skeletal muscle physiology

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obiwan

Attending Physician
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in FA it says that skeletal muscle has calcium induced calcium release. is this incorrect? i always thought cardiac muscle involved calcium induced calcium release from sarcoplasmic reticulum

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in FA it says that skeletal muscle has calcium induced calcium release. is this incorrect? i always thought cardiac muscle involved calcium induced calcium release from sarcoplasmic reticulum

I believe you are 1/2 right. I thought that cardiac muscle and skeletal muscle had the same mechanism, but the nodes involve influx of Ca++ which result in direct depolarization. It's my understanding that skeletal and cardiac muscle involve Ca++-induced Ca++ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum. That's the basis for dantrolene working as a skeletal muscle relaxant (via inhibition of ryanodine receptors on the SR). Now I don't understand how dantrolene doesn't affect myocytes...
 
Skeletal muscle contraction is actually not a calcium-induced-calcium release mechanism. The ryanodine receptors in skeletal muscle cells are associated with voltage-sensitive receptors (dihydropyridine receptors) in the T-tubules. Depolarization of the T-tubles causes a conformational change in the DHP receptors which opens the ryanodine receptors. Then calcium is released.

Cardiac cells use the calcium-induced-calcium release method. The influx of Ca2+ opens the ryanodine receptors which cause release of Ca2+ from the SR. That's why extracellular calcium is required for cardiac myocyte contraction but not for skeletal muscle contraction.
 
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