Intercalated disc

Intercalated discs are microscopic identifying features of cardiac muscle. Cardiac muscle consists of individual heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) connected by intercalated discs to work as a single functional organ or syncytium. By contrast, skeletal muscle consists of multinucleated muscle fibers and exhibit no intercalated discs. Intercalated discs support synchronised contraction of cardiac tissue. They occur at the Z line of the sarcomere and can be visualized easily when observing a longitudinal section of the tissue.