Module 5 Flashcards
What do sensory receptors act as.
Transducer- convert one form of energy to another.
Describe how pacinian corpuscles work
- They are mechanoreceptors that detect mechanical stimuli. They contain the end of a sensory neurone wrapped in layers of lamellae.
- When stimulated the lamellae become deformed and press on the nerve ending.
- The stretch mediated sodium channels in the cell membrane of the sensory neurone are deformed.
- Sodium ions diffuse into the cell, creating a generator potential.
- If the generator potential exceeds the threshold, an action potential is generated.
Describe sensory neurones and how they look
- short dendrites
- 1 long dendron: carries impulse from dendrites to cell body
- cell body is in the middle of the neurone and nucleus is in the cell body.
- 1 short axon: carries impulse from cell body to CNS
Describe motor neurone and how they look
- many short dendrites that branch of the cell body
- cell body is on one end, dendrites branch off it
- 1 long axon
Describe relay neurones and how they work
- many short dendrites: carry impulse from sensory neurone to motor neurone
- many short axons: carry impulses from cell body to motor neurone.
- cell body is smack bang in the middle with all the axons and dendrons coming off it like a starfish.
Describe how membranes in the human body stay polarised at rest, when no action potential is present.
- Resting potential is around -70mV
- Sodium - potassium pumps in the cell membrane move sodium out of the membrane
- The cell membrane is not permeable to sodium ions so there is greater positive charge outside the membrane
- Sodium - potassium pumps in the cell membrane also move potassium into the cell across the membrane.
- The cell membrane is permeable to potassium ions so the potassium ions that have just been pumped in can diffuse right back out through potassium ion channels
- There is always a more positive charge outside the cell than inside.
Describe the changes in potential difference across a membrane during an action potential
- Stimulus
- sensory neurone excited, sodium ion channels are open in the cell membrane
- sodium ions move in from the outside of the cell making the inside of the cell more positive - Depolarisation
- voltage gated sodium ion channels open when the voltage difference is around -55mV.
- more sodium floods into the cell
- example of positive feedback
- is the big rising part of the graph
- some of the sodium diffuses in sideways to trigger the next part of the neurone membrane. - Repolarisation
- sodium ion channels close at +30mV
- voltage gate potassium ion channels open
- more potassium ions flood out of the cell.
- the outside of the cell is slowly becoming more positive again
- example of negative feedback - Hyperpolarisation
- potassium ion channels are slow to close so there’s some overshoot where too many potassium ions diffuse out
- voltage becomes lower than resting - Resting potential
- ion channels are reset
- sodium potassium pump returns the ions back to their original places.
The refractory period is the period of time where the neurone cannot be excited again due to the ion channels recovering.
Describe the myelin sheath. What is it made of and where can it be found.
It’s an electrical insulator. It is made of a Schwann cell. The myelin sheath is found in the PNS. Between each Schwann cell there is a node of Ranvier which is used in saltatory conduction which is very fast. Depolarisation in myelinated neurones only happen at the nodes of ranvier.
Describe cholinergic synapses
- use the neurotransmitter acetylcholine
- bind to cholinergic receptors
- broken down by an enzyme called acetycholinesterase
How do neurotransmitters transmit nerve impulses between neurones?
- Action potential arrives at presynaptic neurones triggering voltage gated calcium ion channels to open.
- The calcium ions diffuse into the synaptic knob and will be pumped out after.
- Presence of calcium ions cause the presynaptic vesicles containing neurotransmitters to move towards the membrane.
- The vesicles release the neurotransmitter via exocytosis
- When the neurotransmitter binds to the receptors on the postsynaptic neurone, the sodium ion channels also open.
- As sodium ions move into the postsynaptic membrane, depolarisation occurs and the neurotransmitter is removed from the synaptic cleft.
What is synaptic convergence and divergence
Divergence:
- one neurone connects to many
- info is dispersed to different parts of the body
Convergence:
- many neurones connect to one
- impulse is amplified.
What are the 2 types of summation of action potentials and what are they
Spatial:
- neurones converge
- action potentials from many neurones can reach threshold of one neurone
- stimuli arrive from multiple sources
Temporal summation:
- two or more impulses arrive in quick succession from the same presynaptic neurone.
- impulse is likelier to be generated in the postsynaptic because there’s more neurotransmitter.
Describe the way that secondary messengers work using the example of adrenaline and the liver.
- Adrenaline is the first messenger which binds to the receptors on liver cells.
