Integumentary System Flashcards
What is the integumentary system?
The largest and most visible organ in your body
Made of the “cutaneous membrane” + accessory structures
What are the four functions of the integumentary system?
- Acting as a barrier - between outside and inside environment, protecting the inside from pathogens and toxins, keeping the things that should be inside from escaping
- Vitamin D & Calcium2+ Homeostasis
- Thermal Homeostasis - ability to regulate temperature, losing extra heat, cooling off
- Sense Organ - everything in your sin is full of nerves (sense of touch and pain)
What is the cutaneous membrane?
The cutaneous membrane is a tissue membrane
Tissue membrane = epithelial + connective
Cutaneous membrane = epidermis (epithelial) + dermis (connective) + accessory structures (epithelial)
What is the epidermis?
- stratified squamous epithelium
- avascular (no blood vessels)
- receives nutrients from absorption, diffusion, and filtration
- contains 4-5 layers
- outer/top layer of the cutaneous membrane
- epidermis is keratinized
What is the dermis?
The dermis is connective tissue that contains many accessory structures necessary for
skin functions, including sensation, protection and thermo/osmotic regulation
- inner layer beneath the epidermis of the cutaneous membrane
- contains connective tissue and accessory structures that support the epidermis
- extensive vasculature (lots of blood vessels)
- contains many somatosensory (touch) and nociceptive (pain) neurons
- has 2 layers (stratum papillare and stratum reticulare)
What is the hypodermis?
- subcutaneous
- not part of the integument
- composed of connective tissue / separate from the skin
What is thick skin?
- hairless skin
- found on palmar and plantar surfaces
- 5 layers in the epidermis
- one extra layer (stratum lucidum)
- lacks hair, sebaceous glands, and apocrine sweat glands
What is thin skin?
- hairy skin
- more accessory structures
- found everywhere else (other than palmar and plantar surfaces)
- 4 layers in epidermis
- does not have stratum lucidum
- fewer layers of cells in the stratum granulosum, spinosum, corneum
- has thicker dermis and less eccrine glands
What are the five layers of the epidermis?
Come Let’s Grab Some Beer
- Stratum corneum
- Stratum lucidum
- Stratum granulosome
- Stratum spinosum
- Stratum basale
Differentiate thick skin from thin skin
Thick skin is HAIRLESS, while thin skin is HAIRY
Thick skin is found on PALMAR AND PLANTAR SURFACES, while thin skin is FOUND EVERYWHERE ELSE
Thick skin has 5 layers in the epidermis (stratum lucidum), while thin skin only has 4 layers (no stratum lucidum)
Thin skin has MORE ACCESSORY STRUCTURES than thick skin
What are keratinocytes?
Keratinocytes in the epidermis receive melanin from melanocytes and accumulate
keratin through their lifetime, allowing them to form a water-resistant protective barrier that blocks chemical and physical harms.
- basal cells are proliferated/renewed at the basal layer
- they migrate upwards towards the surface of the epidermis and differentiate into keratinocytes
What is keratin?
a touch, cross-linked, stiff, and water-resistant protein
- because keratin is capable of binding cells together very tightly, it limits insensible perspiration and paracellular transport
What is insensible perspiration?
loss of water through the cutaenous membrane/skin
- not through sweat glands
What are melanocytes?
Cells in the stratum basale that make melanosomes/produce melanin pigments
What are melanosomes?
Organelles in melanocytes that are filled with melanin/produce melanin pigments and are transported by vesicular transport
What is melanin?
- an organic molecule synthesized by enzymes within the melanocytes
- variation of melanin that is made is what determines the colour of skin
Debunk myths about dark vs light skin
Darker skin is NOT THICKER than light skin - darker skin is due to melanocytes being more active, transferring more melanosomes more frequently = more pigments
- there are different versions of melanin which contribute to the variety of skin hues
What are the dangers of UV light and what is a solution to combat them?
PROBLEM: UV light damages cells - particularly DNA
SOLUTION: melanin can absorb UV photons and prevent this damage
too much UV light -> too much UV photo absorption -> accumulation of mutations -> damages DNA -> melanin produced by melanocytes absorbs UV photons -> can release the energy safely (so DNA does not absorb it)
Describe the tanning response using the integumentary system
- area that absorbed more sunlight becomes darker
- UV stimulation caused additional production and distribution of melanin (prevent DNA damage)
Is tanning considered homeostasis or allostasis?
Could be both!
- Homeostasis
- DNA is the control variable
- you want to control how much DNA is being damaged
- UV stimulation triggers a response to control DNA damage and restore homeostasis
- sensor: nucleus
- effector: melanocyte - Allostasis
- melanocyte is the control variable
- your body is anticipating more DNA damage because of UV stimulation
- melanocytes are anticipating a future event so they shift their set point to produce more melanosomes
How is the epidermis different from the dermis?
Epidermis = epithelial (5 layers)
Dermis = connective (2 layers)
Epidermis = top, thinner, superficial layer
Dermis = middle, thicker, deeper layer
Epidermis = contains both living and dead cells
Dermis = contains accessory structures
What are the two layers in the dermis?
- stratum papillare
- stratum reticulare
What are the two types of neurons found in the dermis?
Somatosensory (touch)
Nociceptive (pain)
What is a nociceptive neuron?
free-nerve ending neuron that senses pain in touch
What are the three accessory structures found in the integumentary?
- hair
- nails
- glands (sebaceous and sweat)
(sensory neurons)
Accessory structures (including sensory neurons, hairs and glands) are embedded within dermal layers.