Physiology lab

Physiology lab #2
Due: 11-19-02




Introduction:

The skeletal muscles are the muscles that allow are bodies to move. In this lab we will be observing the skeletal muscles. Each skeletal muscle is arranged in a heirarchy of tubes. At the cell level the tubes then break down into the basic elements that allow for muscle movements.
These tubes consist of the proteins myosin and actin. When the muscle is stimulated by a nerve cell, the myosin slides along the actin. This sliding action is caused when the myosin heads attach to the actin and then being facilitated by ATP and calcium ions, the myosin head contracts and pulls the myosin. This motion contracts the myofibrils and therefore contracts the muscle.

Materials and Methods

Scissors
Teasing needle
Fine-point forceps
Pipettes
Petri dish
Microscope slides, cover slips
Ruler
Compound and dissecting microscopes

Glycerinated rabbit psoas muscle in glycerol
0.25% ATP in distilled w...