JaLauraMelton

Lafferty

MuscleSystemLabReport

Anindividualskeletalmusclemaybemadeupofhundredsofmusclefibersbundledtogether
andwrappedinaconnectivetissuecovering.Eachmuscleissurroundedbyaconnective
tissuesheathcalledtheepimysium.Fascia,connectivetissueoutsidetheepimysium,
surroundsandseparatesthemuscles.Awholeskeletalmuscleisconsideredanorganofthe
muscularsystem.
Eachorganormuscleconsistsofskeletalmuscletissue,connectivetissue,
nervetissue,andbloodorvasculartissue.

T
hemusclesofthelowerlimbplayan
importantroleinthegenesisandmanagementofkneeosteoarthritis(OA).

Lieber,R.L.
(2009).
Skeletalmusclestructure,function,andplasticity
(p.2002).Baltimore,MD:Lippincott
Williams&Wilkins.

Prolongedbedrestproducesprofoundchangesinmuscleandbone,
particularlyofthelowerlimb.

Lieber,R.L.(1992).
Skeletalmusclestructureandfunction:
implicationsforrehabilitationandsportsmedicine
.Williams&Wilkins.

Contractileand
energeticpropertiesofhumanskeletalmusclehavebeenstudiedformanyyearsin
vivointhebody.Ithasbeen,however,difficulttoidentifythespecificroleofmuscle
fibersinmodulatingmuscleperformance.

Labeit,S.,&Kolmerer,B.(1995).Thecomplete
primarystructureofhumannebulinanditscorrelationtomusclestructure.
Journalof
molecularbiology
,
248
(2),308315.

Figure1:SkeletalMuscledrawing.

WhenaNeuronstimulatesamusclecellanactionpotentialsweepsovertheplasma
membraneofthemusclecell.Theactionpotentialreleasesinternalstoresofcalciumthatflow
throughthemusclecellandtriggeracontraction.Musclecellshaveanelaboratearchitecture
thatallowsthemtodistributecalciumionsquicklythroughoutthesidosal.Dtubular
invaginationsoftheplasmamembranearecalledttubulecrisscrossthecell.Whenthecellis
stimulatedawaveofdepolarization,thatisanactionpotential,spreadsfromthesynapseover
theplasmamembraneandviathettubuledeepintothecell.Avoltagesensitiveproteinin
thesemembranesopensthecalciumreleasechannelintheadjacentsarcoplasmicreticulum
whichisthemajorcalciumstoreinmusclecells.Therebyreleasingaburstofcalciumionsall
throughoutthesidosaofthecells.Withinacontractualbundleofamusclecellcalleda
myofibril,thecalciuminteractswithproteinfilamentstotriggeracontraction.Ineach

JaLauraMelton
Lafferty

contractingunitorsarcomerethinactinandthickmyosinfilamentsarejuxtaposedbutcannot
interactintheabsenceofcalcium.Thisisbecausemyosinbindingsitesontheactinfilaments
areallcoveredbyarodshapedproteincalledtropomyosin.Acalciumsensitivecomplex
calledtroponinisattachedtotheendofeachtropomyosinmolecule.Whencalciumfloodsthe
celltroponinbindstoitmovingtropomyosinoffthemyosinbindingsites.Openingtheminding
bindingsitesontheactinfilamentsallowsthemyosinmotorstocrawlalongtheactinresulting
inacontractionofthemusclefiber.Calciumisthequicklyreturnedtothesarcoplasmic
reticulumbytheactionofacalciumpulp.Withoutcalciummyosinreleasesactinandthe
filamentsslidebacktotheiroriginalpositions.
SOURCE:
Alberts, et al.,
Molecular Biology of
the Cell,
Fifth Edition,
Garland Science Publishing
2008 Garland Science Publishing and Sumanas, Inc.

Figure2:BeforeandafterMuscleContractiondrawing.

Figure3:MusclefibersbeforetheATPsolution
wasadded.Magnificationwas100x.Photosby
JaLaura.

Figure4:MuscleFibersaftertheATPsolutionwas
added.Magnificationwas100x.PhotosbyJaLaura.

JaLauraMelton
Lafferty

DataTableLengthandDiameter

Lengthof
Myofiberbefore
ATPsolution.

Lengthof
Myofiberafter
ATPsolution.

Initiallength
minusfinal.

Degreeof
construction
initiallength.

Trial1

20mm

11mm

9mm

45%

Trial2

15mm

12mm

3mm

20%

Trial3

22mm

15mm

7mm

31.8%

Trial4

18mm

11mm

7mm

38.8%

Trial5

13mm

8mm

5mm

38.4%

Diameterof
myofiberbefore
ATPsolution

Diameterof
myofiberafter
ATPsolution

InitialDiameter

Degreeof
construction
initialdiameter

Trial1

6mm

8mm

2mm

33.3%

Trial2

12mm

20mm

8mm

66.6%

Trial3

4mm

8mm

4mm

100%

Trial4

5mm

11mm

6mm

120%

Trial5

6mm

11mm

5mm

83.3%

Inconclusion,Iobservedvariationsinthedatabecausethemeasurementsthatweretaken
beforetheATPsolutionwasaddedandaftertheATPsolutionwasaddedweredifferent.The
measurementsweretakenwitharuler,anipad,andthemicroscopestageruler.Variations
werealsoobservedbecausetheamountofATPsolutionthatwasusedandtheamountof
timeitwasusedalsoshowedchangesinthefibers.Thelesstimeandamountthatwasused
meantthelessitwouldcontract.ThemoretimeandATPsolutionthatwasusedmeantthe
fiberwouldcontractmore.Thelengthofthemusclesamplefibersshowedvariationsdueto
thesamplesbeingacertainlengthandtheactualusedfibersbeingadifferentlength.The
temperatureofthemicroscopelighttendedtomakethefibersmovethehotteritwas.This
wasalsoavariation.

