Iris sphincter muscle Iris sphincter muscle The iris sphincter muscle (pupillary sphincter, pupillary constrictor, circular muscle of iris, circular fibers) is a muscle in the part of the eye called the iris. It encircles the pupil of the iris, appropriate to its function as a constrictor of the pupil. It is found in vertebrates and some cephalopods. Initially, all the myocytes are of the smooth muscle type but, later in life, most cells are of the striated muscle type. Its dimensions are about 0.75 mm wide by 0.15 mm thick. In humans, it functions to constrict the pupil in bright light (pupillary light
Muscle contraction . Like skeletal muscles, cytosolic ions are also required for crossbridge cycling in smooth muscle cells. The two sources for cytosolic in smooth muscle cells are the extracellular entering through calcium channels and the ions that are released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum. The elevation of cytosolic results in more binding to calmodulin, which then binds and activates myosin light-chain kinase. The calcium-calmodulin-myosin light-chain kinase complex phosphorylates myosin on the 20 kilodalton (kDa) myosin light chains on amino acid residue-serine 19, initiating contraction and activating the myosin ATPase. Unlike skeletal muscle cells, smooth muscle cells lack troponin, even though they contain