Muscle

hide

Muscle (from Latin musculus, diminutive of mus "mouse") is the contractile tissue of the body and is derived from the mesodermal layer of embryonic germ cells. Muscle cells contain contractile filaments that move past each other and change the size of the cell. They are classified as skeletal, cardiac, or smooth muscles. Their function is to produce force and cause motion. Muscles can cause either locomotion of the organism itself or movement of internal organs. Cardiac and smooth muscle contraction occurs without conscious thought and is necessary for survival. Examples are the contraction of the heart and peristalsis which pushes food through the digestive system. Voluntary contraction of the skeletal muscles is used to move the body and can be finely controlled. Examples are movements of the eye, or gross movements like the quadriceps muscle of the thigh. There are two broad types of voluntary muscle fibers: slow twitch and fast twitch. Slow twitch fibers contract for long periods of time but with little force while fast twitch fibers contract quickly and powerfully but fatigue very rapidly.

For more information about Muscle, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with muscle cells

results timeline


Researchers reverse pulmonary arterial hypertension in mouse models

Medicine & Health / Research

created Oct 25, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, have identified a key protein that promotes the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension in humans and mice. This groundbreaking discovery has implications for ...


Bioengineering of nerve-muscle connection could improve hand use for wounded soldiers

Medicine & Health / Research

created Oct 14, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Modern tissue engineering developed at the University of Michigan could improve the function of prosthetic hands and possibly restore the sense of touch for injured patients.


Afib triggered by a cell that resembles a pigment-producing skin cell

Medicine & Health / Research

created Oct 12, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

The source and mechanisms underlying the abnormal heart beats that initiate atrial fibrillation (Afib), the most common type of abnormal heart beat, have not been well determined. However, a group of researchers at the University ...


New strategy for mending broken hearts?

New strategy for mending broken hearts?

Medicine & Health / Research

created Oct 11, 2009 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- By mimicking the way embryonic stem cells develop into heart muscle in a lab, Duke University bioengineers believe they have taken an important first step toward growing a living "heart patch" ...


Major improvements made in engineering heart repair patches from stem cells

Major improvements made in engineering heart repair patches from stem cells (w/ Video)

Medicine & Health / Research

created Oct 07, 2009 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

University of Washington (UW) researchers have succeeded in engineering human tissue patches free of some problems that have stymied stem-cell repair for damaged hearts.


Research shows safe dosages of common pain reliever may help prevent conditions related to aging

Research shows safe dosages of common pain reliever may help prevent conditions related to aging

Medicine & Health / Research

created Sep 23, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Recent studies conducted by Dr. Eric Blough and his colleagues at Marshall University have shown that use of the common pain reliever acetaminophen may help prevent age-associated muscle loss and other conditions.


Gecko Visiting Flower for Nector

Detached gecko tails dance to their own tune

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Sep 09, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (6) | comments 6

Geckos and other lizards have long been known for their incredible ability to shed their tails as a decoy for predators, but little is known about the movements and what controls the tail once it separates ...


Study: Popular supplement quercetin does not enhance athletic performance

Medicine & Health / Research

created Sep 03, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

The antioxidant quercetin is increasingly being marketed as a supplement that boosts athletic performance, but a new University of Georgia study finds that it is no better than a placebo.


'Housekeeping' genes play important role in developmental pathways of cells

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Aug 20, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A study from the Center for Molecular Genetics at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine shows that a gene called HPRT plays an important role in setting the program by which primitive or precursor cells ...


Cellular crosstalk linked to lung disease

Medicine & Health / Research

created Aug 18, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Crosstalk between cells lining the lung (epithelial cells) and airway smooth muscle cells is important in lung development. However, it has also been shown to contribute to several lung diseases, including asthma and pulmonary ...


To contract or not to contract: Decision controlled by 2 microRNAs

Medicine & Health / Research

created Aug 17, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

New research has provided insight into the molecular regulators of the function of muscle cells in the walls of blood vessels, i.e., vascular smooth muscle cells. Specifically, the acquisition and/or maintenance of the ability ...


Carnitine supplements reverse glucose intolerance in animals

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Aug 12, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Supplementing obese rats with the nutrient carnitine helps the animals to clear the extra sugar in their blood, something they had trouble doing on their own, researchers at Duke University Medical Center ...


Mutation responsible for cystic fibrosis also involved in muscle atrophy

Medicine & Health / Research

created Jul 31, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) usually experience significant muscle loss, a symptom traditionally considered to be a secondary complication of the devastating genetic disease. However, a recent study by Dr. Basil Petrof ...


Scientists create energy-burning brown fat in mice

Scientists create energy-burning brown fat in mice

Medicine & Health / Research

created Jul 29, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (5) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have shown that they can engineer mouse and human cells to produce brown fat, a natural energy-burning type of fat that counteracts obesity. If ...


Heart disease: Research off the beating patch

Heart disease: Research off the beating patch

Medicine & Health / Research

created Jul 21, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

It is an amazing sight: What looks like a tiny beating heart is actually a piece of synthetic, gauze-like mesh, barely the size of a fingernail, floating in a Petri dish. And yet it keeps squeezing away, nice ...