MeganArney

SkeletalMuscleSystemLABReport

Introduction
Theskeletalmusclesiscomposedofintricatetissuesthathaveadetailedstructureandthat
voluntarycontract.Anearlyanatomistin1584,knownasAndreasVesalius,contributed
drawingsofskeletalmuscletotheworldofanatomy.Skeletalmusclesareultimatelymadeupof
myofibrilsthatcontainthickandthinproteinfilamentscalledmyosinandactin.A.F.Huxleyand
Niedergerkein1954,areaccreditedasfoundersoftheslidingfilamenttheorywhichis
essentiallythebasicmechanismforcontractionintheskeletalmuscle.in1984,Ritchieand
WoodsresearchedMusclefatigue,whichcanalsobeknownasamotordeficit,isthegradual
exercisedinduceddecreaseintheforceofthemusclesitperformscontractions.Beloware
threelabsthatdelivdeeperintothecomplexstructureoftheskeletalmuscleanditspurpose.

Part1:SkeletalMuscleStructure:

Figure1
Thereareavarietyoftissuesthatmakeuptheskeletalmuscle.Tobreakitdown,youstartwith
thebone,comingoffthebonesaretendons.coveringthemuscleisfascia.Epimysium,isa

typeofconnectivetissue,whichliesjustbeneaththefascia.Perimysiumstretchesinsidethethe
structureofthemusclewhereisseperatesthefascicle.The3rdconnectivetissue,is
Endomysium,whichactuallyseparatestheindividualmusclefibers.Bloodvesselsandnerves
passthroughtheselayers.So,inabriefrundownisitgoesfrommuscletofascicles,tomuscle
fibers,tomyofibrils,tothethick(myosin)andthin(actin)filaments.Myosin,isamotorprotein
thatgeneratestheforceinamusclecontractionresemblingthestrokeofanoar.Actinisa
sphericalproteinthatforms,amongotherthings,thatmakesupthethinfilamentinmusclecells

Part2:MuscleContraction

Muscle Fiber
lengths in mm

Before
ATP Length

After
ATP Length

Before
ATP Width

After
ATP Width

11mm

3mm

2mm

1mm

10mm

4mm

2mm

9mm

2mm

2mm

13mm

5mm

3mm

Averages

After,ATP(energy)wasappliedwesawthattheMusclefiberstartedtocontract.Thereason
themusclecontractedaftertheATPwasaddedwasbecauseitbreaksdownthemyosinactin
crossbridgefreeingthemyosinforcontraction.
Thebondbetweenthemyosinandtheactinfilamentsaresuperstrong.
Therearetwomainproteinsthatregulatemyosinandactininteractions.Tropomyosinand
Troponinaretheproteins.
Tropomyosinisalongstrandthatloopsaroundtheactinchainsin
thethinfilament.Bycoveringthemyosinbindingsitesoftheactinmolecules,tropomyosin
preventsmusclecontraction.


Forabetterunderstandingofhowthemyosinandactinsrolehereisamodel.

BeforeATPwasadded


AfterATPwasadded

Part3:MuscleFatigue

GripStrengthandFatigue

ContinuousGrip

TimeInterval

MaximumForce(N)

MaximumForce(N)

010s

155.5

2030s

60.5

95

4050s

59.5

6070s

67.3

7.8

8090s

291.3

224

RepetitiveGrip
TimeInterval

MaximumForce(N)

MaximumForce(N)

010s

162.9

2030s

162.1

0.8

4050s

131.2

30.9

6070s

70.9

60.3

8090s

66.5

4.4

WhenwestartedthislabforGripStrengthandfatigue,Iwasthinkinghowcool,Icanseehow
strongmygripis!Well,LaurenandMarcuswepartnersandmeandmarcusstartedhavinga
littlecompetition,toseewhohadthestrongestgrip.Wellatfirstitwaseasyibuteverythingi
hadintosqueezingthatlittlesensor,boundanddeterminedtohavethehighestnumber.Aftera
whileInoticedmyarmwasgettingreallytiredandthatmygripwasn'tasstrong.Especially,
whenwedidthecontinuesgripifoundthatafter60secondsIcouldbarelysqueezethesensor.
Thepointofthislabithinkwastoshowandhaveusexperiencemusclefatigue.Musclefatigue
isaconditioninwhichamusclelosesitsabilitytocontractasaresultofoveractivity.Itisusually
aperiodafterstimulationduringwhichthemuscleisunresponsivetoasecondstimulus.

WorkCited

Chin,G.(n.d.).MuscleContraction.RetrievedNovember23,2015,from
http://study.com/academy/lesson/musclecontractionactinandmyocinbonding.html