Biology Lecture Notes Y.

Nagah

Biology Lecture

Notes
(STEMer’s guide)

2022

Lecture (9)

Mr. Youssef Nagah

1|Page
Biology Lecture Notes Y. Nagah

BI.3.05: students will describe the functional subunit of muscles (sarcomere) and its
structural component (myofibrils, actin and myosin) and will describe how this structure
interact with the nervous system and how nervous system communicate with the structure in
facilitating muscle contraction.
Model answer lecture (8)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

B B C B A A C C A C D A D D B A A B C A D D B E A

26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46
D C D C E C B B C C D B B E B E B C A D A

47 48 49

A D D

The physical interaction of protein filaments is required for muscle function

Throughout our discussion of sensory mechanisms, we have seen
how sensory inputs to the nervous system result in specific
behaviors: the touch-guided foraging of a star-nosed mole, the
upside-down swimming of a crayfish with manipulated statocysts,
and the light-avoiding maneuvers of planarians. Underlying the
diverse forms of behavior in animals are common fundamental
mechanisms: Feeding, swimming, and crawling all require muscle
activity in response to nervous system input.
Muscle cell function relies on microfilaments, which are the actin
components of the cytoskeleton. That microfilaments, like
microtubules, function in cell motility.
Muscle contraction is the product of microfilament movement
powered by chemical energy; muscle extension occurs only
passively. To understand how microfilaments, contribute to muscle contraction, we must analyze
the structure of muscles and muscle fibers. We will begin by examining vertebrate skeletal muscle
and then turn our attention to other types of muscle.
Vertebrate Skeletal Muscle
Vertebrate skeletal muscle, which moves bones and body, is characterized by a hierarchy of
smaller and smaller units (As shown in the figure).
 Most skeletal muscles consist of a bundle of long fibers running parallel to the length of the
muscle.
 Each fiber is a single cell. A muscle fiber, or cell, contains multiple nuclei, reflecting its formation
by the fusion of many embryonic cells.

2|Page
Biology Lecture Notes Y. Nagah

 Inside the fiber lies a bundle of smaller myofibrils arranged

longitudinally. The myofibrils, in turn, are composed of thin
filaments and thick filaments. Thin filaments consist of two
strands of actin and two strands of a regulatory protein (not
shown here) coiled around one another. Thick filaments are
staggered arrays of myosin molecules.
 Skeletal muscle is also called striated muscle because the
regular arrangement of the filaments creates a pattern of
light and dark bands.
 Each repeating unit is a sarcomere, the basic contractile unit
of the muscle.
 The borders of the sarcomere are lined up in adjacent
myofibrils and contribute to the striations visible with a light
microscope.
 Thin filaments are attached at the Z lines and project
toward the center of the sarcomere, while thick filaments are
attached at the M lines centered in the sarcomere.
 In a muscle fiber at rest, thick and thin filaments only
partially overlap. Near the edge of the sarcomere there are
only thin filaments, whereas the zone in the center contains
only thick filaments. This arrangement is the key to how the
sarcomere, and hence the whole muscle, contracts.
The Sliding-Filament Model of Muscle Contraction
We can explain much of what happens during the contraction of a whole muscle by focusing on
the contraction of a single sarcomere (As shown in the figure).
 According to the sliding filament model, the filaments do not change in length when the
sarcomere shortens.

 Instead, the thin and thick filaments slide past each other, increasing their overlap. The
longitudinal sliding of the filaments relies on the interaction of actin and myosin.

3|Page
Biology Lecture Notes Y. Nagah

 Each myosin molecule has a long “tail” region and a globular “head” region. The tail adheres to
the tails of other myosin molecules that form the thick filament. The head, which extends to the
side, can bind ATP and hydrolyze it to ADP and inorganic phosphate. (As shown in the figure).
 Hydrolysis of ATP converts myosin to a high-energy form. This form of myosin binds to actin,
forms a cross-bridge, and pulls the thin filament toward the center of the sarcomere.
 The cross-bridge is broken when a new molecule of ATP binds to the myosin head.
Muscle contraction requires repeated cycles of binding and release. In each cycle, the myosin head
freed from a cross-bridge cleaves the newly bound ATP and binds again to actin. Because the thin
filament moved toward the center of the sarcomere in the previous cycle, the myosin head now
attaches to a new binding site farther along the thin filament.
 Each of the approximately 350 heads of a thick filament forms and re-forms about five cross-
bridges per second, driving filaments past each other.
 A typical muscle fiber at rest contains only enough ATP for a few contractions. To power
repetitive contractions, the muscle cell relies on two other storage compounds: creatine
phosphate and glycogen.
 Transfer of a phosphate group from creatine phosphate to ADP in an enzyme-catalyzed reaction
synthesizes additional ATP. In this way, the resting supply of creatine phosphate can sustain
contractions for about 15 seconds.
 ATP stores are also replenished when glycogen is broken down to glucose, which can be used to
generate ATP, by either aerobic respiration or glycolysis (and lactic acid fermentation). Using a
typical muscle fiber’s glycogen store, glycolysis can support about 1 minute of sustained
contraction, whereas aerobic respiration can power contractions for nearly an hour.

