Question

how does the structure of the cardiac myocytes and intercalated discs follow the function of cardiac muscle tissue and the heart

Answer 1

Answer:

Cardiac Muscles: They are striated but involuntary muscles, and compose the structure of the heart. While, the cardiac muscles are arranged in branching patterns or arrangements on the lower basic structural level, called as the intercalated discs. The basic unit of structure for the cardiac muscles are called as the cardiac myocytes.

Explanation:

• Mechanism of operation for the cardiac muscle tissue:

The cardiac myoctyes basically operates to make the contraction and relaxation of the smooth muscles more easy, as the contract and relax in a rhythmic sequence or pattern. As the basic structural unit for the heart structure also serves as a factor to enhance its ability to pump blood and perform its function more easily. While, there are certain chemical changes inside the cardiac myocytes which causes the function of the heart to be more rhythmic in nature.

While, the intercalated disc are sort of striated structures which are found inside the basic structures of muscles. As they act as a connection between any two cells and serves as a pathway for communication between any to cardiac myocytes or tissues inside the cardiac muscles.They may serve as a connection between any two different cell structures.  

• Relaxation and Contraction of the cardiac muscles:

As the cardiac muscles are relaxed and contracted by the operations of the signals provided to the cardiac myocytes, as they make changes inside there cytoplasmic contents. Leading to contraction or relaxation of the muscles.

• Connection between the different cells:

The cardiac cells are connected by the elongated forms of striations inside the muscles. As there are neural connections between the different cells. As they relax and contracts according to the signals generated by the muscles.

Answer 2

Intercalated discs are microscopic identifying features of cardiac muscle. Cardiac muscle consists of individual heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) connected by intercalated discs to work as a single functional organ or syncytium. By contrast, skeletal muscle consists of multinucleated muscle fibers and exhibit no intercalated discs. Intercalated discs support synchronized contraction of cardiac tissue. They occur at the Z line of the sarcomere and can be visualized easily when observing a longitudinal section of the tissue.

Three types of cell junction make up an intercalated disc — fascia adherens, desmosomes and gap junctions.

Fascia adherens are anchoring sites for actin, and connect to the closest sarcomere.Desmosomes stop separating during contraction by binding Filaments, joining the cells together. Desmosomes are also known as macula adherens.Gap junctions allow action potentials to spread between cardiac cells by permitting the passage of ions between cells, producing depolarization of the heart muscle.

Molecular, biological, and comprehensive studies have shown that intercalated discs consist for the most part of mixed type adherens junctions, termed composite junctions or areae compositae (singular area composita). These represent an amalgamation of typical desmosomal and fascia adherens proteins (in contrast to various epithelia).[1][2][3] Thus cardiomyocyte adherens junctions differ from epithelial adherens junctions and desmosomes.