Homeostasis Flashcards
What Is Homeostasis?
Homeostasis is the ability to return to an optimum point so that internal environment within organisms can be maintained.
It involves trying to maintain the chemical make-up, volume and other features of blood and tissue fluid.
Importance Of Homeostasis?
- Enzymes that control the biochemical reactions within proteins (e.g. channel) operate best at optimum pH and temperature,
- Changes from optimum can cause a reduction in the rate of reaction because of reduced kinetic energy or denaturation,
- Changes in water potential can change glucose concentration of tissue fluid and blood can cause cells to shirk or burst,
- Glucose concentration also effects the supply of glucose for respiration.
Homeostasis Helps Control?
Helps control the fluctuations around the optimum of:
Water potential,
pH,
Temperature.
Control Mechanism For Homeostasis?
The control of any self-regulating system involves a mechanism:
- The optimum point is monitored by a receptor which detects any deviation from the optimum point.
- If a change occurs, the receptor signals the coordinator which coordinated information from receptor to an appropriate effector.
- An effector is an muscle or gland, which brings about the changes needed to return the system to the optimum point.
- The return to the optimum point is a feedback mechanism - a receptor responds to a stimulus.
Positive Feedback?
System deviates from the optimum.
- A change is detected by the receptor.
- A change is then produced which causes a even greater deviation from the optimum.
• E.g. more sodium channels open in a membrane to allow even more sodium ions to move.
Negative Feedback?
System deviates from the optimum.
- Change is detected by the receptor.
- A change is then produced which returns the system back closer to the optimum.
Adaptations Of Control Systems?
Control systems are negative and positive feedback systems.
They are adapted because:
- they have many receptors and effectors which allows them to control and act quickly on a change in environment,
- positive and negative feedback systems have separate mechanisms (receptors and effectors) which allows them to control from different directions.
Why Is Information Analysed By Coordinate?
The coordinate analyses information from all receptors before making action.
For example, it analyses information from skin receptors and hypothalamus.
Skin receptors may indicate skin is cold because of sweating but hypothalamus may indicate the blood temp is above normal. This may be due to exercise.
The coordinator would then not raise the body temperature despite disputing receptor indications.
What Happens When Glucose Levels Fall - Steps?
Fall in blood glucose in blood:
- Pancreas is mostly made up of cells that produce digestive enzymes but these are scattered with groups of hormone producing cells.
These are called islets of Langerhans. - A fall in concentration stimulates receptors ‘a cells’ (alpha cells - coordinator) in islets of Langerhans in pancreas.
- a cells secrete glucagon into blood plasma.
- Glucagon attaches to receptors on liver cells which activates enzymes.
- This causes enzymes to convert glycogen to glucose (glycogenolysis) which is released into blood, raising blood concentration.
- Some amino acids may also be converted to glucose (gluconeogenesis).
- This raises the concentration of glucose in the blood and return it to its optimum concentration. This raising of the blood glucose concentration causes a cells to reduce the secretion of glucagon (negative feedback).
What Happens When Glucose Levels Rise - Steps?
Glucose levels rise:
- Pancreas is mostly made up of cells that produce digestive enzymes but these are scattered with groups of hormone producing cells.
These are called islets of Langerhans. - A rise in concentration stimulates receptors ‘b cells’ (beta cells - coordinator) in islets of Langerhans in pancreas.
- B cells secrete insulin into blood plasma.
- Insulin binds to glycoprotein receptors on cell-surface of liver cells,
5: The binding of insulin changes the tertiary structure of glucose carrier proteins, causing them to open. - This opening of glucose carrier protiens allows glucose to move into cells via faciliatated diffusion.
- The binding increases the number of carrier proteins in the cell-surface membrane.
- The binding activates the enzymes that convert glucose to glycogen (glycogenesis) and fat.
How Does The Binding Of Insulin Increase The Number Of Carrier Proteins?
The binding of insulin onto the glycoproteins of the liver increases the number of carrier proteins in the cell-surface membrane.
This is because:
At low levels of insulin, the channel protein is part of vesicle membranes.
When insulin rises, the vesicles fuse with the membrane, which increases the number of transport channels.
Glycogenolysis?
Conversion of glycogen (store of glucose) to glucose,
When blood glucose concentration is lower than normal, this happens,
The liver converts stored glycogen back into glucose which diffuses into the blood to restore the normal blood glucose concentration.
Gluconeogenesis?
Production of glucose from non-carbohydrates.
E.g. aminos acids and glycerol are non-carb.
