Human Anatomy and Physiology: Muscles, Respiration, Circulation, and Chemical Composition
Classified in Physical Education
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Muscle Contractility and Mechanism
What is the unit of muscle contractility and how would you explain briefly the mechanism of muscle contraction?
The basic unit of muscle contraction is the sarcomere. It is composed of protein filaments: actin and myosin. Actin filaments are fixed in a longitudinal direction, while myosin filaments are free. During contraction, the length of the actin and myosin filaments does not change. Instead, the sarcomere shortens due to the sliding of the actin filaments over the myosin filaments towards the center of the sarcomere. This sliding is driven by the interaction between actin and myosin, which is regulated by calcium ions. Calcium is essential for muscle contraction.