Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 5, 2026

Creating a Structurally Realistic Finite Element Geometric Model of a Cardiomyocyte to Study the Role of Cellular Architecture in Cardiomyocyte Systems Biology
08:54

Creating a Structurally Realistic Finite Element Geometric Model of a Cardiomyocyte to Study the Role of Cellular Architecture in Cardiomyocyte Systems Biology

Published on: April 18, 2018

Giving structure meaning: Modelling the cellular synapse of excitation-contraction coupling in skeletal muscle

Werner Melzer1

  • 1Institute of Applied Physiology, Ulm University , Ulm, Germany.

The Journal of General Physiology
|July 30, 2026
PubMed

More Related Videos

Historical View and Physiology Demonstration at the NMJ of the Crayfish Opener Muscle11:56

Historical View and Physiology Demonstration at the NMJ of the Crayfish Opener Muscle

Published on: November 9, 2009

Membrane Potentials, Synaptic Responses, Neuronal Circuitry, Neuromodulation and Muscle Histology Using the Crayfish: Student Laboratory Exercises16:16

Membrane Potentials, Synaptic Responses, Neuronal Circuitry, Neuromodulation and Muscle Histology Using the Crayfish: Student Laboratory Exercises

Published on: January 18, 2011

Related Concept Videos

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...
Overview of Skeletal Muscle01:15

Overview of Skeletal Muscle

Skeletal muscles are composed of a bundle of muscle fibers and are attached to bones through tendons. Each skeletal muscle fiber is a single muscle cell. The sarcolemma, the plasma membrane of a skeletal muscle cell, consists of a lipid bilayer and glycocalyx that supports muscle fibers. The sarcolemma extends into the muscle cells to form tubular structures called transverse or T-tubules. Each side of the T-tubules consists of a membrane-bound structure called the sarcoplasmic reticulum,...
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...
Motor Unit Stimulation01:20

Motor Unit Stimulation

When the neuron of a motor unit fires an action potential, it triggers a series of events, leading to a twitch contraction in the muscle fibers. The process of excitation-contraction coupling is crucial in relaying the action potential to the muscle fibers.
The latent period of contraction marks the onset of excitation-contraction coupling, when the action potential propagates across the sarcolemma, preparing the muscle fibers for contraction. As the fibers enter the contraction phase, the...
Cross-bridge Cycle01:26

Cross-bridge Cycle

As muscle contracts, the overlap between the thin and thick filaments increases, decreasing the length of the sarcomere—the contractile unit of the muscle—using energy in the form of ATP. At the molecular level, this is a cyclic, multistep process that involves binding and hydrolysis of ATP, and movement of actin by myosin.
Generation of Action Potential in Skeletal Muscles01:24

Generation of Action Potential in Skeletal Muscles

Every cell in the body maintains a membrane potential due to an uneven distribution of positive and negative charges across its plasma membrane. The membrane potential is measured in millivolts and quantifies the difference in charge across the membrane.
Like neurons, muscle cells are also regarded as excitable due to their capacity to change in response to stimuli, primarily due to voltage-gated ion channels embedded in their plasma membranes, which get activated by alterations in the cell's...