Week 3 Flashcards
why are human cells soft?
human cells are soft due to a lack of cell wall, and a thinner, flexible cell membrane. this allows them to move and mould in the human body, and to inflate/deflate.
what does the cell membrane do?
enclose and protect. regulate water/soltue intake
cytoskeleton
mini ‘skeleton’ of protein inside the cell to give it structure.
what is physiological homeostasis?
the maintanence of a constant internal environment
what is an important homeostaticly controlled variable of the cells
the composition/tonicity of the fluid inside and outside your cells
what is osmosis?
the process of water moving through a membrane from high concentrate to low concentrate.
what % of your body is water? what are the other parts?
male: 60% water
female: 50%
+ proteins, fats, minerals
why do women have lower water %?
because they tend to have a higher fat %
what compartments of water are there in our bodies?
intracellular: 33% of body weight
interstitual: 21.5% (salty water in between cells)
plasma: 4.5%
other fluids (eg synovial fluid): <1%
how much water do cells make as a biproduct of chemical reactions?
300ml per day
what are the ways that the body looses water and how much?
urine - 1200ml
feces - 150ml
vapor (skin/lungs) - 1150ml
sweat glands - variable amounts
what is the total that the body makes and looses in water everyday. how much is needed to drink to make up for the losses?
make 300ml
loose 2.5L
drink 2.2L to maintain equalibrium
what does ICF and ECF stand for?
intracellular fluid and extracellular fluid
what does isotonic mean?
loosing and gaining water and solutes at a equal balance as to not loose or gain any net fluid. the solution concentration stays at a normal balance.
what is tonicity?
meause of effective osmotic pressure gradient. the concrentration of solutes dissolved inn the solution
what causes death due to dehydration?
if extreme water loss occurs within the body (eg severe diareha), the amount of water in the ECF decreases, causes water to come out of the cells (bc of osmosis), to regain isonticity. this causes the cells to shrink inhibiting their function and eventually causes them to die.
what does hypertonic mean?
more concentrated (less water) - shrinking cells
what does hypotonic mean?
too much water - swelling cells
how can you die from too much water?
if too much water is taken into your ECF then it causes more water travel through the cell membrane into the ICF, diluting the important solutes, flooding the cell and causing it to swell and eventually burst.
what does hyponatremia mean?
too little sodium, too much water
sodium
Na+
potassium
K+
how do our cells get ions/electrolytes?
through consumption - eating and drinking.
they absorb through the epipthelial lining in the small intestine/colon
where are ions/electrolytes stored and lost?
stored in skeleton
secreted through sweat
primarily lost in kidney (removes excess)
what is the difference between ions and electrolytes?
electrolytes are the chemicals from which ions are made.
what are the 3 most important electrolytes to the function of the cell?
NaCl (sodium chloride) Na+ + Cl-
KCl (potassium chloride) K+ +Cl-
CaPO4 (calcium phosphate) Ca2+ +PO42-
what are Excitable tissues?
neurons and muscle (excitable cell membrane potential)
what does CMP stand for?
cell membrane potential
____ also have ___ ____ but arent excitable.
epithelial cells also have membrane potential but arent excitable.
what has to be controlled and maintained to sustain life in the cells?
voltage difference across the cell membrane between outside and in.
Cmp relies of the seperation of what ions?
K+ and Na+ seperated between the outisde and inside of the cell.
what is a cation?
a positively charged ion eg. K+, Na+
where are cations and anions found?
inside and outside of cells
what are some examples of cations and anions found inside and outside the cells
cations: sodium, potassium, calcium
anions: chloride, proteins
what does the lipid layer do?
it is a seperative membrane that keeps K+ and Na+ seperate
explain the distribution of Na+ and K+ inside and outside the cells:
ICF: low Na+, high K+
ECF: high Na+, low K+
what is membrane potential?
the distribution of ions that create electricity
what is the resting membrane potential?
-70mV (slightly negative on the inside)
what does being the ICF being slightly negative mean?
it creates a charge difference between the 2 sides of the membrane, like a small battery.
moving __ across the ____ uses a lot of ___.
ions, membrane, energy/ATP
how do the ions actually get into the cell?
through passageways in the plasma membrane that are made of proteins.
what swaps out the ions to maintain isotonic balance inside/outside the cell and what is it run by?
the sodium-potassium exchange pump. it is fuelled by ATP
if something happens to cause a ion channel to open too wide what will happen?
osmosis of the ions will occur - Na+ into the cell, K+ out of cell
what is depolarisation?
the loss of cell membrane potential (less than - 70mV) due to a disrupted balance of ions
what is repolarisation?
the cell membrane potential recovering from depolarisation (gaining mV)
what is hyperpolarisation?
when there is a rise in cell membrane potential (more than 70mV)
what are the 3 types of muscle?
smooth, cardiac, skeletal
what is the primary job of the skeletal muscle?
develop force and resist movement
muscle is not only used for movement but also:
maintain posture
explain how skeletal muscle cells can be so big, and how big are they.
20-100 microns, many nuclei and many blood vessels
because skeletal muscle has many blood vessels and nuclei:
it is quick to heal and excitable.
what are the secondary functions of skeletal muscle?
- support/protection of internal organs
- provide voluntary control over major openings (mouth, anus)
- converts energy to heat (shivering)
- major store for energy + protein.
which of the types of muscle are voluntary?
ONLY skeletal msucle
skeletal muscle is ensheathed in:
connective tissue