When you think of the heart, you think of a muscle that beats to keep our blood flowing, and ultimately keep us alive. This is all true, but what the underlying mechanics of the heart are, might surprise you. The powerhouse of the heart is nothing more than single cells all working together.
Some cells form heart connective tissue, other cells grow into heart valves.
The heart is made of millions of contractile muscle cells known as myocytes. The heart is made of several different types of myocytes. Two of the most important types are the ventricular myocyte, discussed next, and the atrial myocyte, discussed later. Each myocyte in the heart, as mentioned earlier, make up what are known as myofibers. These myofibers are surrounded by connective tissue.