Muscle Tissue Types
Cardiac Muscle - Note the branched nature of the cells and the intercalated discs that provide electrical connections between cells.
					Skeletal muscle - These fibers are unbranched and lack the intercalated discs found in cardiac muscle and are therefore not electrically connected. This feature allows them to contract independently (something that will be important in the next lab you do in ZO 250).
					Closeup of skeletal muscle in a human. Note especially the striated appearance (lines running perpendicular to the long axis of the muscle fiber). This is characteristic of cardiac and skeletal muscle and results from the extremely 'orderly' arrangement of the cellular proteins whose interactions produce muscle contraction.
		High magnification micrograph of smooth muscle ('N' refers to nuclei). Note the lack of striations.		Smooth muscle in arterial wall. What do you suspect is the function of this muscle tissue in this location? Would you expect to see as much in a similarly-sized vein?