The Biochemistry of Movement > Muscle Cells Cause Movement by Contraction Along Their Length
Muscle cells cause movement by contraction along their length
Students learn to:
- describe the generalised structure of a skeletal muscle cell
- identify actin and myosin as the long parallel bundles of protein fibres which form the contractile filaments in skeletal muscle
- identify the cause of muscle cell contraction as the release of calcium ions after a nerve impulse activates the muscle cell membrane
- identify that the cause of the contraction movement is the formation of temporary bonds between the actin and myosin fibres and explain why ATP is consumed in this process
Students:
- analyse information from secondary sources to describe the appearance of type 1 and type 2 skeletal muscle cells
Extract from Chemistry Stage 6 Syllabus (Amended October 2002). © 2009, Board of Studies NSW.