Smooth Muscle - Definition, Function and Location | Biology (2023)

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What is smooth muscle description function and location? ›

Smooth muscle is present throughout the body, where it serves a variety of functions. It is in the stomach and intestines, where it helps with digestion and nutrient collection. It exists throughout the urinary system, where it functions to help rid the body of toxins and works in electrolyte balance.

At a cellular level, smooth muscle can be described as an involuntary, non-striated muscle. Smooth muscle consists of thick and thin filaments that are not arranged into sarcomeres giving it a non-striated pattern. On microscopic examination, it will appear homogenous.

Functional roles of smooth muscle contraction: propels contents through a hollow organ or tube. maintains pressure against the contents within a hollow organ or tube. regulates internal flow of contents by changing tube diameter (resistance).

Smooth muscles — sometimes also called involuntary muscles — are usually in sheets, or layers, with one layer of muscle behind the other. You can't control this type of muscle.

Smooth muscle fibers are located in walls of hollow visceral organs (such as the liver, pancreas, and intestines), except the heart, appear spindle-shaped, and are also under involuntary control. Skeletal muscle fibers occur in muscles which are attached to the skeleton.

Skeletal muscle is an organ that primarily controls movement and posture. Cardiac muscle encompasses the heart, which keeps the human body alive. Smooth muscle is present throughout the gastrointestinal, reproductive, urinary, vascular, and respiratory systems.

Smooth muscles are unstriated involuntary with spindle shape cells.

Answer: Smooth muscle is an involuntary, non-striated type of (vertebrate) muscle capable of slow rhythmic involuntary contractions. Smooth muscle, also called an involuntary muscle, displays no cross stripes when examined under a microscope.

The main functions of skeletal muscle are to contract to produce movement, sustain body posture and position, maintain body temperature, store nutrients, and stabilize joints.

What is the function of smooth muscle in vessels? ›

The smooth muscle cell directly drives the contraction of the vascular wall and hence regulates the size of the blood vessel lumen.

Function. Vascular smooth muscle contracts or relaxes to change both the volume of blood vessels and the local blood pressure, a mechanism that is responsible for the redistribution of the blood within the body to areas where it is needed (i.e. areas with temporarily enhanced oxygen consumption).

Which description of smooth muscle tissue is most accurate? This tissue type, in addition to certain muscle tissues, is capable of generating electrical impulses.

Smooth muscle is so named because it has no visible striations. Its contraction is involuntary. It is found in the walls of hollow organs (e.g., digestive tract, blood vessels, urinary bladder) and other areas (e.g., the iris).

On histology, smooth muscle typically appears as a sheet of interconnected, elongated cells within connective tissue. It is called 'smooth' muscle because it lacks the characteristic striations observed in histological sections of skeletal and cardiac muscle [22].

Answer and Explanation: The correct answer is option C . Option C is not a function of smooth muscle because forcing blood from the heart to the major arteries is accomplished by cardiac muscles, which is the only muscle type found in the heart.

The cardiac muscle is responsible for the contractility of the heart and, therefore, the pumping action. The cardiac muscle must contract with enough force and enough blood to supply the metabolic demands of the entire body. This concept is termed cardiac output and is defined as heart rate x stroke volume.

The smooth muscle around these organs also can maintain a muscle tone when the organ empties and shrinks, a feature that prevents “flabbiness” in the empty organ. In general, visceral smooth muscle produces slow, steady contractions that allow substances, such as food in the digestive tract, to move through the body.

The rough ER, studded with millions of membrane bound ribosomes, is involved with the production, folding, quality control and despatch of some proteins. Smooth ER is largely associated with lipid (fat) manufacture and metabolism and steroid production hormone production. It also has a detoxification function.

The airways and parenchymal tissues of vertebrate lungs are, nearly without exception, lined with smooth muscle controlled by the autonomic nervous system.

Which of the following is an example of a smooth muscle? ›

Smooth muscle generally forms the supporting tissue of blood vessels and hollow internal organs, such as the stomach, intestine, and bladder.

