Skeletal and Muscular System

Muscle tissue is a soft tissue that makes up most of the tissues in the muscles of the human muscular system. Other tissues in muscles are connective tissues, such as tendons that attach skeletal muscles to bones and sheaths of connective tissues that cover or line muscle tissues. Only muscle tissue per se, however, has cells with the ability to contract. Each skeletal muscle consists of hundreds — or even thousands — of skeletal muscle fibers, which are long, string-like cells. As shown in the figure below, skeletal muscle fibers are individually wrapped in connective tissue called endomysium. The skeletal muscle fibers are bundled together in units called muscle fascicles, which are surrounded by sheaths of connective tissue called perimysium. Each fascicle contains between ten and 100 (or even more!) skeletal muscle fibers. Fascicles, in turn, are bundled together to form individual skeletal muscles, which are wrapped in connective tissue called epimysium. The connective tissues in skeletal muscles have a variety of functions. They support and protect muscle fibers, allowing them to withstand the forces of contraction by distributing the forces applied to the muscle. They also provide pathways for nerves and blood vessels to reach the muscles. In addition, the epimysium anchors the muscles to tendons.

At the end of the course, you should be able to describe

1. The muscular tissue
2. The skeletal muscles

Course Curriculum

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