Ground Rules

Lectures as scheduled
Tutorials as scheduled there might be a quiz in one of
the tutorial sessions (10 minute quiz).

o
o

Quiz
o

No repeats of class lectures in tutorials.

If you have doubts post on moodle by Sunday answers will be
posted or discussed in all the tutorial sections of that week.
Material covered in tutorials will be associated with the lectures
and will be part of the exam syllabus.
Strict about time land up by 0815

Mid Sem
o

End sem for tis part will be short answer type and small
numericals.
S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Syllabus

Biomedical Innovations
Cell Membrane, Resting Membrane Potential
Action Potential
Nerve conduction
Heart Electrical and Mechanical activity
Endocrine system
Insulin and diabetes mellitus

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Where to get reading material ???

CLASS NOTESVERY IMPORTANT
Lecture slides
Tutorial slides
Textbook of Medical Physiology by Guyton & Hall you
can get it in the library.
Quantitative Human Physiology: An Introduction by
Joseph Feher (relevant portions) difficult to obtain
Internet but please treat that material with caution.

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Biology

Engineering

The Sciences and Engineering

Physics
Mathematics

Chemistry

Engineering

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

New Definition
Physics
Chemistry

Mathematics
Engineering

Biology

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Travelling far what do you need ?

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Fantasy Science Fiction Reality

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Getting Ready the tricorder challenge

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Science

Biology

The famous radiograph

made by Roentgen on 22
December 1895. This is
traditionally known as "the
first X-ray picture" and
"the radiograph of Mrs.
Roentgen's hand. "

Engineering

The great breakthroug came in 1913 when William Coolidge and

Lilienfeld made there first hot filament Cathode X-Ray tube. They
replaced the cold Cathode with a heated spiral filament Cathode and
tungsten Anode. The third anticathode disappeared, the angle of the
Anode in his tube was set at 45. X-Ray's could now be better
controlled and were more reliable. The only practical problem was
cooling the Anode, (which got extremely hot) this was a huge problem
due to it's small size. New designs were developed, a heavy copper
base to the Anode, sometimes with water or air cooling, this conducted
the heat away and therefore increased the capacity of the tube to
withstand a high current.

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Engineering

Biology

Eindhoven was a physiologist was interested in the electrical activity of the

heart.
Although electrical recordings of the heart were made earlier (Waller, 1887),
in 1903 Einthoven demonstrated the first recordings of the ECG using an
ingeniously built system with a high sensitivity Quartz filament for detecting
ECG current.

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Robert Langer

Chemical engg.,
chemistry
Degradable polymer for
controlled drug release

Think big.
Never give up!

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Joint replacements
Mechanical
engg,
Materials sc.
&
metallurgy

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Biology on engineering

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Communication the basis of organization

Unicellular organisms survive on their own so why
evolve multicellular organisms ?
By collaboration and by division of labor it becomes
possible to exploit resources that no single cell could
utilize so well.

Initially simple association of cells

Later complex multicellular plants and animals

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Many Types of Cells

Advances in optical
and electron
microscopes have
enabled us to
move in close to
the cells and take
wonderful images.

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Cell to cell communication

Direct contact

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Local Signalling

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Long distance signalling

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

A Human Cell

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Muscle cells and Nerve cells - Specialists

The muscle cell has made contraction its specialty.

Its cytoplasm is packed with organized arrays of
protein filaments, including vast numbers of actin
filaments and mitochondria.
The nerve cell stimulates the muscle to contract,
conveying an excitatory signal to the muscle from
the brain or spinal cord.
Schwann cells are specialists in the mass production
of plasma membrane, which they wrap around the
elongated portion of the nerve cell, laying down
layer upon layer of membrane like a roll of tape, to
form a myelin sheath that serves as insulation.

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Features of the Nerve Cell

The nerve cell has to be extraordinarily elongated

o
o

After all it is carrying a signal from the brain to a far off muscle.
The main body, containing the nucleus, may lie a meter or more
from the junction with the muscle.

The cytoskeleton has to be well developed so as to

maintain the unusual shape of the cell and to transport
materials efficiently from one end of the cell to the other.
The plasma membrane, which contains proteins that act
as ion pumps and ion channels, causing a movement of
ions that is equivalent to a flow of electricity.

