What is the role of the neuromuscular end plate?

The neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is a synaptic connection between the terminal end of a motor nerve and a muscle (skeletal/ smooth/ cardiac). It is the site for the transmission of action potential from nerve to the muscle. It is also a site for many diseases and a site of action for many pharmacological drugs.

What is a motor unit and motor end plate?

Each muscle fiber receives only one motor end plate, but the number of muscle fibers innervated by a single alpha motor neuron axon varies from a few to many. The aggregate of a motor neuron axon and all the muscle fibers it innervates is called a motor unit (Fig.

What channels are in the motor end plate?

There are two types of ion channels involved in the neuromuscular junction and end plate potentials: voltage-gated ion channel and ligand-gated ion channel. Voltage gated ion channels are responsive to changes in membrane voltage which cause the voltage gated ion channel to open and allows certain ions to pass through.

What is motor end plate potential?

end-plate potential (EPP), chemically induced change in electric potential of the motor end plate, the portion of the muscle-cell membrane that lies opposite the terminal of a nerve fibre at the neuromuscular junction. This redistribution of ions slightly depolarizes the membrane.

Whats an end plate?

Definition of end plate : a complex terminal treelike branching of the axon of a motor neuron that contacts with a muscle fiber.

Why synapse is called motor end plate?

The terminal region of the axon gives rise to very fine processes that run along skeletal muscle cells. Along these processes are specialized structures known as synapses. The particular synapse made between a spinal motor neuron and skeletal muscle cell is called the motor endplate because of its specific structure.

What is motor end point?

Motor points are elecrophysilogically defined, as the point with the highest excitability of the muscle or the point on the skin where muscle contraction can be observed by the least electrical stimulation or the point on the muscle where muscle contractions can be caused by the minimum intensity and short duration …

What is the structure of the motor end-plate?

The muscular component is a region of the muscle fiber referred to as the motor end plate. Between the synaptic end bulbs of the neuron and the cell membrane of the muscle fiber (the sarcolemma) lies a space known as the synaptic cleft, which is the final component of the neuromuscular junction.

What causes depolarization of motor end plate?

Depolarization of the motor end plate occurs when both receptors bind acetylcholine, causing a conformational change in the channel complex, opening it to the inward flow of positive ions (Figure 19-2). Cholinergic receptors are concentrated at the motor end-plate region of the sarcolemma in normal skeletal muscle.

Why is synapse called a motor end plate?

What is motor end plate fatigue?

In nervous system disease: Motor end plate. Where fatigue and weakness are the symptoms, the underlying cause of disease may be a failure of motor nerve impulses to cross to the muscle end plate at the neuromuscular junction.

Does endplate cause pain?

In fact, low back pain caused by endplate injuries is quite common in clinical research. Epidemiological investigations indicate that in the population without low back pain, the incidence rate of endplate injuries is about 30\% [30].