MEMBRANE

PHYSIOLOGY
Anita Ocampo-So, MD, FPSP, DPBA, MHA
Professor
 Nervous System

A complex array of specialized

structures which serve to:
• Receive
• Store
• Transmit information
• Consist of the CNS and the PNS
• Neuron- basic unit of the NS
– 1 trillion neurons
 Neurons

• Made up of dendrites
• Soma
• Axon- axon terminal
• Has different organelles but no
centromere
• Classification according to
1. structure
2. Form
3. covering – Schwann cells
Neurons
 Neurons

• structures aside from organelles

1. astrocytes
2. microglia
3. oligodendroglia – apoptosis
 Neurons

• Bell-Magendie Law
• Afferent – sensory
• Efferent – motor
• Afferent  200,000 interneuron 
10 efferent
Neurons
 Classification of Nerve
Fibers
Class Conduction Size Functions
Velocity ( μm)
(m/sec)
Proprioception
A α 70-120 12-20 Somatic motor

Touch pressure
β 30-70 5-12
Motor to muscle
γ 15-30 3-6 spindle

Pain,touch, cold
δ 12-30 2-5 temp

Preganglionic,
B 3-5 <3 Autonomic

pain, temperature,
C 0.5-2 0.4-1.2 mechanoreception
Classification of Nerve
Fibers
 Coverings of Nerve
Fibers

1. endoneurium
2. perineurium
3. epineurium
Coverings of Nerve
Fibers
 Properties of Nerve
Fibers

2. Excitability

4. Conductivity
 Myelinated Fibers

• Schwann cells
• Nodes of Ranvier
• Saltatory Conduction
– Advantages
• faster conduction
• saves energy
• less loss of ions
Myelinated Fibers
 Resting Membrane
Potential

• Cells under resting conditions have an

electrical potential difference across
their plasma membrane. This potential
is the Resting Membrane Potential
(RMP)
• The cytoplasm is electrically (-) relative
to the ECF
• The RMP plays a vital role in the
excitability of nerve and muscle cells
and in other cellular responses
 Genesis of the RMP

1.Distribution of ions
• movement of ions depend on:
a. Concentration
b. Electrical potential difference
• if forces are equal = no movement
– Nernst equation
– Nernst equilibrium
EMF (mo) = (-)61log conc 1/conc 0
= (+)61
 Genesis of the RMP

– Gibbs-Donnan equilibrium
– Goldman-Hodgkin-Katz

 Selective Permeability of the Membrane

 Na+ - K+ pump

• RMP
– skeletal muscle (-)90mV
– nerve (-) 70 mV
Action Potential
 Action Potential

• All-or-Nothing Principle
• Strength – duration curve
– Rheobase
– Utilization time
– Chronaxie
 Refractory Periods

• Absolute Refractory Period

• Relative Refractory Period
– nerve fibers are not
susceptible to fatigue
• Accommodation
 Refractory Periods

Local Excitatory States

• subthreshold stimulus
• inadequate duration of applications

According to their location

• receptor potential
• synaptic potential
• pacemaker potential
• end-plate potential

In general, moves the RMP closer to the

threshold potential
 Synapse and Synaptic
Transmission
Synapse
• an anatomically specialized junction
between two neurons
• important in the transport of nerve
signals from one neuron (presynaptic) to
the next neuron (postsynaptic)
– 100 quadrillon synapses in the CNS
– 2 types
a. Electrical
b. Chemical
 Presynaptic and
Postsynaptic Neuron
Presynaptic neuron
• has lots of mitochondria
• has NTs inside vesicles
• usual forms are ; round, dense, flat and
sphenoid
• intertwining – cerebellum
• basket and climbing – midbrain

Postsynaptic neuron
• contains the receptor proteins
 Presynaptic and
Postsynaptic Neuron
Presynaptic

Postsynaptic
 Presynaptic and
Postsynaptic
Transmission
1. axo-axonic
2. axo-dendritic
3. axo-somatic
 Characteristics of
Synapses

1.convergence
2.divergence
3.facilitation
4.post-tetanic potentiation
5.fatigue
6.after discharge
 Characteristics of
Synapses

1. subliminal fringe
2. occlusion
3. reverberation
4. inhibition
5. summation
– temporal
– spatial
 Synaptic Responses

1. excitatory postsynaptic
potential
– can be graded response
which will bring the RMP
closer to the TP
2. inhibitory postsynaptic potential
– makes the membrane
hyperpolarized
 Classes of
Neurotransmitters

1. Acetylcholine
2. Biogenic amines – catecholamines,
serotonin, histamine
3. Amino acids – glutamate, GABA
4. Neuropeptides – endogenous opioids
5. Miscellaneous – nitric acid,
adenosine
 Factors Affecting
Synaptic Effectiveness

1. Presynaptic factors
2. Postsynaptic factors
3. General factors
 Modulators

Chemical messengers that elicit

complex responses that cannot
be described as either IPSPs
or EPSPs
 Factors Affecting
Synaptic Transmission

1. acid-base states
a. alkalosis
b. acidosis
2. oxygen and CO2 concentrations

• Drugs
– those that excite
– those that inhibit
Neuromuscular Junction
and N-M Transmission
 Neurotransmitter
Receptors

• metabotropic receptors
• ionophore
 Acetylcholine Synthesis
and Metabolism

• Acetyl choline cholinesterase

acetate + choline
 Events during N-M
Transmission
Action potential in Presynaptic Motor axon terminal

Increase in Ca++ ion permeability and influx of Ca++

into the Axon Terminal

Release of Ach from the Synaptic Vesicles into the

Synaptic Cleft

Diffusion of Ach to Postjunctional membrane

 Events during N-M
Transmission
Combination of Ach with specific receptors on
postjunctional membrane

Increase in permeability of postjunctional

membrane to Na++ and K+ causes EPP

Depolarization of areas of Muscle membrane

adjacent to end plate and initiation of AP
 Factors affecting NM
Transmission

1. Ions
2. Drugs – curare, antibiotics
3. Acid – base conditions
4. Temperature
 Clinical Applications

• Hemicholiniums
• Curare
• Myasthenia Gravis
• Denervation supersensitivity
• Eaton-Lambert Myasthenia
Syndrome
Thank You
and
Good Day