Lecture 3: Muscle fibre types
Learning outcomes:
 describe the basic architecture and terminology of skeletal muscles and
their components (fibres, fibrils, filaments)
 name muscle fiber types in humans and animals
 list some principles of fiber classification principles
 describe several biochemical and functional properties of different fiber
types
 list examples of the fiber type composition of (some) human muscles
 describe mechanisms underlying fiber type plasticity
 comment on the genetic base of muscle speed and endurance
Main concepts:
 components of muscle fibers
 classification schemes for muscle fibers (mATPase, myosin heavy chains,
etc.)
 myosin heavy chain composition of single fibers
 functional properties (contraction velocity, force production) of single
fibers
 basic relation of fiber type and fatigue
 metabolic differences between slow and fast fibers
 mechanisms of fiber type transitions and fiber type plasticity
 examples of genetic differences: gender, ACTN3