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Transverse Tubule
T-tubules (transverse tubules) are extensions of the cell membrane that penetrate into the center of skeletal and cardiac muscle cells. With membranes that contain large concentrations of ion channels, transporters, and pumps, T-tubules permit rapid transmission of the action potential into the cell, and also play an important role in regulating cellular calcium concentration. Through these mechanisms, T-tubules allow heart muscle cells to contract more forcefully by synchronising calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum throughout the cell. T-tubule structure and function are affected beat-by-beat by cardiomyocyte contraction, as well as by diseases, potentially contributing to heart failure and arrhythmias. Although these structures were first seen in 1897, research into T-tubule biology is ongoing. Structure T-tubules are tubules formed from the same phospholipid bilayer as the surface membrane or sarcolemma of skeletal or cardiac muscle cells. They connect directly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skeletal Muscle
Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other types of muscle tissue, and are often known as muscle fibers. The muscle tissue of a skeletal muscle is striated – having a striped appearance due to the arrangement of the sarcomeres. Skeletal muscles are voluntary muscles under the control of the somatic nervous system. The other types of muscle are cardiac muscle which is also striated and smooth muscle which is non-striated; both of these types of muscle tissue are classified as involuntary, or, under the control of the autonomic nervous system. A skeletal muscle contains multiple muscle fascicle, fascicles – bundles of muscle fibers. Each individual fiber, and each muscle is surrounded by a type of connective tissue layer of fascia. Muscle fibers are formed from the cell fusion, fusion of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cardiac Muscle Cell
Cardiac muscle (also called heart muscle, myocardium, cardiomyocytes and cardiac myocytes) is one of three types of vertebrate muscle tissues, with the other two being skeletal muscle and smooth muscle. It is an involuntary, striated muscle that constitutes the main tissue of the wall of the heart. The cardiac muscle (myocardium) forms a thick middle layer between the outer layer of the heart wall (the pericardium) and the inner layer (the endocardium), with blood supplied via the coronary circulation. It is composed of individual cardiac muscle cells joined by intercalated discs, and encased by collagen fibers and other substances that form the extracellular matrix. Cardiac muscle contracts in a similar manner to skeletal muscle, although with some important differences. Electrical stimulation in the form of a cardiac action potential triggers the release of calcium from the cell's internal calcium store, the sarcoplasmic reticulum. The rise in calcium causes the cell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ryanodine Receptor 2
Ryanodine receptor 2 (RYR2) is one of a class of ryanodine receptors and a protein found primarily in cardiac muscle. In humans, it is encoded by the ''RYR2'' gene. In the process of cardiac calcium-induced calcium release, RYR2 is the major mediator for sarcoplasmic release of stored calcium ions. Structure The channel is composed of RYR2 homotetramers and FK506-binding proteins found in a 1:4 stoichiometric ratio. Calcium channel function is affected by the specific type of FK506 isomer interacting with the RYR2 protein, due to binding differences and other factors. Function The RYR2 protein functions as the major component of a calcium channel located in the sarcoplasmic reticulum that supplies ions to the cardiac muscle during systole. To enable cardiac muscle contraction, calcium influx through voltage-gated L-type calcium channels in the plasma membrane allows calcium ions to bind to RYR2 located on the sarcoplasmic reticulum. This bindi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Depolarization
In biology, depolarization or hypopolarization is a change within a cell, during which the cell undergoes a shift in electric charge distribution, resulting in less negative charge inside the cell compared to the outside. Depolarization is essential to the function of many cells, communication between cells, and the overall physiology of an organism. Most cells in higher organisms maintain an internal environment that is negatively charged relative to the cell's exterior. This difference in charge is called the cell's membrane potential. In the process of depolarization, the negative internal charge of the cell temporarily becomes more positive (less negative). This shift from a negative to a more positive membrane potential occurs during several processes, including an action potential. During an action potential, the depolarization is so large that the potential difference across the cell membrane briefly reverses polarity, with the inside of the cell becoming positively char ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cardiac Action Potential
The cardiac action potential is a brief change in voltage ( membrane potential) across the cell membrane of heart cells. This is caused by the movement of charged atoms (called ions) between the inside and outside of the cell, through proteins called ion channels. The cardiac action potential differs from action potentials found in other types of electrically excitable cells, such as nerves. Action potentials also vary within the heart; this is due to the presence of different ion channels in different cells. Unlike the action potential in skeletal muscle cells, the cardiac action potential is not initiated by nervous activity. Instead, it arises from a group of specialized cells known as pacemaker cells, that have automatic action potential generation capability. In healthy hearts, these cells form the cardiac pacemaker and are found in the sinoatrial node in the right atrium. They produce roughly 60–100 action potentials every minute. The action potential passes along t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TCAP (gene)
Telethonin, also known as Tcap, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''TCAP'' gene. Telethonin is expressed in cardiac and skeletal muscle at Z-discs and functions to regulate sarcomere assembly, T-tubule function and apoptosis. Telethonin has been implicated in several diseases, including limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, dilated cardiomyopathy and idiopathic cardiomyopathy. Structure Telethonin is a 19.0 kDa protein composed of 167 amino acids. Telethonin has a unique β-sheet structure, which enables antiparallel association with the Titin Z1-Z2 domains in cardiac and skeletal muscle. Structural analysis of full-length Telethonin with the N-terminal region of Titin indicate that the C-terminus of Telethonin is critical for the dimerization of two Telethonin/Titin complexes into a higher oligomeric structure. Function Telethonin expression is developmentally regulated in both cardiac and skeletal muscle and is thought to be critical to sarc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Telethonin
