Skeletal Muscle

Skeletal Muscle

Muscles act in antagonistic pairs against an incompressible skeleton. The skeleton provides the basic structure of levers and joints to which the muscles are attached. 

Muscle fibres/cells have a cell surface membrane called sarcolemma, endoplasmic reticulum called sarcoplasmic reticulum and a cytoplasm known as sarcoplasm.

Sliding Filament Mechanism of Muscle Contraction:

One myobril consists of many protein filaments; thick myosin filaments and thin actin filaments. Actin filaments have binding sites for myosin heads. Myosin filaments are bound together so they can provide tension against each other to pull the actin closer together over the myosin filaments.

Muscle Contraction:

• Un-stimulated muscle
• Tropomyosin blocks myosin…