Lexic.us

Definition of Smooth muscle

1. Noun. A muscle that contracts without conscious control and found in walls of internal organs such as stomach and intestine and bladder and blood vessels (excluding the heart).

2. Noun. Muscle tissue that does not appear striated under the microscope; has the form of thin layers or sheets.

Definition of Smooth muscle

1. Noun. (muscle) Involuntary muscle which is found within the intestines, throat, uterus, and blood vessel walls. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Medical Definition of Smooth muscle

1. Muscle tissue in vertebrates made up from long tapering cells that may be anything from 20-500m long. Smooth muscle is generally involuntary and differs from striated muscle in the much higher actin/myosin ratio, the absence of conspicuous sarcomeres and the ability to contract to a much smaller fraction of its resting length. Smooth muscle cells are found particularly in blood vessel walls, surrounding the intestine (particularly the gizzard in birds) and in the uterus. The contractile system and its control resemble those of motile tissue cells (e.g. Fibroblasts, leucocytes) and antibodies against smooth muscle myosin will cross react with myosin from tissue cells, whereas antibodies against skeletal muscle myosin will not. See: dense bodies. This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology (11 Mar 2008)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Smooth Muscle

smooth darling pea smooth diet smooth dogfish smooth down smooth earthball smooth endoplasmic reticulum smooth fox terrier smooth fox terriers smooth green snake smooth hammerhead

smooth jazz smooth leprosy smooth lip fern smooth manifold smooth microsome smooth muscle (current term) smooth muscle cell smooth muscle relaxant smooth muscle tissue smooth muscle tumour

smooth muscular sphincter smooth operator smooth operators smooth out smooth over smooth plane smooth sailing smooth snake smooth snakes smooth softshell

Literary usage of Smooth muscle

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Elements of the Comparative Anatomy of Vertebrates by Gustav Mann, Walther Löb, Henry William Frederic Lorenz, Robert Wiedersheim, William Newton Parker, Thomas Jeffery Parker, Harry Clary Jones, Sunao Tawara, Leverett White Brownell, Max Julius Louis Le Blanc, Willis Rodney Whitney, John Wesley Brown, Wi (1906)
"... and by Bottazzi and Ducceschi.4 smooth muscle has been investigated by Vincent and Lewis 5 and ..."

2. Principles of General Physiology by William Maddock Bayliss (1920)
"The denervated smooth muscle of the earthworm was shown by Straub (1900) to respond to stretching by a contraction (see Fig. 132, page 436). ..."

3. Monographic Medicine by William Robie Patten Emerson, Guido Guerrini, William Brown, Wendell Christopher Phillips, John Whitridge Williams, John Appleton Swett, Hans Günther, Mario Mariotti, Hugh Grant Rowell (1916)
"D. Examination of the Functions of the Efferent Paths that Influence Smooth Muscle, Heart Muscle, and Secreting Glands (Autonomic Neuron Systems) 1. ..."

4. The Microtomist's Vade-mecum: A Handbook of the Methods of Microscopic Anatomy by Arthur Bolles Lee (1903)
"smooth muscle — Isolation of Fibres. — Methods of SCHWALBE, see Arch. f. mik. Anat., 1868, p. 394, or previous editions. GAGE'S methods.—See Jount. Eoy. ..."

5. A Text-book of histology by Frederick Randolph Bailey (1904)
"Isolated smooth muscle Cells from Human Small Intestine. X 400. ... Involuntary smooth muscle.—This consists of long spindle- shaped cells (Fig. 46). ..."

6. A Text-book of Histology by Frederick Randolph Bailey (1906)
"Isolated smooth muscle Cells from Human Small Intestine. X 400. ... Involuntary smooth muscle.—This consists of long spindle- shaped cells (Fig. 46). ..."

7. A Text-book of the Principles of Animal Histology by Ulric Dahlgren, William Allison Kepner (1908)
"smooth muscle TISSUES smooth muscle originates in the embryo as a specialization of mesen- chymal cells. It appears as a set of unicellular fibers, ..."

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