Final answer:
Muscle cells, including cardiac muscle cells, can temporarily operate without oxygen by using glycolysis to produce ATP, but this is much less efficient than aerobic respiration and cannot be maintained indefinitely. Red blood cells rely solely on glycolysis due to the absence of mitochondria.
Step-by-step explanation:
Most cells, including muscle cells, are actually capable of operating in an anaerobic state temporarily through a process known as glycolysis. This allows the cells to produce ATP without the presence of oxygen, although much less efficiently than with aerobic respiration. Red blood cells, for instance, solely rely on glycolysis, as they do not have mitochondria and cannot perform aerobic respiration. In muscle cells, anaerobic glycolysis can lead to the production of lactic acid, which accumulates and may cause muscle fatigue.
Cardiac muscle cells that are prevented from undergoing aerobic metabolism would still undergo glycolysis to synthesize ATP, although they would not maintain this state indefinitely and could ultimately stop contracting if deprived of oxygen for an extended period. For cells such as strict anaerobes, they thrive in environments lacking oxygen and utilize anaerobic respiration or fermentation; however, for normal cells, the absence of glycolysis would cause cell death.