Week 110: Peripheral Neuropathy Flashcards
What are action potentials in nerve and skeletal muscle initiated by?
Activation of ligand-gated Na+ channels by neurotransmitters
What are ligand-gated channels?
Ion channels gated by the presence of a specific signal molecule
What are voltage-gated channels?
Ion channels that are opened or closed according to the potential difference (voltage) across the cell membrane
What is the Na+-K+ATPase or Na+ pump?
Produces the uneven distribution go Na+ ions across the cell membrane
How does the Na+-K+ATPase/Na+ pump work?
- Uses metabolic energy to move Na+ ions out of the cell and K+ ions into the cel AGAINST their concentration gradients
- The ATPase binds extracellular K+ and intracellular Na+ ions (usually in 2:3) and hydrolyses adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to provide energy needed to change its conformation
- This leads to the ejection of Na+ into the extracellular medium and K+ into the cytosol thus allowing the cell to maintain high levels of K+ ions and low concentration of Na+ ions in the cell
What are ion channels?
The route by which ions can diffuse across cell membranes down their electrochemical gradient
How are neurone activated?
- Starting polarisation of -65mV
- Activations starts when sodium channels open and Na+ goes into the cell, making it positively charged
- K+ then starts to leak out and Na+ stops going in - this is the REFRACTORY PERIOD
- The pump then corrects so it can be repeated
- Cannot be activated again if Na_ is in the cell
- Propagation: travels along the axon - as the polarity of membrane changes, the next part of the cell membrane notices and does the same
- Nodes of Ranvier: jumping
- Continuous usually vs saltatory (jumping)
- Then the next cell/organ is activated:
- Calcium comes into the cell at the synaptic cleft/synapse
- Presynaptic vesicles move towards the cell membrane due to the Ca, attach to the cell membrane (exocytosis) so it opens up and releases contents into the synaptic cleft (usually something like acetylcholine)
What produces myelin for the central nervous system?
Oligodendrocytes
What produces myelin for the peripheral nervous system?
Schwann cells
What do photoreceptors do?
Light
What do thermoreceptors do?
Heat
What do barareceptors do?
Stretch
What do nociceptors do?
Pain
What do chemoreceptors do?
Chemicals
What is always present at neuromuscular junctions?
Acetylcholine
What is the sympathetic nervous system responsible for?
Fight or flight