Cells
It is important to pay attention to the fact that muscle cells have more mitochondria than other cells, including bone ones, because of the necessity to preserve and use a lot of energy while responding to stimuli. From this perspective, muscle cells need many energy resources in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) which is produced by mitochondria (McCance & Huether, 2014). Therefore, a large number of mitochondria in muscle cells can guarantee the effective functioning of muscles. Bone cells are responsible for other functions which require less energy, and the number of mitochondria in these cells is lower.
Differences in functions of cells and tissues also determine the variation in cellular organelles which are compounds of bone, muscle, or cardiac cells. Bone cells represent one of the cell types, and they include osteoclasts, osteoblasts, and osteocytes (McCance & Huether, 2014). In contrast to other cells, osteoclasts usually have several nuclei.
Osteoblasts and osteocytes have one nucleus, and the number of mitochondria in these cells is not high. Muscle and cardiac cells belong to the muscle tissue, but their structures are different because cardiac cells need to guarantee the constant work of the heart. As a result, the number of mitochondria as cellular organelles in cardiac cells is the highest one, and they represent about 25% of a cardiac cell’s volume (McCance & Huether, 2014). It is also important to note that only one nucleus is presented in each cardiac cell. In their turn, skeletal muscle cells have several nuclei, and smooth muscle cells contain one nucleus in each cell.
Aerobic and Anaerobic Metabolism
Metabolism is related to cells’ abilities to produce energy from different sources, including carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. It is important to note that metabolism can be aerobic or anaerobic, and the main difference is in the dependence of the process on oxygen. Aerobic metabolism is observed when oxygen is used. Anaerobic metabolism can be discussed as a process which does not require the impact or the use of oxygen (Scoville, 2016). The presence of oxygen during aerobic metabolism is important to maximize ATP produced in mitochondria.
Thus, during the process of aerobic metabolism, glucose is converted into ATP in mitochondria with the help of oxygenation processes (Tang, 2013). When anaerobic metabolism is observed, the process occurs in the cytoplasm. Furthermore, not only carbohydrates but also fats and proteins participate in aerobic metabolism in contrast to anaerobic one that is based on using carbohydrates.
Therefore, one more important difference in these types of metabolism is associated with the amount of energy which can be produced as a result of turning carbohydrates, proteins, and fats into ATP. From this point, aerobic metabolism is more efficient because more molecules of ATP are produced. In addition, processes associated with aerobic metabolism are prolonged, and they guarantee the continuous creation of energy in cells.
Anaerobic metabolism and associated processes are short, and they are not as efficient in terms of producing energy as aerobic ones. In order to learn more information regarding these processes, it is possible to refer to articles by Tang (2013) on Healthyliving.Azcentral.com and by Scoville (2016) on ThoughtCo.com because they provide a lot of information on these processes. Furthermore, in these articles, much attention is paid to discussing the role of aerobic and anaerobic metabolism.
References
McCance, K. L., & Huether, S. E. (2014). Pathophysiology: The biologic basis for disease in adults and children (7th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.
Scoville, H. (2016). Aerobic vs. anaerobic processes.
Tang, K. (2013). What is aerobic & anaerobic metabolism?