Muscle Tissue
This is composed of long excitable cells containing parallel microfilaments of contractile proteins, as in actin, myosin, troponin and tropomysin. Because of its elongated shape, muscle cell is called a muscle fibre.
The muscle fibres of vertebrates are of three different types:
- Striated
- Unstriated
- Cardiac
The muscle fibres have the following characteristics:
- Excitability (respond to stimulus)
- Extensibility (stretch)
- Contractility (contract)
- Elasticity (move back to the original position)