Topic 1 - Transport In Humans Flashcards
What is the function of Plasma?
To transport CO2, digested food, urea, and hormones, as well as spreading heat around the body.
What is the job of white blood cells? How do they do this?
To protect you against illness and disease by ingesting pathogens and producing antibodies.
What is the function of platelets?
To form blood clots in order to prevent or stop bleeding, as well as preventing the entry of infection causing pathogens into the blood stream.
What is the function of red blood cells? How do they do this?
To transport oxygen around the body by binding to haemoglobin.
What are 4 adaptations of red blood cells?
- Small and flexible -Can fit through narrow blood vessels
- Bio-concave shape (Flattened disc), which maximises surface area for oxygen absorption.
- They contain/bind to haemoglobin, a red protein that combines with oxygen]
- They have no nucleus (and other organelles) in order to maximise space for haemoglobin.
What is a pathogen?
A disease causing organism.
What are the two types of white blood cell, what do they do?
Phagocyte - Engulfs pathogens
Lymphocyte - Produces antibodies which bind onto antigens on a pathogen.
How do antibodies destroy pathogens?
They bind onto the antigens (Which the lymphocyte recognises the pathogen with), and then they clump the pathogens together.
What do lymphocytes produce to remember a pathogen?
Memory cells.
How do phagocytes destroy pathogens?
They engulf pathogens, and then destroy them by breaking them down/ digesting them with enzymes.
What do phagocytes do after breaking down a pathogen?
It will absorb the pathogen. This process is called phagocytosis.
What do vaccines result in? How does this work?
Vaccines result in the production of memory cells. These remember the antigens on a pathogen and remember the specific type of antibody required to bind to the pathogen.
What will happen if someone is infected again after a vaccination?
Antibodies will be produced sooner, faster and in greater quantity as the memory cells will already know what antibodies to make.
In what direction do arteries carry blood? What type of blood do they carry, and which artery is the exception to this rule?
Arteries carry blood away from the heart. They always carry oxygenated blood, except for the pulmonary artery (Heart to lungs, so goes away but carries de-oxygenated blood).
What are the structural features of an artery, why does it need these?
- Arteries have narrow lumen for blood to flow through.
- Arteries carry blood with a high pressure as it is oxygenated, and so have a thick layer of muscle and tissue fibre around the lumen (This allows the walls to stretch and recoil to maintain a high pressure).