How Does the Muscle Triad Contribute to Muscle Contraction?
During muscle contraction, the action potential generated at the neuromuscular junction travels along the sarcolemma and into the T-tubules. This signal reaches the terminal cisternae, causing voltage-gated calcium channels to open. The released calcium ions then bind to troponin, causing a conformational change that moves tropomyosin away from the active sites on actin filaments. This allows myosin heads to bind to actin, forming cross-bridges and resulting in muscle contraction.
