What is the difference between nerve cells and muscle cells

To move around the body quickly, a structure like that of nerve cells wouldn't work well. Long nerve cells might get tangled or move too slowly in the blood stream. Blood cells are a lot smaller than nerve cells and have a disc-shaped structure, both great traits for moving quickly through small spaces. Their disc shape also provides them with a big surface where lots of oxygen can enter the cell.

Red blood cells are shaped like discs, to help them move quickly through small capillaries. Image by Rogeriopfm. From this comparison you can see that the structures and functions of cells can vary depending on the different organs in which they are found. How do our bodies create such a wide variety of cells?

And how do they do such different jobs? No matter what type of cell you think of, it is built in part by proteins. Proteins are large molecules that not only form important parts of your body, but also do important work. Just like there are different cell types, we also have various kinds of proteins that have different functions.

Some are only used to build the structures of a cell, others perform specific tasks. Red blood cells carry a specific type of protein, called hemoglobin, which is able to bind oxygen and release it in other tissues.

A nerve cell doesn't have this protein because it doesn't need to bind oxygen. Instead, the nerve cell uses other proteins that help it transmit signals to other cells. Many of the differences between cells come down to this main idea: different cells produce different proteins. In this cell illustration, the nucleus is dark blue or purple. Inside of the nucleus is the DNA, which is the same in most cells and holds all the instructions for making cells.

Different types of cells can produce all of the same proteins. How is that possible? Most cell types have some basic structures in common: The heart of a cell is the nucleus that contains the DNA.

DNA is a very important molecule — maybe the most important molecule for life on Earth. DNA forms the genetic code which holds the instructions to create all of the body's cells. A gene is a small segment of DNA that is used by a cell to produce a specific protein.

All our cells contain the same copy of DNA with around 25, genes coding for 25, different proteins. But wait a second. Maybe you notice the problem with this concept: cells don't all produce the same proteins, because different cells do different jobs.

There are three types of Muscle cells namely smooth muscles, cardiac muscles and skeletal muscles. There are three types of nerve cells namely sensory neurons, motor neurons and mixed neurons. Plasma membrane is called sarcolemma and cytoplasm is called sarcoplasm. Plasma membrane is called neurilemma and cytoplasm is called neoplasm Usually involved in locomotion or other body movements. Nerve cells work to transport signals and coordinate different body activities.

Not the longest cells of the body. These include sensory nerve cells, motor nerve cells and associated nerve cells. Sensory nerve cells are the type of nerve cells that involve in the transmission of nerve impulses generated by different stimuli to the central nervous system.

Motor nerve cells transmit information that is generated from the central nervous system directly to the organ to cause a change in the functioning of the organs. Associated or intermediate nerve cells involve in the communication between sensory and motor nerve cells. Therefore, the associated nerve cells are connected to sensory nerve cells and motor nerve cells.

Nerve cells provide a platform for responding towards a particular stimulus and involves in the transmission of stimuli to the central nervous system, different organs or to different nerve cells as well. The shape and size of nerve cells differ. All neurons consist of a set of similar cell parts even though they differ in size.

These include cell body, dendrites, axon , presynaptic terminal. It is composed of basic structural units known as muscle cells. Nerve cells are the structural unit of the nervous system.

There are three main types of nerve cells; sensory nerve cells, motor nerve cells and associated nerve cells. This is the difference between muscle cells and nerve cells. You can download the PDF version of this article and use it for offline purposes as per citation note. Available here 3. Available here. Samanthi Udayangani holds a B. Degree in Plant Science, M. Your email address will not be published. Figure Muscle Cells. Figure Nerve Cells. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published.

Muscle Cells vs Nerve Cells. Muscle cells are the structural units of the muscular tissue.