Skeletal muscle

Skeletal muscle is a form of "striated" (striped) muscle tissue. It is under the voluntary control of the somatic nervous system. Most skeletal muscles are attached to bones by bundles of collagen fibers that are known as tendons. It is one of three muscle types, the others being cardiac muscle and smooth muscle.

Skeletal striated muscle/ Striated voluntary muscle
A top-down view of skeletal muscle
Latin	muscularis striatus skeletalis

Skeletal muscle is made up of individual muscle cells or myocytes, known as muscle fibres. Muscle fibres do the work when muscles contract. A great deal is known about their structure and how they work. They contract when they get a nerve impulse.

Skeletal Muscle Media

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  3D rendering of a skeletal muscle fiber

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  Muscle types by fiber arrangement

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  Types of pennate muscle. A – unipennate; B – bipennate; *C – multipennate

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  ATPase staining of a muscle cross section. Type II fibers are dark, due to the alkaline pH of the preparation. In this example, the size of the type II fibers is considerably less than the type I fibers due to denervation atrophy.

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  Structure of muscle fibre showing a sarcomere under electron microscope with schematic explanation.

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  Diagram of sarcoplasmic reticulum with terminal cisternae and T-tubules.

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  Human embryo showing somites labelled as primitive segments.

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  Classes of levers present in the human skeletal muscular system

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  When a sarcomere contracts, the Z lines move closer together, and the I band becomes smaller. The A band stays the same width. At full contraction, the thin and thick filaments overlap.