

Classification of Skeletal Muscle Fibers01:48

Classification of Skeletal Muscle Fibers

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Skeletal muscles continuously produce ATP to provide the energy that enables muscle contractions. Skeletal muscle fibers can be categorized into three types based on differences in their contraction speed and how they produce ATP, as well as physical differences related to these factors. Most human muscles contain all three muscle fiber types, albeit in varying proportions.
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Slow oxidative, muscle fibers appear red due to large numbers of capillaries and high levels of...
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Overview of Muscle Tissues01:25

Overview of Muscle Tissues

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The human body has three types of muscle tissue: skeletal, smooth, and cardiac. Each class has unique properties that enable them to perform specific functions. However, all muscle tissues share certain properties, including elasticity, contractility, and excitability. 
Elasticity
Elasticity is the ability of muscles to stretch and return to their original shape. This property is partly due to elastic fibers — macromolecules that run through the muscles. These fibers are firm and...
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Types of Skeletal Muscle Fibers01:32

Types of Skeletal Muscle Fibers

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Skeletal muscles comprise various fibers, each with distinct characteristics and roles in movement and stability. They are mainly categorized into three types — fast-twitch, slow-twitch, and intermediate.
Fast-twitch fibers
Fast-twitch fibers, or Type II fibers, are designed for quick, powerful bursts of speed and strength. They reach peak tension within approximately 0.01 seconds following stimulation. Characterized by a large diameter and densely packed myofibrils, these fibers contain...
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Specialized Characteristics of Cardiac Muscles01:27

Specialized Characteristics of Cardiac Muscles

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The primary role of cardiac muscles is to propel blood throughout the cardiovascular system. The cardiac muscle cells, or cardiomyocytes, exhibit specialized characteristics that allow them to perform this function.
Cardiac muscle cells are smaller than skeletal muscles, averaging 10–20 mm in diameter and 50–100 mm in length. However, they have large energy demands for continuous contraction and relaxation. This energy is almost exclusively derived from aerobic metabolism of energy...
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Microscopic Anatomy of Skeletal Muscles01:13

Microscopic Anatomy of Skeletal Muscles

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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...
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Classification of Skeletal Muscle Relaxants01:28

Classification of Skeletal Muscle Relaxants

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Skeletal muscle relaxants are a group of drugs that can reduce muscle stiffness and induce temporary paralysis to relieve pain. These agents can act centrally to reduce muscle tone or spasms in painful conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or spinal injuries; they are called antispasmodics or spasmolytics.
Peripherally acting skeletal muscle relaxants interfere with the neurotransmission at the neuromuscular end plate to induce paralysis during...
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Author Spotlight: Isolation of Long Muscle Fibers from Mouse Hindlimb Muscles for Studying Excitation-Contraction Coupling Across Fiber Types
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Author Spotlight: Isolation of Long Muscle Fibers from Mouse Hindlimb Muscles for Studying Excitation-Contraction Coupling Across Fiber Types

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What is it about old muscles?

Walter R Frontera1

  • 1Department of Physical Medicine, Rehabilitation, and Sports Medicine, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, PO Box 365067, San Juan, PR, 00936-5067, USA.

The Journal of Physiology
|June 1, 2017
PubMed
Summary

No abstract available in PubMed .

Keywords:
muscle fibre agingmuscle qualitymuscle quantitypost-translational modifications

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