Question

What is the contractile functional unit of the myofibril called?

Answer 1

Myofibril:

1. The basic functional unit of skeletal muscle is the myofibril.
2. It is made up of syncytia of multinucleated cells with a variety of biochemical and physiological characteristics.
3. In electron micrographs of thin muscle tissue slices, filament groups with planes parallel to the fibre length can be detected.
4. The two types of filaments are thick and thin.
5. Myofibrils are cylinder-shaped filament arrangements.
6. Alternate pairs of thick and thin filaments overlap or interdigitate over the length of each myofibril, resulting in dark and light bands.
7. A dark ribbon separates each light zone into two parts.
8. Sarcomere refers to the functional unit that connects the two dark bands together.