BRAINCAKEA Sarcomere
A sarcomere is the contractile element and functional unit of a myofibril and is delineated by two Z lines.
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Key terms in this lesson
- myofibril
- A long, cylindrical, rod-like organelle within a muscle fibre, made of actin and myosin filaments, that is the contractile element of the fibre.
- actin
- A thin protein myofilament in a myofibril that, together with myosin, slides during muscle contraction; its myosin-binding sites are covered by tropomyosin in resting muscle.
- myosin
- A thick protein myofilament with a hinged globular head that binds to actin and ATP and pulls actin filaments during muscle contraction.