Intercalated disc

Intercalated disc
Intercalated disc
	Cardiac muscle, an intercalated disc can be seen joining cardiomyocytes in magnified section
	Intercalated discs, desmosomes and gap junctions in cardiac muscle fiber.
Details
Part of	Cardiac muscle
Identifiers
Latin	discus intercalaris, discus intercalatus
TH	H2.00.05.2.02006
	Anatomical terms of microanatomy

Intercalated discs or lines of Eberth are microscopic identifying features of cardiac muscle. Cardiac muscle consists of individual heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) connected by intercalated discs to work as a single functional syncytium. By contrast, skeletal muscle consists of multinucleated muscle fibers and exhibits no intercalated discs. Intercalated discs support synchronized contraction of cardiac tissue in a wave-like pattern so that the heart can work like a pump.^[1] They occur at the Z line of the sarcomere and can be visualized easily when observing a longitudinal section of the tissue.

^ This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license. Betts, J Gordon; Desaix, Peter; Johnson, Eddie; Johnson, Jody E; Korol, Oksana; Kruse, Dean; Poe, Brandon; Wise, James; Womble, Mark D; Young, Kelly A (June 8, 2023). Anatomy & Physiology. Houston: OpenStax CNX. 10.7 Cardiac muscle tissue. ISBN 978-1-947172-04-3.

[Openstax_Anatomy_&_Physiology_attribution-1] This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license. Betts, J Gordon; Desaix, Peter; Johnson, Eddie; Johnson, Jody E; Korol, Oksana; Kruse, Dean; Poe, Brandon; Wise, James; Womble, Mark D; Young, Kelly A (June 8, 2023). Anatomy & Physiology. Houston: OpenStax CNX. 10.7 Cardiac muscle tissue. ISBN 978-1-947172-04-3.

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