Telethonin, also known as Tcap, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''TCAP'' gene. Telethonin is expressed in cardiac and skeletal muscle at Z-discs and functions to regulate sarcomere assembly, T-tubule function and apoptosis. Telethonin has been implicated in several diseases, including limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, dilated cardiomyopathy and idiopathic cardiomyopathy. Structure Telethonin is a 19.0 kDa protein composed of 167 amino acids. Telethonin has a unique β-sheet structure, which enables antiparallel association with the Titin Z1-Z2 domains in cardiac and skeletal muscle. Structural analysis of full-length Telethonin with the N-terminal region of Titin indicate that the C-terminus of Telethonin is critical for the dimerization of two Telethonin/Titin complexes into a higher oligomeric structure. Function Telethonin expression is developmentally regulated in both cardiac and skeletal muscle and is thought to be critical ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Excitation Contraction Coupling
Muscle contraction is the activation of tension-generating sites within muscle cells. In physiology, muscle contraction does not necessarily mean muscle shortening because muscle tension can be produced without changes in muscle length, such as when holding something heavy in the same position. The termination of muscle contraction is followed by muscle relaxation, which is a return of the muscle fibers to their low tension-generating state. For the contractions to happen, the muscle cells must rely on the interaction of two types of filaments which are the thin and thick filaments. Thin filaments are two strands of actin coiled around each, and thick filaments consist of mostly elongated proteins called myosin. Together, these two filaments form myofibrils which are important organelles in the skeletal muscle system. Muscle contraction can also be described based on two variables: length and tension. A muscle contraction is described as isometric if the muscle tension changes b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
JPH2
Junctophilin 2, also known as JPH2, is a protein which in humans is encoded by the ''JPH2'' gene. Alternative splicing has been observed at this locus and two variants encoding distinct isoforms are described. Function Junctional complexes between the plasma membrane and endoplasmic/ sarcoplasmic reticulum are a common feature of all excitable cell types and mediate cross talk between cell surface and intracellular ion channels. The protein encoded by this gene is a component of junctional complexes and is composed of a C-terminal hydrophobic segment spanning the endoplasmic/sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane and a remaining cytoplasmic membrane occupation and recognition nexus (MORN) domain that shows specific affinity for the plasma membrane. JPH2 is a member of the junctophilin gene family (the other members of the family are JPH1, JPH3, and JPH4 Junctophilin 4 is a protein in humans that is encoded by the JPH4 gene. This gene encodes a member of the junctophilin famil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BIN1
Myc box-dependent-interacting protein 1, also known as Bridging Integrator-1 and Amphiphysin-2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''BIN1'' gene. This gene encodes several isoforms of a nucleocytoplasmic adaptor protein, one of which was initially identified as a MYC-interacting protein with features of a tumor suppressor. Isoforms that are expressed in the central nervous system may be involved in synaptic vesicle endocytosis and may interact with dynanim, synaptojanin, endophilin, and clathrin. Isoforms that are expressed in muscle and ubiquitously expressed isoforms localize to the cytoplasm and nucleus and activate a caspase-independent apoptotic process. Studies in mouse suggest that this gene plays an important role in cardiac muscle development. Alternate splicing of the gene results in ten transcript variants encoding different isoforms. Aberrant splice variants expressed in tumor cell lines have also been described. Clinical significance In humans, mutations ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amphiphysin
Amphiphysin is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''AMPH'' gene. Function This gene encodes a protein associated with the cytoplasmic surface of synaptic vesicles. A subset of patients with stiff person syndrome who were also affected by breast cancer are positive for autoantibodies against this protein. Alternate splicing of this gene results in two transcript variants encoding different isoforms. Additional splice variants have been described, but their full length sequences have not been determined. Amphiphysin is a brain-enriched protein with an N-terminal lipid interaction, dimerisation and membrane bending BAR domain, a middle clathrin and adaptor binding domain and a C-terminal SH3 domain. In the brain, its primary function is thought to be the recruitment of dynamin to sites of clathrin-mediated endocytosis. There are 2 mammalian amphiphysins with similar overall structure. A ubiquitous splice form of amphiphysin-2 (BIN1) that does not contain clathrin or adapto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Triad (anatomy)
In the histology of skeletal muscle, a triad is the structure formed by a T tubule with a sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) known as the terminal cisterna on either side. Each skeletal muscle fiber has many thousands of triads, visible in muscle fibers that have been sectioned longitudinally. (This property holds because T tubules run perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the muscle fiber.) In mammals, triads are typically located at the A-I junction; that is, the junction between the A and I bands of the sarcomere, which is the smallest unit of a muscle fiber. Triads form the anatomical basis of excitation-contraction coupling, whereby a stimulus excites the muscle and causes it to contract. A stimulus, in the form of positively charged current, is transmitted from the neuromuscular junction down the length of the T tubules, activating dihydropyridine receptors (DHPRs). Their activation causes 1) a negligible influx of calcium and 2) a mechanical interaction with calcium-conducti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
