Cardiac Muscle Tissue Features

What is unique to cardiac muscle tissue?

What kind of junction is responsible for the direct electrical connection between cardiac muscle cells?

What is the function of desmosomes in cardiac muscle cells?

What type of contraction do cardiac muscle cells exhibit?

What do intercalated discs provide in cardiac muscle cells?

What is the function of fascia adherens in cardiac muscle cells?

Cardiac Muscle Characteristics

Cardiac muscle has a larger number of blood vessels compared to red skeletal muscle tissue.
Cardiac muscle cells can contract without nervous system stimulation.

Intercalated Discs

Intercalated discs are specialized cell junctions that connect cardiac muscle cells to neighboring cells.
They are unique to cardiac muscle tissue and have a jagged appearance due to the arrangement of cell-to-cell junctions and interlocking plasma membranes.
Features of intercalated discs include:
- Desmosomes that bind plasma membranes together, preventing cell separation during contractions.
- Fascia adherens, a specialized junction that anchors actin filaments firmly to the plasma membrane.
- Gap junctions (communicating junctions) that allow ions and small molecules to move between cells, creating a direct electrical connection between muscle cells.
The electrical connection between cardiac muscle cells enables the stimulus for contraction (action potential) to move from one cell to another as if the sarcolemmae were continuous.

Learn about the unique characteristics of cardiac muscle tissue, including its large number of blood vessels, ability to contract without nervous system stimulation, and the presence of intercalated discs for cell connections.