L5

Question 1

What is plasma?

Answer 1

liquid medium of blood that doesn’t contain cells such as platelets

Question 2

how much of the blood is made of plasma ?

Answer 2

55-60%

Question 3

how is plasma separated from the blood?

Answer 3

blood is collected in a tube and anticoagulants are added prevent clotting . this tube is then put in a centrifuge . this separates the plasma from the cells which remain at the bottom.

Question 4

what is serum?

Answer 4

it is the liquid portion of clotted blood.

Question 5

how is serum collected ?

Answer 5

blood is collected in plain empty tubes without the addition of anticoagulants and is allowed to clot naturally.. the clotting agents in blood are depleted in this process( fibrinogen ) . the blood is then centrifuged and the liquid portion on top is the serum.

Question 6

what is the main difference between plasma and serum?

Answer 6

absence of fibrinogen in serum

Question 7

where are plasma proteins synthesized?

Answer 7

generally in the liver with the exception of gamma globulins

Question 8

how are plasma protein first formed ? (initial structure?

Answer 8

many are synthesized as pre-proteins which means they are bigger proteins which are broken into smaller proteins before releasing into blood.

Question 9

what are glycoproteins and what would be an example of such a protein?

Answer 9

glycoproteins have carbohydrates attached to them and most plasma proteins are glycoproteins .

Question 10

how are plasma proteins related to diseases?

Answer 10

plasma proteins increase or decrease when a disease is present or as a response to inflammation .

Question 11

what are the 2 categories of plasma proteins?

Answer 11

Albumin (one protein that is more prevalent in concentration in plasma ).

globulins ( which is actually a group of proteins

Question 12

what are some of the major functions of plasma proteins ?

Answer 12

transport

maintaining osmotic pressure

clotting

defense

inflammation

Question 13

what is electrophoresis ?

Answer 13

analytical technique used for the separation of plasma r serum proteins .

Question 14

protein seperation is based on ____ in electrophoresis

Answer 14

charge on them in an electric field .

(each protein has a specific charge which is dependent on the amino acid composition

Question 15

which proteins move faster in electrophoresis ?

Answer 15

proteins with more negative charge move faster than those with less negative charge towards the anode

Question 16

in electrophoresis , what are the 5 distinct bands plasma protein separate into ?

Answer 16

albumin 
alpha 1 globulins 
alpha 2 globulins 
beta globulins 
and y (gamma)globulins

Question 17

human album consists of a single polypeptide chain of __amino acids and ____. it also has the half life of ____

Answer 17

585

17 disulfide bonds

20 days

Question 18

describe albumins osmotic function

Answer 18

due to its high concentration and low molecular weight , albumin contributes to 75-80% of the total plasma osmotic pressure.

it maintains blood volume and blood fluid distribution.

Question 19

what would a decrease in albumin level cause , in regards to osmotic pressure ?

Answer 19

osmotic pressure would fall , leading to edema (excess water in extravascular space)

Question 20

how does albumin assist in transport ?

Answer 20

plasma albumin binds to several biochemically important compounds and transports them in the circulation . these include free fatty acids , steroid hormones , calcium , copper , and bilirubin

Question 21

what is the nutritive function of albumin ?

Answer 21

it serves as a source of amino acids for tissue protein synthesis.

particularly in nutritional deprivation of amino acids

Question 22

what is the buffering function of albumin ?

Answer 22

among the proteins , albumin has the maximum buffering capacity .

Question 23

what plasma protein show non specific increase in inflammation ?

Answer 23

alpha 1 and 2 globulins 9acute phase proteins)