Membrane potential function as a battery, providing power to operate a variety of "molecular devices" embedded in the membrane. Second, in electrically excitable cells such as neurons and muscle cells, it is used for transmitting signals between different parts of a cell. Signals are generated by opening or closing of ion channels at one point in the membrane, producing a local change in the membrane potential. This change in the electric field can be quickly affected by either adjacent or more distant ion channels in the membrane. Those ion channels can then open or close as a result of the potential change,
Systole Systole of the heart is initiated by electrically excitable cells situated in the sinoatrial node. These cells are activated spontaneously by depolarization of the electrical potential across their cell membranes, which causes voltage-gated calcium channels on the cell membrane to open and allow calcium ions to pass through into the sarcoplasm (cytoplasm) of cardiac muscle cells. Calcium ions bind to molecular receptors on the sarcoplasmic reticulum (see graphic), which causes a flux (flow) of calcium ions into the sarcoplasm. Calcium ions bind to troponin C, causing a conformational (i.e., structural) change in the troponin-tropomyosin protein complex, causing the myosin head