4|Page
Biology Lecture Notes Y. Nagah

 The Role of Calcium and Regulatory Proteins

Calcium ions (Ca+2) and proteins bound to actin play
crucial roles in both muscle cell contraction and
relaxation.
Tropomyosin, a regulatory protein, and the troponin
complex, a set of additional regulatory proteins, are
bound to the actin strands of thin filaments. In a muscle
fiber at rest, tropomyosin covers the myosin-binding
sites along the thin filament, preventing actin and
myosin from interacting (Figure, a). When Ca+2
accumulates in the cytosol, it binds to the troponin
complex, causing tropomyosin bound along the actin strands to shift position and expose the
myosin-binding sites on the thin filament (Figure, b).
 Thus, when the Ca+2 concentration rises in the cytosol, the thin and thick filaments slide past
each other, and the muscle fiber contracts.
 When the Ca+2 concentration falls, the binding sites are covered, and contraction stops.
 Motor neurons cause muscle contraction by triggering the release of Ca +2 into the cytosol of
muscle cells with which they form synapses. This regulation of Ca+2 concentration is a multistep
process involving a network of membranes and compartments within the muscle cell. As you read
the following description, (refer to the overview and diagram in the figure).
1. The arrival of an action potential at the synaptic terminal of a motor neuron causes release of
the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.
2. Binding of acetylcholine to receptors on the muscle fiber leads to a depolarization, triggering an
action potential.
3. Within the muscle fiber, the action potential spreads deep into the interior, following infoldings
of the plasma membrane called transverse (T) tubules.
4. The T tubules make close contact with the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), a specialized
endoplasmic reticulum. As the action potential spreads along the T tubules, it triggers changes
in the SR, opening Ca+2 channels. Calcium ions stored in the interior of the SR flow through these
open channels into the cytosol and bind to the troponin complex, initiating contraction of the
muscle fiber.
When motor neuron input stops, the muscle cell relaxes.
5. As it relaxes, the filaments slide back to their starting position. During this phase, proteins in the
cell reset the muscle for the next cycle of contraction.
6. Relaxation begins as transport proteins in the SR pump Ca+2 in from the cytosol. When the Ca+2
concentration in the cytosol drops to a low level, the regulatory proteins bound to the thin
filament shift back to their starting position, once again blocking the myosin-binding sites. At the
same time, the Ca+2 pumped from the cytosol accumulates in the SR, providing the stores
needed to respond to the next action potential.

5|Page
Biology Lecture Notes Y. Nagah

6|Page
Biology Lecture Notes Y. Nagah

Several diseases cause paralysis by interfering with the excitation of skeletal muscle fibers by
motor neurons.
 In amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also called Lou Gehrig’s disease, motor neurons in the
spinal cord and brainstem degenerate, and the muscle fibers with which they synapse atrophy. ALS
is progressive and usually fatal within five years after symptoms appear; currently there is no cure
or treatment.
 Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease in which a person produces antibodies to the
acetylcholine receptors on skeletal muscle fibers. As the number of these receptors decreases,
synaptic transmission between motor neurons and muscle fibers declines. Fortunately, effective
treatments are available for myasthenia gravis.
Nervous Control of Muscle Tension
Whereas contraction of a single skeletal muscle fiber is a brief all-or-none twitch, contraction of a
whole muscle, such as the biceps in your upper arm, is graded; you can voluntarily alter the extent
and strength of its contraction.
There are two basic mechanisms by which the nervous system produces graded contractions of
whole muscles:
(1) by varying the number of muscle fibers that contract and (2) by varying the rate at which
muscle fibers are stimulated. Let’s consider each mechanism in turn.
1) In vertebrates, each branched motor
neuron may form synapses with many
skeletal muscle fibers, although each fiber is
controlled by only one motor neuron. For the
whole muscle, there may be hundreds of
motor neurons, each with its own pool of
muscle fibers. A motor unit consists of a
single motor neuron and all the muscle fibers
it controls
(As shown in the figure). When a motor
neuron produces an action potential, all the
muscle fibers in its motor unit contract as a
group. The strength of the resulting
contraction depends on how many muscle
fibers the motor neuron controls.
In most muscles, the number of muscle fibers
in different motor units ranges from a few to
hundreds. The nervous system can thus
regulate the strength of contraction in a
muscle by determining how many motor
units are activated at a given instant and by
selecting large or small motor units to
activate.
The force (tension) developed by a muscle progressively increases as more and more of the motor

