Homeostasis &

Cell Physiology
Tanjung Ayu Sumekar
Overview of Anatomy and Physiology

 Anatomy – the study of the structure of body

parts and their relationships to one another
 Physiology – the study of the function of the
body’s structural machinery [i.e., the specific
characteristics and mechanisms of the human
body that make it a living being.]
Physiology
 Considers the operation of specific organ
systems
 Renal – kidney function
 Neurophysiology – workings of the nervous system
 Cardiovascular – operation of the heart and blood
vessels
 Focuses on the functions of the body, often
at the cellular or molecular level
Levels of Organization

Figure 1.2.1
Levels of Structural Organization
Smooth muscle cell
Molecules
2 Cellular level
Cells are made up of molecules Atoms

1 Chemical level
Atoms combine to
Smooth form molecules
muscle
tissue
Heart
3 Tissue level
Cardiovascular
Tissues consist of
system Blood
similar types of
cells vessels
Epithelial
tissue
Smooth Blood
muscle vessel
tissue (organ) 6 Organismal level
Connective The human organism is
tissue made up of many organ
systems
4 Organ level
Organs are made up of 5 Organ system level
different types of tissues Organ systems consist of different organs
that work together closely
Figure 1.1
 Organ Systems Interrelationships
 The integumentary system
protects the body from the
external environment
 Digestive and respiratory
systems, in contact with the
external environment, take
in nutrients and oxygen
 Nutrients and oxygen are
distributed by the blood
 Metabolic wastes are
eliminated by the urinary
and respiratory systems

Figure 1.2
 Homeostasis & Controls
 Boundary Organ concept
 Maintenance of a dynamic
equilibrium
 Negative Feedback control
 What are the elements of a negative
feedback mechanism?

 Failure to compensate
-->Pathophysiology
 Illness
 Death
Negative Feedback

 Defends the set point.

 Produces change in opposite direction.

temp.

want!

real!
time
Negative feedback loops

 Sensor:
 Detects deviation from set
point.

 Integrating center:
- Integrate information and
Determines the response.

 Effector:
 Produces the response.
Feedback Loops

Negative and positive feedback

Negative Feedback: The Control of
Body Temperature

Figure 1.5
 Positive Feedback
 Action of effectors amplifies the changes.
 Is in same direction as change.
 Positive feedback: cascades (not loops!).
 Can be part of overall negative feedback!
 Ex.: blood clotting, oxytocyn (uterus contraction)
Membrane transport:
Cellular transport mechanism
Body Fluid Compartment
 Total body water  50%-70% of body weight
(1 kg water ≈ 1 L water)
 Total body water correlates inversely with body fat

2/3 part 1/3 part

 Plasma is the fluid circulating in the blood
vessels and is the smaller of the two ECF
subcompartments.

 Interstitial fluid is the fluid that actually

bathes the cells and is the larger of the two
ECF subcompartments. It is an ultrafiltrate of
plasma formed by filtration processes across
the capillary wall.
 Membrane transport

• Body fluids: Cytosol

• Surround cells
•Blood derivation:
like a nutritious
“soup”  amino Intracellular fluid
acids, sugars, fatty
acids, vitamins,
regulatory Interstitial fluid
substances such as
hormones and Intravascular
neurotransmitters,
salts, and waste
fluid
products

Blood

Living cells constantly interact with the blood or tissue fluid around
them, taking in some substances and secreting or excreting others.
The Body Fluids
CELL PHYSIOLOGY
 The Cell

• The cell is the basic unit of structure and function in

the body.
• Many of the functions of cells are performed by
particular subcellular structures known as organelles.
• The plasma (cell) membrane allows selective
communication between the intracellular and
extracellular compartments and aids cellular
movement.
• Equally amazing is the fact that the physiology of our
organs and systems derives from the complex
functions of the cells of which they are composed.
• Complexity of function demands complexity of
structure, even at the subcellular level.
 The Cell
For descriptive purposes, a cell can be divided into three principal
parts:
1. Plasma (cell) membrane.
The selectively permeable plasma membrane surrounds the cell,
gives it form, and separates from the extracellular environment,
also participates in intercellular communication.
2. Cytoplasm and organelles.
The cytoplasm is the aqueous content of a cell inside the cell
membrane but outside the nucleus. Organelles (excluding the
nucleus) are subcellular structures within the cytoplasm that
perform specific functions. The term cytosol is frequently used to
describe the fluid portion of the cytoplasm.
3. Nucleus.
The nucleus is a large, generally spheroid body within a cell. The
largest of the organelles, it contains the DNA, or genetic material,
of the cell and thus directs the cell’s activities. The nucleus also
contains one or more nucleoli. centers for the production of
ribosomes, which are the sites of protein synthesis.
The Cell
 The Plasma Membrane

