Muscle cell
Muscle cells are also known as myocytes or muscle fibres[1]. These cells develop from myoblasts and are found in muscle tissue.
The microstructure of thses cells is unusual and new terminology had to be determined to describe their structures:
| Feature | Equivalent in normal cells |
|---|---|
| sarcoplasm | cytoplasm |
| sarcoplasmic reticulum | smooth endoplasmic reticulum |
| sarcosome | mitochondrion |
| sarcolema | cell membrane |
The sarcoplasm of muscle cells is mostly composed of myofibrils, which, at the same time, are composed of three types of myofilaments[2]:
- Myosin- a thick, dark filament that makes up the A band.
- Actin_filaments- a thin, light filament that makes up the I band.
- Titin- an elastic filament.
These three types of filament will work together to bring about muscle contraction.