7|Page
Biology Lecture Notes Y. Nagah

neurons controlling the muscle are activated, a process called recruitment of motor neurons.
Depending on the number of motor neurons your brain recruits and the size of their motor units,
you can lift a fork or something much heavier, like your biology textbook.
 Some muscles, especially those that hold up the body and maintain posture, are almost always
partially contracted. In such muscles, the nervous system may alternate activation among the
motor units, reducing the length of time any one set of fibers is contracted. Prolonged contraction
can result in muscle fatigue due to the depletion of ATP and dissipation of ion gradients required
for normal electrical signaling. Although accumulation of lactate, may also contribute to muscle
fatigue, recent research actually points to a beneficial effect of lactate on muscle function.
2) The nervous system regulates muscle contraction not only by controlling which motor units are
activated, but also by varying the rate of muscle fiber stimulation. A single action potential
produces a twitch lasting about 100 msec or less. If a second action potential arrives before the
muscle fiber has completely relaxed, the two twitches add together, resulting in greater tension
(As shown in the figure).
Further summation occurs as the rate of
stimulation increases. When the rate is so high
that the muscle fiber cannot relax at all
between stimuli, the twitches fuse into one
smooth, sustained contraction called tetanus.
 Motor neurons usually deliver their action
potentials in rapid-fire volleys, and the resulting
summation of tension results in the smooth
contraction typical of tetanus rather than the
jerky actions of individual twitches. (Although a
smooth, sustained contraction is part of normal
muscle function, tetanus is also the name of a
disease of uncontrolled muscle contraction
caused by a bacterial toxin.) The increase in
tension during summation and tetanus occurs because skeletal muscle fibers are connected to
bones via tendons and connective tissues. When a muscle fiber contracts, it stretches these elastic
structures, which then transmit tension to the bones. In a single twitch, the muscle fiber begins to
relax before the elastic structures are fully stretched. During summation, however, the high-
frequency action potentials maintain an elevated concentration of Ca+2 in the muscle fiber’s
cytosol, prolonging cross-bridge cycling and causing greater stretching of the elastic structures.
During tetanus, the elastic structures are fully stretched, and all of the tension generated by the
muscle fiber is transmitted to the bones.
Types of Skeletal Muscle Fibers
Our discussion to this point has focused on the general properties of vertebrate skeletal muscles.
There are, however, several distinct types of skeletal muscle fibers, each of which is adapted to a
particular set of functions. Scientists typically classify these varied fiber types either by:
1. The source of ATP used to power muscle activity (or by)
2. The speed of muscle contraction.

8|Page
Biology Lecture Notes Y. Nagah

We’ll consider each of the two classification schemes.

