Muscle Structure and Cytoskeletal Proteins - Texas A&M University (TAMU) Scholar

This chapter first defines what is meant by muscle and then discusses the structure of muscle. Different types of muscle, including smooth, cardiac, and skeletal muscles, are found in the body. All the muscles have similar function as they all convert chemical energy into mechanical energy or contraction. Skeletal muscle contains, within the tissue, veins and arteries, nervous tissue, and connective tissue in addition to the actual muscle cells themselves. Muscle cells also have a layer of collagen surrounding each cell just outside of the sarcolemma, called the endomysium. Like the perimysium, the endomysium may play a role in meat tenderness depending on the amount and heat-solubility traits of the collagen. In addition to the discussion about the basic structure of the muscle cell and myofibrils, it is essential to understand the exact structure of the myofibril and its associated proteins if we are to understand what happens within the muscle postmortem. This edition first published 2013 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Muscle Structure and Cytoskeletal Proteins Chapter