MuscleFibertypesinacrosscountryrunnerandasprinteraredifferent.Themusclesarenot
usedatthesametime.Slowtwitchfibersarelessexplosiveanduselessenergy.Therefore,
theyarewellsuitedforlongdistancerunners.Theslowtwitchfibersarelessexplosiveand
theydonotcontractforcefully.Thissavesenergycomparedtosprinters.Fasttwitchmuscle

JaLauraMelton
Lafferty

fibersareusedforfastandexplosivemovementsuchassprinting.Theycontractfasterand
canonlybeusedforashortamountoftime.Fasttwitchfibersusesmallamountsofenergy
quickly.Fasttwitchmusclefibersgrowbiggergivingthesprinterstrongerlookinglegs.These
musclefibersarewhatasprinterandlongdistancerunneruses.
Table1

ContinuousGrip
Timeinterval

Maximumforce(N)

Maximumforce(N)

10s

176.0

20

30s

184.9

8.9

40

50s

127.6

57.3

60

70s

106.4

21.2

80

90s

110.8

4.4

Description:MaxandMinforceofthecontinuousgrip
lab.

Table2

RepetitiveGrip
Timeinterval

Maximumforce(N)

Maximumforce(N)

10s

214.9

20

30s

173.2

41.7

40

50s

152.5

20.7

60

70s

142.9

9.6

80

90s

144.0

1.1

Description:MaxandMinforceoftherepetitivegrip
lab.

CompareMuscleFibers
FiberDiameter

smallest

intermediate

largest

Force

lowest

intermediate

greatest

MyosinATPase

slowest

slowest

fastest

ContractionVelocity

slow

slow

fast

MethodsofATP

aerobicrespiration

aerobicrespiration

glycolysis

JaLauraMelton
Lafferty

genertion
Glycogenstores

low

intermediate

high

Capillaries

many

many

few

MyoglobinContent

low

low/high

high

Color

redbrown

redpink

white

Description:Characteristicsofskeletalmuscletypes.

Question:Whohasthestrongesthandgripstrengthoutofmalesandfemales?90%of
femaleshavealessforcethan95%ofmales.Malesarenaturallystrongerthanfemales.
Oncepubertycommences,asignificantgenderdifferenceinthesizeofmaleandfemale
handsdevelops.Handsizenaturallyrelatestogripstrength:thelongerthebones,thelonger
themusclesandthegreaternumberofsarcomeresthatcanbeincorporated.Mentendto
naturallyhavebiggerhandsthanwomenwhichmakesthemthatmuchmorestronger.

HandGripStrengthsofMaleandFemales
Gender:

Timeintervals:

Maximum
ContinuousGrip:

TimeIntervals:

Maximum
RepetitiveGrip:

Male1

90secs

328.7

90secs

143.2

Male2

100secs

229.0

100secs

350.0

Male3

100secs

262.9

100secs

410.0

Male4

3040secs

213.0

010secs

348.2

Male5

90secs

390.7

1sec

514.4

Female1

2030secs

99.0

010secs

127.0

Female2

010secs

70.3

4050secs

114.3

Female3

010secs

118.7

010secs

155.8

Female4

2030secs

184.9

010secs

214.9

Female5

90secs

193.9

90secs

161.7

Description:EmptyData
Table

JaLauraMelton
Lafferty

Inconclusion,thedatatableaboverepresentsthequestion.Thedatainthetableshowsthat
menarenaturallystrongeringripthanwomen.Male#1hasamaximumcontinuousgripof
328.7comparedtofemale#1scontinuousgripof99.0.Male#1hasatimeintervalof90
secondswhileFemale#1hasatimeintervalof2030seconds.Everymalegripisstronger
thanthefemalegripinthetableeventhoughtheyhavealongertimeinterval.Themales
havelargerhandswhichhasalottodowiththestrongerhandgrips.Itisscientificallyproven
thatmenarejustnaturallystrongerthanwomeninhandgripforces.

WorksCited
Lieber,R.L.(2009).
Skeletalmusclestructure,function,andplasticity
(p.2002).Baltimore,
MD:LippincottWilliams&Wilkins.

Lieber,R.L.(1992).
Skeletalmusclestructureandfunction:implicationsforrehabilitationand
sportsmedicine
.Williams&Wilkins.

Labeit,S.,&Kolmerer,B.(1995).Thecompleteprimarystructureofhumannebulinandits
correlationtomusclestructure.
Journalofmolecularbiology
,
248
(2),308315.

Alberts,etal.,(2008).
MolecularBiologyoftheCell,
FifthEdition,
GarlandSciencePublishing
2008GarlandSciencePublishingandSumanas,Inc.

Gaudette,J.,(2014).TheRoleofMuscleFibersinRunning.Competitor.com

LeykD,GorgesW,RidderD,WunderlichM,RtherT,SievertA,EssfeldD.
EurJApplPhysiol.2007Mar99(4):41521.Epub2006Dec22.