Oxidative and Glycolytic Fibers:
Fibers that rely mostly on aerobic respiration are called oxidative fibers. Such fibers are
specialized in ways that enable them to make use of a steady energy supply:
 They have many mitochondria, a rich blood supply,
 and a large amount of an oxygen-storing protein called myoglobin. A brownish red pigment,
myoglobin binds oxygen more tightly than does hemoglobin, enabling oxidative fiber to extract
oxygen from the blood efficiently.
In contrast to oxidative fibers, glycolytic fibers use glycolysis as their primary source of ATP.
 They have a larger diameter and
 less myoglobin than oxidative fibers and thus fatigue much more readily. These different fiber
types are readily apparent in the muscle of poultry and fish: The dark meat is made up of oxidative
fibers rich in myoglobin, and the light meat is composed of glycolytic fibers.
Fast-Twitch and Slow-Twitch Fibers Muscle fibers vary in the speed with which they contract:
Fast-twitch fibers slow-twitch fibers
 Fast-twitch fibers develop  Slow fibers, often found in muscles that maintain posture, can
tension two to three times sustain long contractions.
faster than slow-twitch fibers.  A slow fiber has less sarcoplasmic reticulum and pumps Ca+2
 Fast fibers enable brief, more slowly than a fast fiber.
rapid, powerful contractions.  Because Ca+2 remains in the cytosol longer, a muscle twitch in a
slow fiber lasts about five times as long as one in a fast fiber.
 The difference in contraction speed between slow-twitch and fast-twitch fibers mainly reflects
the rate at which their myosin heads hydrolyze ATP. However, there isn’t a one-to- one
relationship between contraction speed and ATP source.
Whereas all slow-twitch fibers are oxidative, fast-twitch fibers can be either glycolytic or oxidative.
 Most human skeletal muscles contain both fast- and slow twitch fibers, although the muscles of
the eye and hand are exclusively fast-twitch.
 In a muscle that has a mixture of fast and slow fibers, the relative proportions of each are
genetically determined. However, if such a muscle is used repeatedly for activities requiring high
endurance, some fast glycolytic fibers can develop into fast oxidative fibers. Because fast oxidative
fibers fatigue more slowly than fast glycolytic fibers, the result will be
a muscle that is more resistant to fatigue.
 Some vertebrates have skeletal muscle fibers that twitch at rates
far faster than any human muscle. For example, superfast muscles
produce a rattlesnake’s rattle and a dove’s coo.
The fastest such muscles, however, surround the gas-filled swim
bladder inside the male toadfish (As shown in the figure). In
producing its characteristic “boat whistle” mating call, the toadfish
can contract and relax these muscles more than 200 times per second!

9|Page
Biology Lecture Notes Y. Nagah

Other Types of Muscle

Although all muscles share the same fundamental mechanism of contraction—actin and myosin
filaments sliding past each other—there are many different types of muscle. Vertebrates, for
example, have cardiac muscle and smooth muscle in addition to skeletal muscle.
Vertebrate cardiac muscle:
 is found in only one part of the body: the heart.
 Like skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle is striated.
 However, structural differences between skeletal and cardiac muscle fibers result in differences
in their electrical and membrane properties. Whereas skeletal muscle fibers do not produce action
potentials unless stimulated by a motor neuron, cardiac muscle cells have ion channels in their
plasma membrane that cause rhythmic depolarizations, triggering action potentials without input
from the nervous system.
 Action potentials of cardiac muscle cells last up to 20 times longer than those of the skeletal
muscle fibers.
 Plasma membranes of adjacent cardiac muscle cells interlock at specialized regions called
intercalated disks, where gap junctions (see Figure 6.32) provide direct electrical coupling
between the cells. Thus, the action potential generated by specialized cells in one part of the heart
spreads to all other cardiac muscle cells, causing the whole heart to contract. A long refractory
period prevents summation and tetanus.
Smooth muscle in vertebrates
 is found mainly in the walls of hollow organs, such as blood vessels and organs of the digestive
tract.
 Smooth muscle cells lack striations because their actin and myosin filaments are not regularly
arrayed along the length of the cell.
 Instead, the thick filaments are scattered throughout the cytoplasm, and the thin filaments are
attached to structures called dense bodies, some of which are tethered to the plasma membrane.
 There is less myosin than in striated muscle fibers, and the myosin is not associated with specific
actin strands.
 Some smooth muscle cells contract only when stimulated by neurons of the autonomic nervous
system. Others can generate action potentials without input from neurons—they are electrically
coupled to one another.
 Smooth muscles contract and relax more slowly than striated muscles. Although Ca +2 regulates
smooth muscle contraction, the mechanism for regulation is different from that in skeletal and
cardiac muscle.
 Smooth muscle cells have no troponin complex or T tubules, and their sarcoplasmic reticulum is
not well developed. During an action potential, Ca+2 enters the cytosol mainly through the plasma
membrane. Calcium ions cause contraction by binding to the protein calmodulin, which activates
an enzyme that phosphorylates the myosin head, enabling cross-bridge activity. Invertebrates
have muscle cells similar to vertebrate skeletal and smooth muscle cells, and arthropod skeletal
muscles are nearly identical to those of vertebrates. However, because the flight muscles of
insects are capable of independent, rhythmic contraction, the wings of some insects can actually
beat faster than action potentials can arrive from the central nervous system. Another interesting
10 | P a g e
Biology Lecture Notes Y. Nagah

evolutionary adaptation has been discovered in the muscles that hold a clam’s shell closed. The
thick filaments in these muscles contain a protein called paramyosin that enables the muscles to
remain contracted for as long as a month with only a low rate of energy consumption.