The fluid mosaic model

o Double bilayer of lipids with embedded,
dispersed proteins.
o The proteins float in the fluid lipid bilayer ,
form a constantly changing mosaic pattern
o Bilayer consists of phospholipids, cholesterol,
and glycolipids
 Glycolipids are lipids with bound carbohydrate
 Phospholipids have hydrophilic (polar) and
hydrophobic (non polar) bipoles
 The Plasma Membrane

 Separates intracellular fluids from

extracellular fluids
 Plays a dynamic role in cellular activity

 Plasma membrane surface is differed in the

kind and amount of lipids they contain
 Glycolipids are found only in the outer
membrane surface
 20% of all membrane lipid is cholesterol
 The Cell
The Plasma Membrane

 Membrane proteins, integral and peripheral, make up

about half of the plasma membrane.
 Integral proteins are firmly inserted into the lipid
bilayer.
 Some protrude from one membrane face only, but
most are transmembrane proteins, which are mainly
involved in transport.
 Form channels, or pores, carriers, receptors for
hormones or other chemical messengers and relay
messages to the cell interior (signal transduction).
 The Cell
The fluid mosaic model of plasma
membrane
 Functions of Membrane Proteins

Intercellular
Transport joining

Enzymatic Cell-cell
activity recognition

Receptors for Attachment to the

signal cytoskeleton and
trandsduction extracellular matrix
 Membrane Junctions
1. Tight junction – impermeable junction that
encircles the cell
2. Desmosome – anchoring junction scattered
along the sides of cells
3. Gap junction – a nexus
that allows chemical
substances to pass
between cells
Membrane Junctions: Tight Junction

impermeable junction
that encircles the cell
 Membrane Junctions: Desmosome

anchoring junction scattered

along the sides of cells
Membrane Junctions: Gap junction

a nexus that allows

chemical substances
to pass between cells
 The Cytoplasm and Organelles

 Cytoplasm is a watery solution of minerals, gases, organic molecules,

and cell organelles that is found between the cell membrane and the
nucleus.
 Cytosol is the water
portion of cytoplasm,
and many chemical
reactions take place
within it.

 Cell organelles are

intracellular structures,
often bounded by their
own membranes, that
have specific functions
in cellular metabolism.
Functions of Cell Organelles
 Membrane transport

• Cells must be able to transport materials across the cell

membrane

• The cell membrane is the permeability barrier for the cell.

 Impermeable to most water-soluble substances (substances
that dissolve in water)
 Closely controls passage of materials in and out of the cell.

• There are several mechanisms of transport

 Passive transport: diffusion, osmosis, facilitated
diffusion, filtration
 Active transport, require energy (ATP): primary &
secondary active transport,
 Vesicular transport: endocytosis, and exocytosis.
 Passive Transport

Diffusion Osmosis

Facilitated
Diffusion

Filtration
Diffusion
 Diffusion
 The movement of molecules from an area of greater
concentration to an area of lesser concentration (that
is, with or along a concentration gradient).

 Occurs because molecules have free energy; that is,

they are always in motion.
 Diffusion
 Although very slow process,
but may be an effective
transport mechanism across
microscopic distances.

 The molecules in a solid

move very slowly; those
in a liquid move faster;
and those in a gas move
faster still, such as when
ice absorbs heat energy,
melts, and then
evaporates.
Diffusion
 Diffusion
 Within the body, the gases oxygen and carbon dioxide move by
diffusion.

 In the lungs, for example, O2 in the alveoli has a high

concentration rather than in blood of pulmonary capillaries, and
the opposite is for CO2.
 Oxygen diffuses from the air to the blood to be circulated
throughout the body.
 Carbon dioxide diffuses from the blood to the air to be exhaled

Alveolus of Lung
Capillary
Osmosis
 Osmosis
 Simply defined as the
diffusion of water through
a selectively permeable
membrane.