- Upon binding, adrenaline activates an enzyme called andenylyl cyclase which catalyses the production of the secondary messenger: cyclic AMP from ATP
- Cyclic AMP activates a cascade of reactions such as breakdown of glycogen to glucose for negative feedback.
Describe the structure of the adrenal glands and describe what types of hormone each of the structures produce.
It’s made of the cortex (outside) and medulla (inside).
Cortex:
- secretes steroid hormones in response to stress, eg. Cortisol, and aldosterone
- short term and long term effects
- effects of these hormones are: breakdown of proteins and fats to glucose to increase amount of energy available; increase blood volume and pressure by increasing sodium ion and water uptake in kidneys; suppressing immune system.
Medulla:
- secretes catecholamine hormones (modified amino acids) in response to stress. Eg. Adrenaline and noradrenaline
- short term effects
- effects of these hormones are: increasing breathing and heart rate; causing cells to breakdown glycogen and glucose; constricting some blood vessels to allow more blood flow to the vital organs.
Describe the endocrine function of the pancreas (under the stomach)
- contain endocrine tissue called the islets of langerhans which appear as paler patches (like lightening) under a microscope.
- contain alpha cells which secrete the hormone glucagon, usually a pink stained cell
- contains beta cells which secrete the hormone insulin, usually a purple stained cell
- both alpha and beta cells are found in clusters around blood capillaries, differential staining is required to see the difference between the alpha and beta cells.
Which part of the brain is responsible for temperature regulation of the body, give some examples of the way that humans regulate body temperature.
Hypothalamus. Humans regulate by shivering, sweating, vasodilation, piloerection. We are endotherms.
Describe the interaction of alpha cells and beta cells to regulate blood glucose
Alpha cells - produce glucagon:
- glucagon binds to specific receptors that break down glycogen into glucose (glycogenolysis)
- glucagon promotes the breakdown of amino acids and fatty acids to glucose (gluconeogenesis)
Beta cells - produce insulin:
- insulin binds to receptors and activates enzymes that convert glucose to glycogen (glycogenesis)
- cells store glycogen as an energy store
Describe the depolarisation mechanism of beta cells that causes them to release insulin.
- In high blood glucose, more glucose facilitatedly diffuses into the cell which makes the cell respire more and produce more ATP.
- More ATP triggers potassium ion channels to close so they aren’t pumped out of the cell membrane anymore and they build up a positive charge on the inside of the cell which is depolarisation.
- Depolarisation triggers calcium ion channels to open in the membrane so calcium ions flood the cell
- When calcium ions flood the cell, the vesicles containing insulin move towards the membrane, fuse and release the content by exocytosis.
What are the functions of the liver?
Break down excess amino acids:
- nitrogen containing compounds can’t be stored by the body, deamination occurs forming ammonia and organic acids by removing the amino group from amino acids
- ammonia is too toxic to excrete directly, so it’s combined with CO2 in the ornithine cycle to create urea:
1. NH3 + CO2 —> carbamoyl phosphate
2. Carbamoyl phosphate —> citruline
3. Citruline + ATP + aspartate —> argininosuccinate + AMP + water
4. Argininosuccinate —> arginine
5. Arginine + water —> urea + ornithine
- urea is released from the liver to the blood where it’s filtered by the kidneys to make urine.
Breaks down harmful substances like alcohol (leads to liver cirrhosis); paracetamol (kidney/liver failure); insulin (messes with blood sugar concentration)
Stores glycogen as granules in cells.
Describe the functions of the hepatic artery, hepatic vein, hepatic portal vein and bile duct.
Hepatic artery: supplies liver with oxygenated blood
Hepatic vein: takes deoxygenated blood away from the liver
Hepatic Portal Vein: brings blood from the duodenum in the intestine for filtration
Bile duct: takes bile (substance that emulsifies fat made by liver) to the gall bladder for storage.
Describe the structure of the general liver
- Made of liver lobules.
- The liver lobules are made of cells called hepatocytes arranged in rows from the centre, like a starfish.
- Each lobule has a central vein that connects to the hepatic vein.
- Lots of branches of the hepatic artery, hepatic portal vein and bile duct are found in each lobule. They make up the portal triad.
Describe the structure of the sinusoid
- sinusoids are the capillaries that connect the vessels in each lobule
- sinusoid is carries blood to the central vein
- kupffer cells line the walls of the sinusoids to remove bacteria and break down old red blood cells.
- canaliculi connect the bile duct to the central vein
- under a microscope, it looks like stretch marks where the darker parts are the hepatocytes and the white parts are the sinusoids