Anatomy Of A Muscle Cell

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The many nuclei of skeletal muscle fiber are located underneath the sarcolemma, which is the fiber’s plasma membrane. Thousands of invaginations of the sarcolemma, which are called T Tubules, Tunnel from the surface to the center of the muscle fiber. These T Tubules are open to the outside of the fiber and are filled with extra-cellular fluid. Muscle action potentials propagate along the sarcolemma and through the T tubules and quickly spread through the muscle fiber. This process ensures that all parts of the muscle fiber become excited by an action potential virtually simultaneously.
The sarcoplasm is located inside the sarcolemma. Sarcoplasm is the cytoplasm of a muscle fiber, it contains a good amount of glycogen, which is used for ATP synthesis. The sarcoplasm also contains myoglobin, a red colored, oxygen binding-protein, that is found only in muscle fibers. The myoglobin binds oxygen molecules, which are needed for ATP production within the mitochondria. The ...

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