 Human cells or other body

fluids contain many
dissolved substances
(called solutes) such as
salts, sugars, acids, &
bases.
 Osmosis
 If a 2% and a 6%
sugar solution are
separated by a
membrane allowing
water but not sugar
to pass through it,
water will diffuse
from the 2% to the
6% sugar solution. 
2% solution will
become more
concentrated, and
the 6% solution will
become more dilute.
2% 6%
 Osmosis
 The concentration of solutes in a fluid creates the
osmotic pressure of the solution, which in turn
determines the movement of water through
membranes.
 Water will move from more to less area of water.
Another way that water will naturally tend to
move to more dissolved material, such as salt or
sugar.
 Osmosis: Terminology of Solution

As an example sodium chloride; salt (NaCl). Human cells have an NaCl

concentration of 0.9%, the relative NaCl concentrations of other solutions may
be described with the following terms:

 Isotonic—a solution with the

same salt concentration as in
cells. The blood plasma is isotonic
to red blood cells.
 Hypotonic—a solution with a
lower salt concentration than in
cells. Distilled water (0% salt) is
hypotonic to human cells.
 Hypertonic—a solution with a
higher salt concentration than in
cells. Seawater (3% salt) is
hypertonic to human cells.
 Osmosis: The Cellof Solution
Terminology

This osmotic pressure is used to replacement fluids for a

dehydrated patient
Isotonic solutions are usually used; normal saline and
Ringer’s solution . These will provide rehydration without
causing osmotic damage to cells or extensive shifts of fluid
between the blood and tissues.
 Oncotic Pressure
 Is a form of osmotic pressure exerted by proteins in a
blood vessel’s plasma (blood/liquid) that usually tends to
pull water into the circulatory system. It is opposing
force to hydrostatic pressure.

 In conditions where plasma proteins are

reduced eg from being lost in the urine
(proteinuria) or from malnutrition, there
will be reduction in oncotic pressure and
an increase in filtration across the
capillary, resulting in excess fluid build up
in the tissues (edema)
Facilitated transport
 Facilitated Diffusion
 Molecules move through a membrane from an area of
greater to lesser concentration, & used to move ionic or
large substances into or out of cells.

 Important for moving

sugars , amino acids and
ions into cells

 Transported substances
bind carrier proteins or
pass through protein
channels
 Facilitated Diffusion

Carrier

 A transmembrane integral protein

 They are proteins that are part of the

cell membrane

 Show spesificity for certain polar

molecules including sugars and amino
acids
 Facilitated Diffusion
For example:

 In the body, our cells must take in glucose

to use for ATP production. It will not
diffuse through cell membranes by itself.

 Diffusion of glucose into most cells

requires a glucose transporter, which
may also be called a carrier protein.

 Glucose bonds to the transporter and by

doing so changes the shape of the
protein, that propels glucose into the
cell.
 Facilitated Diffusion

Channel
 A transmembrane integral protein
 Serve to transport substances, usually
ions or water
 Selective due to pore size & the charges
of the amino acids lining the channel

 Leakage channels  always open &

simply allow ion or water fluxes
according to concentration gradients.
 Others are gated & controlled by
various chemical or electrical signals.
The Membrane Channels
Filtration
 Filtration
 The passage of water and solutes through a membrane by
fluid or hydrostatic pressure  energy from mechanical
pressure

 Pressure gradient pushes solute-containing fluid from a

higher-pressure area to a lower-pressure area

 In the body, hydrostatic pressure created by the pumping of

the heart  blood pressure
 Filtration
 BP in capillaries is higher than the interstitial fluid.

 In capillaries throughout the body, BP forces plasma

(water) and dissolved materials through the capillary
membranes into the interstitial spaces

 This creates more tissue fluid and is how cells receive

glucose, amino acids, and other nutrients.
 Filtration

Blood pressure in the capillaries of the kidneys

also brings about filtration, which is the first
step in the formation of urine.
 Active Transport

Primary Active
Transport

Secondary
Active
Transport
 Active Transport
 the movement of molecules and ions against a
concentration gradients, from lower to higher.

Requires the expenditure of cellular energy obtained

from ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate)

if a cell is poisoned with cyanide (which inhibits

oxidative phosphorylation), active transport will stop.

Divided into 2 forms

 Primary Active Transport
 Secondary Active Transport
Primary Active
Transport
 Primary active transport
 Occurs when the hydrolysis of ATP is directly required for
the function of the carriers.

 These carriers are composed of proteins that span the

thickness of the membrane.

