Skeletal muscle is innervated and highly vascularized due to its high energy requirements. The vessels penetrate the epimysium then branch to travel throughout the muscle in the perimysium and endomysium. Connective tissue transmits the mechanical force of muscle. Tendons connect muscle to bone. The myotendinous junction occurs at the end of the muscle cell where the terminal actin filaments connect to the plasma membrane.
Muscle fibers develop from the fusion of many muscle precursor cells called myoblasts .
Differentiation, which has been studied extensively, requires three events. Withdrawal from the cell cycle. Production and assembly of muscle-specific proteins. Skeletal muscle fibers are multinucleate cells that arise by fusion of mononucleate myoblasts. The many nuclei are located at the periphery of the cell.