Muscle Tissue - Types Of Muscle Tissue - Structure Of Muscle Tissue

In this video we discuss the types of muscle tissue, skeletal muscle tissue, cardiac muscle tissue and smooth muscle tissue. We also look at the structure of each of these types of muscle tissue and their locations in the body.


Transcript/notes

Muscle tissue types

Muscle tissue is made up of special muscle cells that have the ability to contract when stimulated. So, they can generate a force, producing movement. There are three types of muscle tissue in the body, skeletal muscle tissue, cardiac muscle tissue and smooth muscle tissue.

Skeletal muscle tissue is comprised of long cylindrical cells called skeletal muscle fibers that are parallel to one another and are unbranched. These fibers are multinucleated, meaning they have many nuclei, and have alternating light and dark bands called striations. Skeletal muscle is attached to bones and provide for voluntary skeletal movement of the body.

Cardiac muscle also has striations, but they are short and often are branching. Cardiac muscle cells contain one or two nuclei and are connected by intercalated discs which strengthen the connection between cells, and allow them to contract as a unit. Cardiac muscle is involuntary, are located in the walls of the heart, and function to pump blood through the heart.

Smooth muscle tissue does not have striations like the other muscle tissues have, and their cells are short and tapered at the ends. They are under involuntary control, are located in the walls of many hollow organs such as the stomach, intestines and blood vessels. They function to move and propel materials through these organs.

Timestamps
0:00 Overview and the 3 types of muscle tissue
0:15 Skeletal muscle tissue
0:37 Cardiac muscle
0:59 Smooth muscle tissue