Striated skeletal muscle
Skeletal muscle from tongue. At the top of the image are muscle fibers sectioned lengthwise. Here the evenly-spaced striations are clearly evident. At the bottom of the image are muscle fibers cut in cross section.
- Note large diameter (10-100 µm) and extreme length of skeletal muscle fibers.
- Nuclei (many per fiber) are usually located along the margin of the fibers.
- Striations may or may not be conspicuous, depending on staining and section plane.
- Sarcomere length (distance from one striation to the next) varies with state of contraction. It is about 2 µm for contracted muscle.
Compare and contrast three types of muscle. Click on an image below for a wider view.
Smooth Muscle
Cardiac Muscle
Skeletal muscle
Comments and questions: dgking@siu.edu
SIUC / School
of Medicine / Anatomy / David
King
https://histology.siu.edu/ssb/NM038b.htm
Last updated: 13 August 2021 / dgk