This occurs when glycogen is used up.
Where Does Glucose Come From?
The normal concentration of blood glucose is 5mmol dm-3.
Blood glucose comes from three sources:
- Diet (glucose is absorbed from hydrolysis of other carbohydrates such as starch, maltose, lactose and sucrose),
- Hydrolysis in small intestine (glycogenolysis - glycogen to glucose) stored in liver and muscle cells,
- Glucogenoegenesis - production of glucose from sources other than carbohydrates.
Glucose levels then decrease when a person exercises or by hormones which cause a break down of glucose.
What Hormones Do Pancrease Produce?
Insulin and glucagon.
Glycogenesis?
Conversion of glucose to glycogen.
Occurs when there is an excess of glucose and the liver removes glucose from the blood and converts it to glycogen.
This way, it can store 75-100g of glycogen, which is sufficient to maintain the humans blood glucose concentration for about 12 hours when at rest, in absence of other sources.
Second Messenger Model - Steps?
A mechanism of hormone action - used by two hormones (adrenaline and glucagon) involved in the regulation of blood glucose concentration
- Adrenaline binds to the protein receptor on the cell-surface membrane of liver cell.
- The binding causes a shape change on the inside of the membrane.
- This activates an enzyme called adenyl cyclase which converts ATP to cyclic AMP (cAMP).
- The cAMP acts as a second messenger that binds to protein kinase (enzyme) and activates it.
- This enzyme catalyses the conversion of glycogen to glucose.
- The glucose will move out of the liver cell by facilitated diffusion through channel proteins.
Pancreas?
The pancreas is a large, pale-coloured gland, situated in the upper abdomen, behind the stomach.
It produces digestive enzymes (lipase, amylase and protease) for digestion and hormones (insulin and glucagon) for regulating blood glucose concentration.
Pancreas has many cells together called Islets of Langerhans - contains beta and alpha cells.
Alpha Cells?
In the islets of Langerhans,
Larger,
Produce hormone glucagon.
Beta Cells?
Islets of Langerhans,
Smaller,
Produce insulin (a globular protein made up of 51 amino acids).
Hormones Are?
The hormonal system communicates more slowly than the nervous system,
Hormones are different chemically but they all have certain characteristics:
- produced in glands which secrete hormones into directly into blood (endocrine glands - glands that produce hormones),
- carried in blood plasma to the cells on which they act - known as target cells - which have specific receptors on their cell-surface membrane that are complementary to a specific hormone,
- are effective in very low concentrations, but often have widespread and long-lasting effects.
Why Is Glucose Concentration Important For Brain?
Glucose is used for respiration by all cells, therefore, glucose concentration in the body must be at optimum so mammals can contain relatively constant respiration.
If the concentration levels fall too low, cells will be deprived of energy (for respiration) and die.
Brain cells cannot respire anything except glucose (can’t respire lipids, etc).
If Glucose Concentration Rises Too High, What Happens?
If glucose concentration rises too high, it lowers the water potential of blood,
This creates osmotic problems and can cause dehydration and be dangerous.
Insulin?
A globular protein made up of 51 amino acids,
Binds specifically to glycoprotein receptors on cell-surface membranes,
All cells in body (except red blood cells) have glycoproteins receptors for insulin but we usually talk about the binding to liver cells.
Acting Antagonistically?
The two hormones insulin and glucagon act in opposite ways - increasing concentration and decreasing concentration.
Therefore, they act antagonistically through a negative feedback system.
Optimum Blood Glucose Concentration Is?
5mmol dm-3 in blood.
Diabetes Definition?
Def: Diabetes is a metabolic disorder caused by an inability to control blood glucose concentration due to a lack of the hormone insulin or loss of responsiveness to insulin.
Diabetes is a disease in which a person is unable to metabolise carbohydrate, especially glucose, properly.
350million people worldwide with diabetes.
Two types of sugar diabetes - ‘diabetes mellitus’ - type 1 and type 2.
Type 1 Diabetes?
Body is unable to produce insulin,
Insulin-dependent (juvenile-onset diabetes),
Body also cannot store excess glucose as glycogen,
Genetic so usually begins in childhood,
Result of autoimmune response whereby the body’s immune system attacks its own cells (b cells are attacked by other body cells),
Signs of diabetes include; high blood glucose concentration, glucose in urine, need to urinate excessively, weight loss, blurred vision,
Symptoms of diabetes include;
Tiredness,
Increased thirst and hunger,
Develops quickly (weeks) and symptoms are usually more severe than type 2 and mor obvious.