Homeostasis

Negative feedback systems in the

human body
By Karyn Coulon
Masconomet Regional High School

Life Sciences-HHMI Outreach.

Copyright 2009 President and Fellows
of Harvard College.
 What is homeostasis?
 Process that occurs in all
living things
 All organ systems work
together to achieve
homeostasis

 Ability of an organism to
maintain its internal
environment, despite
changes to its internal or
external environment
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How does homeostasis work?
 Feedback pathways
 A cellular relay race!

 Specific organs and

structures must
communicate with each
other in response to
changes in the body

 Keeps levels of certain

processes within a
normal range
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What things in your body need to be
kept within a range?
 Body Temperature
 Blood pressure
 Blood pH
 O2 and CO2 concentration
 Osmoregulation-Water balance
 Blood glucose

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of Harvard College.
Cellular Relay Race
 Stimulus
 Receptor
 Integrating
center
 Effector
 Response
 Reverses the
stimulus

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Negative Feedback Pathways
 Way in which most
homeostatic
mechanisms work
 The product of the
pathway inhibits, or
shuts down, the
original signal
 Why is this an
important feature in
living things?
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Why is feedback important in
living things?
 Allows baseline to be
regained

 Conserves resources
 Cellular Materials
 Energy (ATP)

Life Sciences-HHMI Outreach.

Copyright 2009 President and Fellows
of Harvard College.
 mouth

Stomach

Sm. Intestine

Circulatory Runners

Target cells-
Target cells- Brain
Muscle

Target cells-
Liver

Pancreas

ß-cells Game set-up

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 mouth

Stomach

Sm. Intestine

Circulatory Runners

Target cells-
Target cells- Brain
Muscle

Target cells- “Glucose!! Release the insulin!”

Liver

Pancreas

Lots of glucose
ß-cells circulating, so
Pancreas calls out for
insulin
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Llave_bronce.jpg
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http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Icon_announcer.svg
Life Sciences-HHMI Outreach. Copyright 2009 President and Fellows of Harvard College.
 mouth

Stomach

Sm. Intestine

Circulatory Runners

Target cells-
Target cells- Brain
Muscle

Target cells- “Glucose!! Release the insulin!”

Liver

Pancreas

Insulin has been

passed to the target
ß-cells cells. Targets can now
receive glucose.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Archery_Target_80cm.svg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Llave_bronce.jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Day-template.svg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Icon_announcer.svg
Life Sciences-HHMI Outreach. Copyright 2009 President and Fellows of Harvard College.
 mouth

Stomach

Sm. Intestine

Circulatory Runners

Target cells-
Target cells- Brain
Muscle

Target cells- “Hold insulin production”

Liver

Pancreas stops
Pancreas
insulin from being
passed once there is
no more glucose
ß-cells circulating

Life Sciences-HHMI Outreach. Copyright 2009 President and Fellows of Harvard College.
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http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Day-template.svg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Icon_announcer.svg
 Dueling Hormones
What goes up, must come down!
Insulin Glucagon
 Produced by -cells  Produced by -cells
of the Pancreas of the pancreas
 Released into  Released into the
circulatory system circulatory system
when blood glucose is when blood glucose is
high low
 Facilitates the  Signals the liver to
transport of glucose break down glycogen
into target cells into simple glucose
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 Dueling Mechanisms
What goes up, must come down!
Thermoregulation
Sweating (cooling) vs. shivering (warming)

Blood Pressure
Vasconstriction vs. vasodilation

Osmoregulation
Hypotonic vs. hypertonic
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of Harvard College.
 Food for thought…
 On average, how many organ systems are
involved in each of the processes we’ve
explored?

 Are there any organ systems that you see in

all of these processes?

 What might happen to these pathways if just

one system was not functioning properly?
Life Sciences-HHMI Outreach.
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of Harvard College.