1) The contraction of skeletal muscles is based on

A) actin filaments coiling up to become shorter. B) myosin filaments coiling up to become
shorter.
C) actin and myosin filaments both coiling up to become shorter.
D) actin cross-bridges binding to myosin and then flexing.
E) myosin cross-bridges binding to actin and then flexing.
2) Compared to oxidative skeletal muscle fibers, those classified as glycolytic typically have
A) a higher concentration of myoglobin. B) a higher density of mitochondria.
C) a darker visual appearance. D) a smaller diameter. E) less resistance to fatigue.
3) Myasthenia gravis is a form of muscle paralysis in which
A) motor neurons lose their myelination and the ability to rapidly fire action potentials.
B) acetylcholine receptors are destroyed by an overactive immune system.
C) ATP production becomes uncoupled from mitochondrial electron transport.
D) the spinal cord is infected with a virus that attacks muscle stretch receptors.
E) troponin molecules become unable to bind calcium ions.
4) A skeletal muscle deprived of adequate ATP supplies will
A) immediately relax. B) release all actin-myosin bonds.
C) enter a state where actin and myosin are unable to separate.
D) fire many more action potentials than usual and enter a state of "rigor."
E) sequester all free calcium ions into the sarcoplasmic reticulum.
5) Most of the ATP supplies for a skeletal muscle undergoing 1 hour of sustained exercise come from
A) creatine phosphate. B) glycolysis. C) substrate phosphorylation.
D) oxidative phosphorylation. E) de novo synthesis.
6) The calcium ions released into the cytosol during excitation of skeletal muscle bind to
A) troponin. B) tropomyosin. C) actin. D) myosin. E) transverse tubules.
7) The "motor unit" in vertebrate skeletal muscle refers to
A) one actin binding site and its myosin partner.
B) one sarcomere and all of its actin and myosin filaments.
C) one myofibril and all of its sarcomeres.
D) one motor neuron and all of the muscle fibers on which it has synapses.
E) an entire muscle.
8) The muscles of a recently deceased human can remain in a contracted state, termed rigor mortis, for
several hours, due to the lack of
A) phosphorylated myosin. B) ATP needed to break actin-myosin bonds.
C) calcium ions needed to bind to troponin. D) oxygen supplies needed for myoglobin.
E) sodium ions needed to fire action potentials.
9) Calcium ions initiate sliding of filaments in skeletal muscles by
A) breaking the actin-myosin cross-bridges.
B) binding to the troponin complex, which then relocates tropomyosin.
C) transmitting action potentials across the neuromuscular junction.
D) spreading action potentials through the T tubules.
E) reestablishing the resting membrane potential following an action potential.
10) Muscle cells are stimulated by neurotransmitters released from the synaptic terminals of

11 | P a g e
Biology Lecture Notes Y. Nagah

A) T tubules. B) motor neuron axons. C) sensory neuron axons.