Smooth movement is predictable movement, and predictable movement is easy to control. This creates a positive feedback loop: increased predictability makes control easier, which makes movement smoother, which enhances predicability and so forth.

Skeletal muscles are attached to bones. They help for movement of various bones of the skeleton. Smooth muscles are forming the walls of hollow organs like intestines, blood vessels.

Skeletal muscle includes the tissue fibers attached to your skeleton or bones and is responsible for all your movements. These muscles are also found at the openings of tracts in your body, like your throat, anus, and urethra. They're often called voluntary muscles because you control when and how they work.

Where are the skeletal muscles located? There are skeletal muscles throughout your body. They're located between bones.

Their predominant function is contractibility. Muscles, attached to bones or internal organs and blood vessels, are responsible for movement. Nearly all movement in the body is the result of muscle contraction.

Muscle tissues differ in structure. Skeletal muscle fibres are packed into regular parallel bundles. Smooth muscle has bundles of thin and thick filaments. Cardiac muscle bundles are branched but connected.

Cardiac muscle makes up the thick middle layer of the heart and is surrounded by a thin outer layer called the epicardium or visceral pericardium and an inner endocardium.

Muscle tissue is composed of cells that have the special ability to shorten or contract in order to produce movement of the body parts. The tissue is highly cellular and is well supplied with blood vessels.

What is the function of smooth muscle Quora? ›

smooth muscle tissue (also referred to as involuntary) takes care of movement in any part of your body you usually have no control of. Examples: blood vessels, digestive tract, lymph vessels,… The muscles you can voluntarily move are striated muscles.

Termed unitary smooth muscle or visceral muscle, this type of smooth muscle is the most common observed in the human body, forming the walls of hollow organs. Single-unit smooth muscle produces slow, steady contractions that allow substances, such as food in the digestive tract, to move through the body.

While smooth muscles can be observed in the internal organs, striated muscles can be seen attached to the skeleton. The striated muscles comprise muscle fibres, composed of thin and thick filaments. On the other hand, smooth muscles possess interconnected cells for the formation of layers.

The cardiac muscle cell has one central nucleus, like smooth muscle, but it also is striated, like skeletal muscle.

The smooth muscle cell is 3-10 µm thick and 20-200 µm long. The cytoplasm is homogeneously eosinophilic and consists mainly of myofilaments. The nucleus is located in the center and takes a cigar-like shape during contraction.

Peristalsis is a series of wave-like muscle contractions that move food through the digestive tract. It starts in the esophagus where strong wave-like motions of the smooth muscle move balls of swallowed food to the stomach.

Which description of smooth muscle tissue is most accurate? This tissue type, in addition to certain muscle tissues, is capable of generating electrical impulses.

Muscles have a range of functions from pumping blood and supporting movement to lifting heavy weights or giving birth. Muscles work by either contracting or relaxing to cause movement. This movement may be voluntary (meaning the movement is made consciously) or done without our conscious awareness (involuntary).

There are many functions of smooth muscle, from moving food along the digestive tract, to pulling hair erect in response to cold or fear. When these cells contract, they squeeze the ducts, helping to extrude the contents. Look at this section of ducts, that are surrounded by myo-epithelial cells.

Where is skeletal muscle located? ›

Skeletal muscle is found throughout the body, attached to bones via tendons. It is also present in the tongue, diaphragm, eye socket, and upper esophagus.

Smooth muscle cells are elastic, not striated, spindle-shaped and contain a single central nucleus. Smooth muscle cells are arranged together in sheets and this organisation means that they can contract simultaneously. However, they do contain other normal cell organelles such as sarcosomes but in lower numbers.

Muscles allow a person to move, speak, and chew. They control heartbeat, breathing, and digestion. Other seemingly unrelated functions, including temperature regulation and vision, also rely on the muscular system.

Muscle is a soft tissue found in both animals and humans. The cells of the muscles comprise protein filaments of actin and myosin that slide past one another, which produces contraction and changes both the length and the shape of the cell.