Cardiac muscle, also called myocardium, in vertebrates, one of three major muscle types, found only in the heart. Cardiac muscle is similar to skeletal muscle, another major muscle type, in that it possesses contractile units known as sarcomeres; this feature, however, also distinguishes it from smooth muscle, the third muscle type.The rhythmic contraction of cardiac muscle is regulated by the sinoatrial node of the heart, which serves as the heart’s pacemaker. Cardiac muscle cells form a highly branched cellular network in the heart. They are connected end to end by intercalated disks and are organized into layers of myocardial tissue that are wrapped around the chambers of the heart. The contraction of individual cardiac muscle cells produces force and shortening in these bands of muscle, with a resultant decrease in the heart chamber size and the consequent ejection of the blood into the pulmonary and systemic vessels. Important components of each cardiac muscle cell involved in excitation and metabolic recovery processes are the plasma membrane and transverse tubules in registration with the Z lines, the longitudinal sarcoplasmic reticulum and terminal cisternae, and the mitochondria. Source: The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2019, July 25). Cardiac muscle. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/science/cardiac-muscle
Cardiac muscle, also called myocardium, in vertebrates, one of three major muscle types, found only in the heart. Cardiac muscle is similar to skeletal muscle, another major muscle type, in that it possesses contractile units known as sarcomeres; this feature, however, also distinguishes it from smooth muscle, the third muscle type.The rhythmic contraction of cardiac muscle is regulated by the sinoatrial node of the heart, which serves as the heart’s pacemaker. Cardiac muscle cells form a highly branched cellular network in the heart. They are connected end to end by intercalated disks and are organized into layers of myocardial tissue that are wrapped around the chambers of the heart. The contraction of individual cardiac muscle cells produces force and shortening in these bands of muscle, with a resultant decrease in the heart chamber size and the consequent ejection of the blood into the pulmonary and systemic vessels. Important components of each cardiac muscle cell involved in excitation and metabolic recovery processes are the plasma membrane and transverse tubules in registration with the Z lines, the longitudinal sarcoplasmic reticulum and terminal cisternae, and the mitochondria. Source: The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2019, July 25). Cardiac muscle. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/science/cardiac-muscle
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