D) motor neuron dendrites. E) sensory neuron dendrites.
11) In a relaxed skeletal muscle, actin is not chemically bound to
A) myosin. B) troponin. C) tropomyosin. D) Z lines
12) Skeletal muscle contraction begins when calcium ions bind to
A) energized cross-bridges. B) myosin. C) actin. D) tropomyosin. E) troponin.
13) A skeletal muscle with abnormally low levels of calcium ions would be impaired in
A) ATP hydrolysis. B) the initiation of an action potential.
C) maintaining its resting membrane potential. D) initiating contraction.
E) its ability to sustain glycolysis.
14) Which of the following might result from a parathyroid tumor which causes over secretion of
parathyroid hormone?
a. joint inflammation leading to osteoarthritis b. bone loss due to stimulation of osteoclasts
c. bone growth due to stimulation of osteoblasts d. conversion of cartilage to bone
15) Steps in the repair of a bone fracture include (1) bone deposition by osteoblasts, (2) bone and debris
removal by osteoclasts, (3) hematoma, and (4) formation of a fibrocartilage callus. In what order do
these steps occur?
a. 1–2–3–4 b. 3–4–1–2 c. 3–4–2–1 d. 4–3–2–1
16) All of the following bones form part of the eye socket except:
a. occipital bone b. lacrimal bone c. zygotmatic bone d. ethmoid bone
17) All of the following bones of the skull are stationary except:
a. frontal bone b. mandible c. maxilla d. zygomatic bone
18) Which bones are found in both the hands and feet?
a. carpals b. metacarpals c. tarsals d. phalanges
19) The movement of the thumb to trace a circle might best be described as:
a. abduction b. rotation c. circumduction d. pronation
20) Synovial joints may include cartilage, ligaments, tendons, and synovial fluid. Which of these attach
bones to other bones within the joint?
a. synovial membrane b. ligaments c. tendons d. cartilage
21) Which of the following is an example of a cartilaginous joint?
a. knee joint b. skull sutures c. pubic symphysis d. hip joint
22) All of the following are bones of the axial skeleton except:
a. vertebrae b. ribs c. skull d. clavicle
23) Which of the following would be likely to prevent or slow the bone loss of osteoporosis?
a. stimulate the activity of fibroblasts b. stimulate the activity of osteoblasts
c. inhibit the activity of osteoclasts d. both (b) and (c)
24) Which of the following contains the richest population of the stem-cell precursors for red and white
blood cells?
a. red bone marrow b. yellow bone marrow c. osteoid d. hydroxyapatite
25) In the formation and development of bones within the fetus, which of these cell types functions earliest?
a. osteocyte b. osteoblasts c. osteoclasts d. chondroblasts
26) Which of the following might be most helpful in determining whether an adolescent is no longer
growing? a. measuring the length of the femur and humerus
b. examining the growth plates near the ends of long bones
c. examining bone density d. examining the fontanels in the skull
27) All of the following processes continue in the skeletal system throughout the life span except:
a. bones continue to lengthen b. stem cells continue to form new blood cells
c. bones continue to be remodeled
d. bones continue to store minerals (calcium and phosphorus)
28) Which kind of joint is essentially immovable?
12 | P a g e
Biology Lecture Notes Y. Nagah

a. hinge joint b. fibrous joint c. cartilaginous joint d. ball and socket joint
29) Muscles which oppose each other and produce opposite movements are described as:
a. synergistic b. antagonistic
c. cooperative d. oppositional
30) Which of the following choices arranges the structures (1) muscle fiber, (2) fascicle, (3) myofibril, and
(4) muscle from the largest (most inclusive) to smallest?
a. 1-2-3-4 b. 2-3-1-4
c. 4-2-1-3 d. 4-2-3-1
31) All of the following are functions of the muscular system except:
a. maintenance of body calcium stores b. resisting movement
c. maintenance of body temperature d. movement
32) Which of the following happens during muscle contraction?
a. actin filaments shorten b. myosin filaments shorten
c. sarcomeres shorten d. both (a) and (b)
33) Botulism toxin inhibits the release of acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junctions. What effect
does this have on the muscle activity?
a. Muscles will contract continuously.
b. Muscles will contract sporadically, without conscious control.
c. Muscles will not contract because they will not receive nerve stimulation.
d. There will be no effect on muscle activity.
34) The sliding filament mechanism describes the process during which:
a. actin and myosin slide relative to each other b. sarcomeres slide relative to each other
c. troponin and tropomyosin slide relative to each other d. muscle fibers slide past each other
35) What is the first and most direct energy source for muscle contraction?
a. glucose b. ATP c. creatine phosphate d. glycogen
36) As you clasp your hands in front of you and push them toward each other, this is an example of:
a. an isotonic contraction b. an isometric contraction
c. a tetanic contraction d. aerobic training
37) All of the following may happen in response to exercise training except:
a. increase in the number of myofibrils
b. increase in the storage of glycogen and creatine phosphate
c. increase in the number of muscle fibers d. increase in the number of mitochondria
38) Which of the following is/are characteristic of slow-twitch fibers?
a. large amounts of glycogen storage b. myoglobin content enables oxygen storage
c. numerous mitochondria d. both (b) and (c)
39) Which of the following is the site of calcium ion storage within muscles?
a. T tubules b. sarcoplasmic reticulum
c. actin filaments d. myosin filaments
40) What is the role of ATP in muscle function?
a. ATP provides energy which enables myosin to form cross-bridges with actin.
b. ATP enables myosin to detach from actin.
c. ATP provides energy to transport calcium back into storage. d. all of the above
41) Which of the following would have motor units with the smallest number of muscle cells?
a. thigh muscle b. muscles in fingers
c. abdominal muscles d. muscles of the back
42) Which type(s) of muscle cells can contract the fastest?
a. smooth muscle cells b. cardiac muscle cells
c. skeletal muscle cells d. All muscle cells can exhibit the same speed of contraction.
43) Which type(s) of muscle cells can contract spontaneously?
a. smooth muscle cells b. cardiac muscle cells
13 | P a g e
Biology Lecture Notes Y. Nagah

c. skeletal muscle cells d. both (a) and (b)