 Solute pumping
Pump or protein carrier
An enzyme-like protein carrier that pumps or carries
solutes such as ions of sodium, potassium, and
calcium, into or out of the cell against their
concentration gradients.
ATPase
The enzyme on the protein carrier or pump that
catalyzes the breakdown or phosphorylation of ATP
producing energy that drives the pump.
 Primary Active Transport

 The steps of events:

(1) the molecule or ion to be
transported binds to a specific
“recognition site” on one side of the
carrier protein
(2) this bonding stimulates the
breakdown of ATP, which in turn
results in phosphorylation of the
carrier protein
(3) as a result of phosphorylation,
the carrier protein undergoes a
conformational (shape) change
(4) a hingelike motion of the carrier
protein releases the transported
molecule or ion on the opposite side
of the membrane.
 Sodium-potassium pump

 Na+/K+ ATPase Pump

 Maintains the resting membrane

potential of nerve and muscle cells

 Transports Na+/K+ ions in opposite

directions across cell membranes

 Sodium
Primary extra-cellular ion that is
constantly “leaking” into cells.

 Potassium
Primary intracellular ion that is
constantly “leaking” out of cells.
 Sodium-potassium pump
 Move 3 Na+ ions out of the cell for every 2 K+ ions into cell
 Specific for Na+/K+ and unidirectional
 Phosphorylation of the pump
protein causes a conformational
change that turns the binding
sites outward to expel Na+
 Also decreases affinity for Na+
and increases its affinity for K+

 All cells have a negative charge

inside because of this
mechanism

 Critical in maintaining resting

membrane potential for nerve and
muscle impulse conduction
 Sodium-potassium pump
6 K+ is released and Na+ sites Extracellular 1 Binding of cytoplasmic Na+ to
are ready to bind Na+ fluid the pump protein stimulates
again; the cycle repeats. phosphorylation by ATP.

Cytoplasm

2 Phosphorylation causes the

protein to change its shape.

Concentration gradients
of K+ and Na+

5 Loss of phosphate 3 The shape change expels

restores the original Na+ to the outside, and
conformation of the extracellular K+ binds.
pump protein. +
4 K binding triggers
release of the
phosphate group. Figure 3.10
 Secondary
Active Transport
 Secondary Active Transport

 Movement of a molecule that is coupled to the

active transport of another molecule

 One substance moves down its

electrochemical gradient and releases
energy in the process

 This energy is then used to drive the

movement of another substance against its
electrochemical gradient
 Co-transport
 Movement of 2 substances in
the same direction

 Example: Sodium-linked
glucose transport
 Couples the inward flow of
sodium with the inward flow
of glucose
 Sodium movement with its
electrochemical gradient
releases energy that drives
the movement of glucose
against its concentration
gradient
 Counter-transport (Antiport or Exchange)

 Movement of 2 substances in
opposite directions

 Example: Sodium proton

exchange
 Couples the inward flow of
sodium with the outward flow
of protons (H+)
 Energy released from the
inward flow of sodium along
its electrochemical gradient is
used to drive the outward flow
of protons against its
electrochemical gradient
 Interactions between Cell & Extracellular
Environment

Transport processes involved in the epithelial absorption of glucose. When glucose is to

be absorbed across the epithelial membranes of the kidney tubules or the small
intestine, several processes are involved.
(1) Primary active transport (the
Na+/K+ pumps) in the basal
membrane use ATP to
maintain a low intracellular
concentration of Na+.

(2) Secondary active transport uses

carriers in the apical membrane to
transport glucose up its concentration
gradient, using the energy from the
“downhill” flow of Na+ into the cell.

(3) facilitated diffusion of glucose

using carriers in the basal membrane
allows the
glucose to leave the cells and enter
the blood.
Vesicular Transport

Endocytosis

Excocytosis
 Exocytosis

Secretion or ejection of substances from a cell, the substances

is enclosed in a membranous vesicles, which fuses with the
plasma membrane and rupture, releasing the substance to the
exterior

Eg. Secretion of neurotrasmitter, hormones, etc

 Endocytosis

•Phagocytosis : “cell eating” a large external particle eg bacteria

is sorrounded by seizing foot and becomes enclosed in a vesicle
Eg. macrophages
•Pinocytosis : plasma membrane sinks beneath an external fluid
droplet containing a small solute, membrane edges fuse.
Forming a fluid-filled vesicle
Eg. Occurs in most cells, absorptive cells of kidney and intestine
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