Muscle cell

A muscle cell is an elongated cell specialized to contract and generate force. Its contractile proteins are organized to produce movement or tension.

Sarcomere: The repeating contractile unit of striated muscle, built from interlocking actin and myosin filaments. Its repeated shortening produces force in skeletal and cardiac muscle cells.
Skeletal muscle: A voluntary, striated muscle tissue usually attached to bones. Its fibers are multinucleated muscle cells formed by fused precursor cells.
Muscle hypertrophy: An increase in muscle size caused primarily by enlargement of existing muscle fibers. Training can enlarge muscle cells by increasing their contractile capacity.
Myofibroblast: A contractile connective-tissue cell involved in wound contraction and tissue remodeling. It generates tension like a muscle cell but is not a specialized muscle fiber.
Actin: A protein that forms thin filaments and participates in cell structure, movement, and muscle contraction. Actin filaments slide past myosin filaments during contraction.
Cardiac muscle: The striated muscle tissue that makes up the heart wall. Its branching cells contract together through specialized cell-to-cell junctions.
Muscle atrophy: A reduction in muscle mass caused by shrinkage or loss of muscle fibers. Disuse, disease, or denervation can reduce muscle-cell size and function.
Pericyte: A contractile support cell associated with small blood vessels. Its vessel-regulating contractions contrast with the force-producing role of muscle cells.
Myosin: A family of motor proteins that use ATP to move along actin filaments. Myosin generates the pulling force within contractile muscle cells.
Smooth muscle: Non-striated muscle tissue found in the walls of many hollow organs and vessels. Its individual cells contract without the sarcomere pattern seen in striated muscle.

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