Connective tissue in skeletal muscle
Each skeletal muscle consists of two kinds of tissue: connective tissue, and muscle tissue. Connective tissue of skeletal muscle contains:
- Layers of connective tissue
- Tendon, and sometimes aponeurosis
The layers of connective tissue have a major role in protection and covering of muscle fibers, muscle fascicles, and an entire skeletal muscle. Tendons attach the skeletal muscles to bones. Aponeurosis is structurally as tendon that connects the muscles together, or to bone. The bone tissue is known as the oesus tissue which comprises of 3 kinds of cells- osteoblasts, osteoclasts, osteocytes.
Layers of connective tissue
There are three layers of connective tissue in a skeletal muscle:
- Epimysium
- Perimysium
- Endomysium
These layers are considered as part of each skeletal muscle.
Epimysium
The epimysium surrounds the whole skeletal muscle. This is the outer layer which protects and strengthens the skeletal muscle which at the end, surrounds the entire muscle
Perimysium
The perimysium encompasses the muscle fascicles. A fascicle contains a group of muscle fibers (or muscle cells). There are blood vessels and nerves in the perimysium to muscle fascicles.
Endomysium
The endomysium surrounds each single muscle fiber. A muscle fiber is known as a muscle cell. The endomysium separates the muscle fibers of a fascicle. This is a thin, delicate covering of connective tissue.
Layers of a tendon
Tendon is a dense connective tissue that attaches the muscle to bone, or to other muscles. Their collagen fibers contain the primary and secondary fascicles. The layers of connective tissue in each tendon from outside to inside include:
- Paratenon
- Epitenon
- Endotenon
Features
Some Important characteristics of skeletal Connective tissue
- Extensibility (ability to stretch)
- Elasticity (ability to return to its original shape after stretching)
- Providing each muscle a way to slide close to other structures, thus allowing for efficient movement that is unique and less affected by neighboring muscles and bone.
- Irritability
- Contractility (ability to contract)
- and to assist in providing general structural integrity to all forms in the body
See also
- Connective tissue in the peripheral nervous system
- Endomysium
- Epimysium
- Integument
- Perimysium
References
- Williams & Warwick. Gray's Anatomy. Thirty-seventh edition. Churchill Livingstone. ISBN 0-443-04177-6
- William E.Prentice. Rehabilitation technique in sports medicine.
- Darlene Hertling and Randolph M.Kessler. Management of Common Musculoskeletal Disorders. Third Edition. ISBN 0-397-55150-9
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||