What type of tissue is striated muscle

Muscle Attachment and Actions. Muscular System Pathologies. When you select "Subscribe" you will start receiving our email newsletter. Use the links at the bottom of any email to manage the type of emails you receive or to unsubscribe.

See our privacy policy for additional details. Learn Site. Artery walls include smooth muscle that relaxes and contracts to move blood through the body 3. Get our awesome anatomy emails! About News Contact. Voluntary refers to whether the muscle is under conscious control, striation refers to the presence of visible banding within myocytes which occurs due to organization of myofibrils to produce a constant direction of tension.

By applying the above classifications it is possible to describe three forms of muscle tissue which perform the wide range of functions described. Skeletal muscle mainly attaches to the skeletal system via tendons to maintain posture and control movement for example contraction of the biceps muscle, attached to the scapula and radius, will raise the forearm.

Some skeletal muscle can attach directly to other muscles or the skin, as seen in the face where numerous muscles control facial expression. Skeletal muscle is under voluntary control, although this can be subconscious for example when maintaining posture or balance. Morphologically skeletal myocytes are elongated and tubular and appear striated with multiple peripheral nuclei.

Cardiac muscle tissue is found only in the heart where cardiac contractions pump blood throughout the body and maintain blood pressure. As with skeletal muscle cardiac muscle is striated, however it is not consciously controlled and so is involuntary. The striations are visible with a light microscope under high magnification see Figure 7.

Skeletal muscle fibers are multinucleated structures that compose the skeletal muscle. Cardiac muscle, found within the heart, have fibers with one to two nuclei and are physically and electrically connected to each other so that the entire heart contracts as one unit.

Skeletal muscle is found attached to bones and exhibits voluntary control while cardiac muscle is involuntary. Because the actin and myosin are not arranged in such regular fashion in smooth muscle , the cytoplasm of a smooth muscle fiber which has only a single nucleus has a uniform, nonstriated appearance resulting in the name smooth muscle. However, the less organized appearance of smooth muscle should not be interpreted as less efficient.

Smooth muscle in the walls of arteries is a critical component that regulates blood pressure necessary to push blood through the circulatory system; and smooth muscle in the skin, visceral organs, and internal passageways is essential for moving all materials through the body. Like cardiac muscle, smooth muscle is involuntarily controlled. The muscle cell, or myocyte, develops from myoblasts derived from the mesoderm. Myocytes and their numbers remain relatively constant throughout life.

Skeletal muscle tissue is arranged in bundles surrounded by connective tissue. Under the light microscope, muscle cells appear striated with many nuclei squeezed along the membranes. The striation is due to the regular alternation of the contractile proteins actin and myosin, along with the structural proteins that couple the contractile proteins to connective tissues.

The cells are multinucleated as a result of the fusion of the many myoblasts that fuse to form each long muscle fiber. Cardiac muscle forms the contractile walls of the heart. The cells of cardiac muscle, known as cardiomyocytes, also appear striated under the microscope. Unlike skeletal muscle fibers, cardiomyocytes are single cells with a single centrally located nucleus. A principal characteristic of cardiomyocytes is that they contract on their own intrinsic rhythm without external stimulation.

Cardiomyocytes attach to one another with specialized cell junctions called intercalated discs. Intercalated discs have both anchoring junctions and gap junctions. Attached cells form long, branching cardiac muscle fibers that act as a syncytium, allowing the cells to synchronize their actions. The cardiac muscle pumps blood through the body and is under involuntary control. Smooth muscle tissue contraction is responsible for involuntary movements in the internal organs.

It forms the contractile component of the digestive, urinary, and reproductive systems as well as the airways and blood vessels.