All cells contain such pumps and channels in their plasma

membranes, however the nerve cell has exploited them in such a
way that a pulse of electricity can propagate in a fraction of a
second from one end of the cell to the other, conveying a signal
for action.
S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

We deal with

Excitable Cells
o
o

Nerve cells (neurons; neurones)

Muscle cells

Nerve and muscle cells come in several types

o
o

Neurons vary from one region of the nervous system to another

3 types of muscles
Skeletal (voluntary)
Cardiac (involuntary)
Smooth (involuntary)

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Body electricity [biopotentials]

Body surface potentials
e.g. ECG, EEG, EMG, EOG, EGG etc.
Based, at cell level, on action potentials and other
potentials
Cellular Biopotentials:

Resting membrane potential

Steady baseline potential in all cells.

Action potential
Transient signals responsible for carrying information within a
neuron.

Synaptic potential
Transient in nature, mediates communication between two neurons /
between neuron and target cell.

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Neuron

Dendrites
o
o

Cell body
o

Receiving stations of neurons

Don't generate action potentials
(classical notion)
May / may not generate action
potentials (new notion)
Site at which information received is
integrated, generation of action
potential

Axon (only one)

o
o

Transmission of action potential

Terminal
Relays information to next neuron
in the pathway / other target cell

Purves et al., Life: The Science of Biology, 4th Edition

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Action potentials everywhere

http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/biobk/biobooknerv.html

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Action potentials everywhere

Stomach: EGG
Heart: ECG

http://www.biopac.com/Education.asp?Cid=429

Skeletal muscle: EMG

http://www.guthrie.org/services/cardiac/procedures/ekg.asp

http://www.backtohealthonline.com/emg.html

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Basic Structure of Biological Membranes

Ref. Quantitative Human Physiology by Joseph Feher

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Membrane proteins in the lipid bilayer

Ref. Quantitative Human Physiology by Joseph Feher

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Ionophores and Voltage/Ligand Gated Channels

Ref. Quantitative Human Physiology by Joseph Feher

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Concentrations of Na, K and Ca and resting

membrane potential across muscle cell membrane

Ref. Quantitative Human Physiology by Joseph Feher

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Energetics of Ion Movement

Electrochemical Potential for each ion in solution :
0
x

RT ln C x

zx

hypothetical solution of
unit molarity and no potential

Free energy change per mole for

movement of ion from outside of cell to
inside of cell is :

x ,i
0
x ,i

for a solution is the

chemical potential of a

is the electrical potential energy

is Faraday's constant

x ,o

RT ln C x ,i

zx

x ,i

0
x ,o

RT ln C x ,o

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

zx

x ,o

Forces generating the Na equilibrium potential

Ref. Quantitative Human Physiology by Joseph Feher

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

The Nernst Equation

The Equilibrium Potential across a membrane arises from the balance between
electrical forces and mechanical (i.e. diffusion) forces.
We can derive it either from the Ficks laws of diffusion or from the energetics
point of view.
x
x
0
x ,i

x ,i

0
0
x ,i

RT ln C x ,i

zx

x ,i

0
x ,o

RT ln C x ,o

zx

x ,o

0
x ,o

x ,o

RT C x ,o
ln
z
C x ,i

For sodium ions at 37 C this translates

to 61.5 mV per decade gradient.

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Ion Concentrations and Resting Membrane Potential

Mammalian muscle (rmp = -75 mV)
ECF

Frog muscle (rmp = -85 mV)

ICF

Cations

ECF

ICF

Cations

Na+

145 mM

12 mM

Na+

109 mM

4 mM

K+

4 mM

155 mM

K+

2.2 mM

124 mM

77 mM

1.5 mM

Anions
Cl-

Anions
120 mM

4 mM

Cl-

Obviously since all these ions (and more) are present, there has to be
effect by each one of them in developing the RMP.
Nernst Equation does not explain it all

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Where does a Nernst Potential develop?

Two solutions having different
concentrations of a highly dissociating salt
separated by:
A completely permeable (allows everything)
membrane.

A semi-permeable, i.e. allows only one ionic

species, membrane

An impermeable (i.e. allows nothing

through) membrane.

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Life is more complex

Earlier we assumed a hypothetical membrane through which only one

type of ion can pass through but life is not so simple..
o
o

Many other ions are also present and some of them may also pass
Membrane permeability to ions may be time varying.

An outcome of integrating the Nernst-Planck Electrodiffusion

Equation gives the Goldman-Hodgkin-Katz Equation

Em

RT

PK [K ]o PNa [ Na ]o PCl [Cl ]i

ln
PK [K ]i PNa [ Na ]i PCl [Cl ]o

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)

Equilibrium potentials for Na, K, and Cl in a

muscle cell

Ref. Quantitative Human Physiology by Joseph Feher

S. Mukherji, IIT-Bombay (mukherji@iitb.ac.in)