44) Which of the following is the correct sequence that describes the excitation and contraction of a
skeletal muscle fiber? 1. Tropomyosin shifts and unblocks the cross-bridge binding
sites.
2. Calcium is released and binds to the troponin complex.
3. Transverse tubules depolarize the sarcoplasmic reticulum.
4. The thin filaments are ratcheted across the thick filaments by the heads of the myosin molecules
using energy from ATP.
5. An action potential in a motor neuron causes the axon to release acetylcholine, which depolarizes the
muscle cell membrane.
A) 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 5 B) 2 → 1 → 3 → 5 → 4 C) 2 → 3 → 4 → 1 → 5
D) 5 → 3 → 1 → 2 → 4 E) 5 → 3 → 2 → 1 → 4
45) The lumen of the transverse tubules of skeletal muscles contains
A) extracellular fluid. B) cytosol. C) actin. D) myosin. E) sarcomeres.
46) Sustained muscle contraction without relaxation between successive stimuli is called
A) tonus. B) fused tetanus. C) an all-or-none response. D) fatigue. E) a spasm.
47) Skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscle all have
A) A bands and I bands. B) transverse tubules. C) gap junctions.
D) motor units. E) thick and thin filaments.
48) Calcium ions regulate contraction of smooth muscle cells by binding to
A) troponin. B) tropomyosin. C) actin. D) myosin. E) calmodulin.
49) Action potentials in the heart move from one contractile cell to the next via
A) chemical synapses using acetylcholine. B) chemical synapses using norepinephrine.
C) electrical synapses using gap junctions. D) myelinated motor neurons.
E) non-myelinated motor neurons.
50) The hydrostatic skeleton of the earthworm allows it to move around in its environment by
A) walking on its limbs. B) crawling with its feet. C) swimming with its setae.
D) using peristaltic contractions of its circular and longitudinal muscles.
E) alternating contractions and relaxations of its flagellae.
51) Chitin is a major component of
A) the skeleton of mammals. B) the hydrostatic skeletons of earthworms.
C) the exoskeleton of insects. D) the body hairs of mammals. E) the skeleton in birds.
52) An endoskeleton is the primary body support for the
A) annelids, including earthworms. B) insects, including beetles.
C) cartilaginous fishes, including sharks. D) bivalves, including clams.
E) crustaceans, including lobsters.
53) A ball-and-socket joint connects
A) the radius to the ulna. B) the radius to the humerus.
C) the ulna to the humerus. D) the humerus to the scapula. E) the radius to the scapula.
54) Among these choices, the most energetically efficient locomotion per unit mass is likely
A) running by a 50-gram rodent. B) running by a 40-kg ungulate.
C) flying by a 100-g bird. D) swimming by a 10-g minnow (bony fish).
E) swimming by a 100-kg tuna (bony fish).
By using the opposite figure, answer the following (53-55)
55) The structure pictured in the figure is found in
A) skeletal muscles and smooth muscles.
B) cardiac muscles and skeletal muscles.
C) smooth muscles and cardiac muscles.
D) smooth muscles, skeletal muscles, and cardiac muscles.
E) smooth muscles.
14 | P a g e
Biology Lecture Notes Y. Nagah

56) Myosin filaments without actin overlap are in which section of the figure?
A) A B) B C) C D) D E) E
57) Overlapping actin and myosin filaments are found in which section of the figure?
A) A B) B C) C D) D E) E
58) Experiments with genetically altered mice showed that the mice would consume abnormally high
amounts of bitter-tasting compounds in water after their
A) hormone receptors for digestive hormones were reduced or eliminated, showing that bitter tastes are
reinforced by digestive responses.
B) salt-taste cells were altered to express receptors for bitter tastants, suggesting that animals have
unregulated salt appetites.
C) visual sense was reduced or eliminated, suggesting that mice learn visual cues about bitter tastes.
D) olfactory sense was reduced or eliminated, suggesting that mice learn odor cues about bitter tastes.
E) sweet-taste cells were altered to express receptors for bitter tastants, suggesting that the sensation of
taste depends only on which taste cell is stimulated.
59) During the contraction of a vertebrate skeletal muscle fiber, calcium ions
A) break cross-bridges by acting as a cofactor in the hydrolysis of ATP.
B) bind with troponin, changing its shape so that the myosin-binding sites on actin are exposed.
C) transmit action potentials from the motor neuron to the muscle fiber.
D) spread action potentials through the T tubules.
E) re-establish the polarization of the plasma membrane following an action potential.

