Muscle
hideMuscle (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.
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News tagged with muscle cells
Researchers reverse pulmonary arterial hypertension in mouse models
Oct 25, 2009 |
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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
Oct 14, 2009 |
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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
Oct 12, 2009 |
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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?
Oct 11, 2009 |
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(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 (w/ Video)
Oct 07, 2009 |
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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
Sep 23, 2009 |
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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.
Detached gecko tails dance to their own tune
Sep 09, 2009 |
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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
Sep 03, 2009 |
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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
Aug 20, 2009 |
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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
Aug 18, 2009 |
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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
Aug 17, 2009 |
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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
Aug 12, 2009 |
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(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
Jul 31, 2009 |
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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
Jul 29, 2009 |
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(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
Jul 21, 2009 |
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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 ...
