Lesson 7 - Blood Flashcards
What percentage of plasma is water? What is its function?
90 % - 92% of plasma is water. It maintains blood volume and transports molecules. It is absorbed from the intestine.
What percentage of plasma contains plasma proteins? What are their names?
7 % - 8% of plasma are plasma proteins (albumin, antibodies, and fibrinogen).
What are the functions of albumin?
The function of albumin is to maintain blood osmotic pressure and pH. Albumin molecules are are highly soluble in water and too big to leave the capillaries. They also maintain blood volume and pressure, along with transport. Substances containing albumins, such as egg whites, are called albuminoids.
What are the functions of antibodies?
An antibody (Ab), also known as an immunoglobulin (Ig), is a large, Y-shaped protein produced mainly by plasma cells that is used by the immune system to neutralize pathogens such as bacteria and viruses. The antibody recognizes a unique molecule of the harmful agent, called an antigen, via the Fab’s variable region (a region on an antibody that binds to antigens). Each tip of the “Y” of an antibody contains a paratope (analogous to a lock) that is specific for one particular epitope (similarly analogous to a key) on an antigen, allowing these two structures to bind together with precision.
What are the functions of fibrinogen?
The function of fibrinogen is to help with the formation of blood clots.
What is lactic acid?
Lactic acid is produced in muscles and the liver turns it back into glucose later on after exercise.
What are hormones?
Hormones are produced by cells to communicate with other cells (chemical messengers).
What are red blood cells? Where are they produced and what are their functions?
Red blood cells, also known as erythrocytes, develop in the bone marrow and circulate for about 120 days in the body before their components are removed by macrophages (a type of white blood cell that engulfs and digests cellular debris, foreign substances, microbes, cancer cells, and anything else that does not have the types of proteins specific to healthy body cells on its surface) in the liver and spleen. When mature, they lose their nucleus (biconcave shape)
for more flexibility, which allows them to go through capillaries and provides
more surface area to transport oxygen. Red blood cells contain hemoglobin - red pigment (iron attaches to oxygen).
There are four molecules of oxygen per molecule of hemoglobin. The function of red blood cells is to transport oxygen and help transport carbon dioxide.
What are the difference between red blood cells and white blood cells (leukocytes)?
White blood cells, also known as leukocytes, have a nucleus, they are not red, and they do not have hemoglobin. They also live for few days.
What are lymphocytes?
Lymphocytes, a type of a-granular leukocyte, can be identified by their large nucleus. The three major types of lymphocyte are T cells, B cells and natural killer (NK) cells. They are responsible for specific immunity.
What are monocytes?
Monocytes are the largest type of white blood cell. They are able to phagocytize (the process by which a cell —often a phagocyte or a protist—engulfs a solid particle to form an internal compartment known as a phagosome) pathogens and differentiate into macrophages. They are also able to activate lymphocytes.
What are neutrophils?
Neutrophils are the most abundant type of granular white blood cell. They do not have a very long lifespan and tend to die after fighting bacteria. They go around and patrol the body, eating bacteria / foreign cells as they go. Substances such as phlegm, or even puss, display neutrophils fighting off bacteria. However, they do not recognize specific cells. They can also flatten their cytoplasm, squeeze out through the gaps of the capillary in order to engulf bacteria in tissue.
What are eosinophils?
Eosinophils are second most abundant, but reduced greatly compared to neutrophils. Phagocytize allergens and fight against parasitic worms. They can also activate basophils.
What are basophils?
Basophils are the rarest. However, they are the largest type of granulocyte. They are responsible for inflammatory reactions during immune response, as well as in the formation of acute and chronic allergic diseases, including anaphylaxis, asthma, atopic dermatitis and hay fever. They can perform phagocytosis (cell eating), produce histamine and serotonin that induce inflammation, and heparin that prevents blood clotting. Histamine causes inflammation (causes blood vessels, especially capillaries, to leak more fluid in them, which exits the blood and causes more neutrophils to exit the blood.) It also promotes blood flow to injured tissues. They stain blue as bases turn litmus paper blue.
What are the advantages/benefits to a cascade reaction?
The advantages to a cascade reaction is the that it is quick and it amplifies. There is also more control over the entire process as each step can be controlled independently.