URT
Passage VII
Although genetic mutations in bacteria and viruses can lead to epidemics, some epidemics are caused by
bacteria and viruses that have undergone no significant genetic change. In analyzing the latter, scientists
have discovered the importance of social and ecological factors to epidemics. Poliomyelitis, for example,
emerged as an epidemic in the United States in the twentieth century; by then, modern sanitation was
able to delay exposure to polio until adolescence or adulthood, at which time polio infection produced
paralysis. Previously, infection had occurred during infancy, when it typically provided lifelong immunity
without paralysis. Thus, the hygiene that helped prevent typhoid epidemics indirectly fostered a paralytic
polio epidemic. Another example is Lyme disease, which is caused by bacteria that are transmitted by deer
ticks. It occurred only sporadically during the late nineteenth century but has recently become prevalent in
parts of the United States, largely due to an increase in the deer population that occurred simultaneously
with the growth of the suburbs and increased outdoor recreational activities in the deer’s habitat.
Similarly, an outbreak of dengue hemorrhagic fever became an epidemic in Asia in the 1950’s because of
ecological changes that caused Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that transmits the dengue virus, to proliferate.
The stage is now set in the United States for a dengue epidemic because of the inadvertent introduction
and wide dissemination of another mosquito, Aedes albopictus.
Questions:
1: The passage suggests that a lack of modern sanitation would make which of the following most likely
to occur?
A. An outbreak of Lyme disease
B. An outbreak of dengue hemorrhagic fever
C. An epidemic of typhoid
D. An epidemic of typhoid
E. An epidemic of paralytic polio among infants
F. An epidemic of paralytic polio among adolescents and adults
2: According to the passage, the outbreak of dengue hemorrhagic fever in the 1950’s occurred for which
of the following reasons?
15 | P a g e
Biology Lecture Notes Y. Nagah

A. The mosquito Aedes aegypti was newly introduced into Asia.

B. The mosquito Aedes aegypti became more numerous.
C. The mosquito Aedes albopictus became infected with the dengue virus.
D. Individuals who would normally acquire immunity to the dengue virus as infants were not infected until
later in life.
E. More people began to visit and inhabit areas in which mosquitoes live and breed.
3: It can be inferred from the passage that Lyme disease has become prevalent in parts of the United
States because of which of the following?
A. The inadvertent introduction of Lyme disease bacteria to the United States
B. The inability of modern sanitation methods to eradicate Lyme disease bacteria
C. A genetic mutation in Lyme disease bacteria that makes them more virulent
D. The spread of Lyme disease bacteria from infected humans to noninfected humans
E. An increase in the number of humans who encounter deer ticks
4: Which of the following can most reasonably be concluded about the mosquito Aedes albopictus on
the basis of information given in the passage?
A. It is native to the United States.
B. It can proliferate only in Asia.
C. It transmits the dengue virus.
D. It caused an epidemic of dengue hemorrhagic fever in the 1950’s.
E. It replaced Aedes aegypti in Asia when ecological changes altered Aedes Aegyptus’s habitat.
5: Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?
A. A paradox is stated, discussed and left unresolved.
B. Two opposing explanations are presented, argued, and reconciled.
C. A theory is proposed and is then followed by descriptions of three experiments that support the
theory.
D. A generalization is stated and is then followed by three instances that support the generalization.
E. An argument is described and is then followed by three counterexamples that refute the argument.
6: Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the author’s assertion about the cause of the
Lyme disease outbreak in the United States?
A. The deer population was smaller in the late nineteenth century than in the mid-twentieth century.
B. Interest in outdoor recreation began to grow in the late nineteenth century.
C. In recent years the suburbs have stopped growing.
D. Outdoor recreation enthusiasts routinely take measures to protect themselves against Lyme disease.
E. Scientists have not yet developed a vaccine that can prevent Lyme disease.

16 | P a g e