Myofilaments are the three protein filaments of myofibrils in muscle cells. The main proteins involved are myosin, actin, and titin. Myosin and actin are the contractile proteins and titin is an elastic protein. The myofilaments act together in muscle contraction, and in order of size are a thick one of mostly myosin, a thin one of mostly actin, and a very thin one of mostly titin. Types of muscle tissue are striated skeletal muscle and cardiac muscle, obliquely striated muscle (found in some invertebrates), and non-striated smooth muscle. Various arrangements of myofilaments create different muscles. Striated muscle has transverse bands of filaments. In obliquely striated muscle, the filaments are staggered. Smooth muscle has irregular arrangements of filaments. Structure There are three different types of myofilaments: thick, thin, and elastic filaments. Thick filaments consist primarily of a type of myosin, a motor protein – myosin II. Each thick filament is approximately 15 nm in diameter, and each is made of several hundred molecules of myosin. A myosin molecule is shaped like a golf club, with a tail formed of two intertwined chains and a double globular head projecting from it at an angle. Half of the myosin heads angle to the left and half of them angle to the right, creating an area in the middle of the filament known as the M-region or bare zone. Thin filaments, are 7 nm in diameter, and consist primarily of the protein actin, specifically filamentous F-actin. Each F-actin strand is composed of a string of subunits called globular G-actin. Each G-actin has an active site that can bind to the head of a myosin molecule. Each thin filament also has approximately 40 to 60 molecules of tropomyosin, the protein that blocks the active sites of the thin filaments when the muscle is relaxed. Each tropomyosin molecule has a smaller calcium-binding protein called troponin bound to it. All thin filaments are attached to the Z-line. Elastic filaments, 1 nm in diameter, are made of titin, a large springy protein. They run through the core of each thick filament and anchor it to the Z-line, the end point of a sarcomere. Titin also stabilizes the thick filament, while centering it between the thin filaments. It also aids in preventing overstretching of the thick filament, recoiling like a spring whenever a muscle is stretched. Function The protein complex composed of actin and myosin, contractile proteins, is sometimes