Chapter 49 Test Hints

Muscles can only contract and therefore come in pairs. What are the general names of the two pairs of muscles that act together to move limbs?

Thousands of muscle cells make a ____________?

What is unusual about the nuclei of muscle cells?

The cell membrane of a muscle cell has a special name, what is it?

How is a muscle cell similar to a nerve cell?

What is a T-Tubule?

How is a myofibril related to a muscle cell?

What is a sarcoplasmic reticulum and how does it work to help in muscle contraction?

Describe and be able to draw a sarcomere, include the thick and thin filaments (what are their technical names), include the z line. Be sure to include a drawing of a relazed sarcomere and a contracted sarcomere.

Big important idea: Be able to explain, in step-wise fashion the Sliding-Filament Model, of how muscles contract. Don't ignore any details!! The trickiest part is how tropomyosin, troponin, and the myosin binding sites work together to make this happen.

Finally, be able to explain how an electrical signal from a nerve can cause a muscle to contract.