September 10

Physiology is the study of the function of the human body

Diagram: external vs internal environment

External: parts of the human body which is continuous with the external environment e.g. digestive
system, respiratory system (air), renal, parts of reproductive system, continuous with external
environment

Internal environment: everything inside your body, with the exception of cells

Cells are BATHED in fluid of the internal environment (not part of the internal environment), theyu are
surrounded, and maintained by that internal environment

The environment of this room is maintained at fairly constant environments: cells are maintaed in
internal environment that has to be maintained at constant levels so cells can survive (not too hot, cold,
dry, or over hydrated)

“Milieu Interieur” ---- proposed that there is maintenance of this constancy by physiologic mechanisms

Relatively** constant conditions: things like body temp fluctuates during the day, same with blood
pressure, level of body fluids, slight variations are fine, almost every single organ system in the body is
trying to maintain relatively constant conditions in the internal environment (homeostasis) with the
exception of one organ system (reproductive system***) – not trying to maintain body temp,
composition, … the function is to maintain species and pass on genes for next generation

Two main control systems: nerves (fast, short duration, signals very rapidly around body but not last
very long), and endorcrine system (find target tissue, hormones circulate in blood; slower to respond,
slower to get systems working, but effects have much longer duration)

- These help to coordinate all the other organ systems to help maintain homeostasis
- Both these systems work through negative feedback (some positive feedback)

Set point (value around which you are trying to maintain)

Control center (usually set point is built into control center) – control center generally somewhere in
nervous system

Effector organs: variety, depending on which system

Controlled variable, sensors to monitor controlled variable to tell what the value actually is

Control of body temp: set point: 37 C, built into control centre hypothalamus, hypothalamus is trying to
regulate body temp, which in term controls things like blood vessels (periphery e.g. skin), muscles
(shivering) – these are effectors hypothalamus can control to help regulate controlled variable (heat)

- Sensors (thermoreceptors), to know how much heat you are producing

- Monitor outside temp, monitor core temp (important, what you want to maintain)
- Heat production will shut down effectors
- Production of heat will end up shutting itself off
60% person is water: tbw is divided between 3 body fluid compartments

Most capillaries have fenestrations allowing fluid to move across the capillary

Plasma: circulatory system, the fluid portion of the blood

Interstitial fluid: bathing cells (found between the cells (if combine interstitial fluid and plasma, call that
the extracellular fluid – everything outside the cell)

Internal environment = extracellular fluid **

Mainly in intracellular fluid:

Sodium high on outside, low inside cell

Sodium can move freely across capillary endothelium because of holes

So very little difference between plasma and interstitial fl

Sodium, potassium calcium, levels in plasma and interstitial fluid are relatively the same

Proteins are different, more on inside of cell (where formed): plasma contains more protein than does
the interstitial fluid : proteins are fairly large and can’t move freely through the holes: the plasma
generally contains somewhat more proteins (e.g. hemoglobin, albumin)

These values fluctuate – don’t need to know numbers, but know relative distributions

Know the typical cell figure with stuff going in/out, and relative distribution of ions

Difference in ion concnetrations inside and outside the cell due to cell membrane: selectively permeable
barrier, so some substances can pass through easily, some not so easily, and some not at all

Phospholipid bilayer, don’t need to know the structures,

Slight charge separation, giving polarity – it likes to attract water molecules because water molecules
are also polar (slight charge separation)

These charges, ,unlike charges attract each other: hydrogen will be attracted to the negative charge,
polar head gropu of phospholipid molecules is hydrophilic (likes water) – tail group has no polarity,
doesn’t like water, so hydrophilic – arrange themselves into phospholipid bilayer

It is really the hydrophobic tails that form the barrier in cell membrane

Because of structural relationship to each other

Tails are squeezed tightly together, heads are quite small: fluidity in cell membrane

Proteins will stay on the surface, or only go partway through the membrane (peripheral protein), some
span the entire membrane (integral membrane proteins)

Functions of membrane proteins

Membrane transport mechanisms:

These transport mechanisms are essentially for functioning of human body e.g. action potentials (ions
going across membrane)

Muscle twitch in order for calcium

Sometimes these membrane transport mechanisms fail, go wrong, we then have diseases (e.g. cystic
fibrosis), hereditary disorder and damages transport mechanism in lungs and pancreas