Muscle tissue is composed of contractile cells that facilitate body movement and is characterized by properties such as contractibility, excitability, extensibility, and elasticity. There are three types of muscular tissue: skeletal (striated and voluntary), smooth (non-striated and involuntary), and cardiac (striated and involuntary, found only in the heart). Each type has distinct structural features and roles, with skeletal muscles being multinucleated fibers attached to the skeleton, smooth muscles found in hollow organs, and cardiac muscle cells featuring unique intercalated discs for communication.

2.  Muscle tissue is composed of cells that have the
ability to shorten or contract in order to produce
movement of the body parts
Properties of Muscular Tissue
 Contractibility – Ability of muscle cells to
shorten
 Excitability – Muscle tissue responds to a
stimulus delivered from neuron or hormone
 Extensibility – Ability to be stretched
 Elasticity – Ability to recoil back to its original
length after being stretched

3. Structure of Muscular tissue
 Muscular tissues are bundled together and
surrounded by tough connective tissue known as
epimysium
 The tissue made of many muscle fibres
(myocytes)
 Fascicles are surrounded by a protective layer
known as perimysium
 Muscle fibres are composed of numerous fine
myofibrils
 Muscle fibres can contract and relax
 Muscles take part in locomotion and movements

4. TYPES OF MUSCULAR TISSUE
Muscular
tissue
Skeletal muscles
Smooth muscles
Cardiac muscles

5.  Skeletal muscles are attached to the skeleton
 They are also known as striated muscles because
of the presence of alternate patterns of light and
dark bands
 These light and dark bands are highly organized
structures of actin, myosin, and proteins.
 These add to the contractility and extensibility of
the muscles
 Skeletal muscles are also known as voluntary
muscles
 Skeletal muscle tissue is composed of long cells
called muscle fibers that have multinucleated
 They play a vital role in everyday activities

6.  These muscle cells are spindle-shaped with a
single nucleus
 Smooth muscle is found in the walls of hollow
organs throughout the body
 These are non-striated, involuntary muscles
controlled by nervous system
 The actin and myosin filaments are very thin
and arranged randomly, hence no striations
 It stimulates the contractility of the digestive,
urinary, reproductive systems and blood
vessels

7.  Cardiac muscle tissue is present only in the heart
 They are single celled and uninucleated
 The cells of the cardiac muscles known as the
cardiomyocytes are striated
 These are involuntary muscles and the heart
pumps the blood through cardiac contractions
 Muscle cells, unique junctions called
intercalated discs (gap junctions)
 Intercalated discs are the major portal for
cardiac cell to cell communication

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