What is muscle fibre and myofibrils?
Muscle cells (also called muscle fibers) are cylindrical, and are multinucleated (in vertebrates and insects). The nuclei of these muscles are located in the peripheral aspect of the cell, just under the plasma membrane, which vacates the central part of the muscle fiber for myofibrils. (Conversely, when the nucleus is located in the center it is considered a pathologic condition known as centronuclear myopathy.) Myofibrils (obsolete term: sarcostyles) are cylindrical organelles, found within muscle cells. They are bundles of actomyosin filaments that run from one end of the cell to the other and are attached to the cell surface membrane at each end. Actomyosin motors are important in muscle contraction (relying in this case on “classical myosins”) as well as other processes like retraction of membrane blebs, filiopod retraction, and uropodium advancement (relying in this case on “nonclassical myosins”).
