GENERAL PHYSIOLOGY:

AN INTRODUCTION
DR ENE CHIDIEBERE BROWN
• Scheme of work/List of topics
– Introduction to General Physiology
– Cell and its organelles
– Transport across cell membrane
– Homeostasis and Control Systems
– Water Balance
– Regulation of Water Intake and Output
– Acid-Base Balance
– Temperature Regulation
• Learning Objectives
– At the end of the whole series of lectures in
General Physiology, students should be able to:
• Define the cell
• Describe the cell organelles and list their functions
• Describe the various transport processes across the Cell
Membrane
• Describe the concept of Homeostasis and the
importance of Control Systems in the maintenance of
Homeostasis
• Describe Water Balance and its regulation
• Describe Acid-Base Balance and its regulation
• Describe the concept of Body Temperature and its
regulation
 INTRODUCTION
• Physiology is the study of normal function within the body to
maintain life
• The study of physiology is, in a sense, the study of life
• It asks uestions about the internal workings of organisms and
how they interact with the world around them
• Physiology tests how cells, tissues, organ systems and the
whole body work, how they combine their efforts to make
conditions favourable for survival
• Physiology is an integrative discipline that utilizes biology,
chemistry and physics to explain:
• Function of the human body
• Mechanisms [physical and chemical processes] of these
functions [cells, tissues, organs and systems]
• Regulation of body function
• The study of physiology traces its roots back to ancient India
and Egypt
• As a medical discipline, it goes back at least as far as the time
of Hippocrates, the famous ‘father of medicine’
• Claudius Galenus was the first to use experimentation to derive
information about the systems of the body
• He is referred to as the founder of experimental physiology
• Jean Fernel, a French physician introduced the term
‘physiology’ from ancient Greek, meaning ‘study of nature ,
origins’
• Joseph Lister in I858- initially studied coagulation and
inflammation following injury
• August Krogh, I9I0- won the Nobel Prize for discovering how
blood flow is regulated in capillaries
 CELL AND ITS ORGANELLES
• The cell is the structural and functional unit of life
• It is a basic membrane-bound unit that contains the
foundamental molecules of life
• The human body is composed of trillions of cells
• As an individual unit, the cell is capable of metabolizing its own
nutrients, synthesizing many molecules, providing its own
energy, and replicating itself in order to produce succeeding
generations
– Division into compartments
• Organelles with different chemical compositions and fxns
• methods
– Microscopy
– X-ray diffraction techniques
– Other cellular and molecular methods
• Organelles include
– Cell membrane, nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum, golgi apparatus, mitochondrion,
lysosome/peroxisome, microtubules and microfillaments, intercellular connections
 Cell membrane
• It’s a thin membrane, typically between 4-I0 nm in thickness
sorrunding every living cell, delimiting the cell from the
environment around it
• Enclosed by the cell membrane are the cell’s constituents
which are often large, water-soluble, highly charged molecules
such as proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, and substances
involved in cellular metabolism
– Made up of
• Lipids – phospholipids. Bilayer. Polar & nonpolar
• Proteins – peripheral and integral (transmembrane)
• carbohydrates
– Functions
• Semi permeability
• Portions of membrane mediate
– Pumps, carriers, ion channels, receptors, enzymes, antibody processing (distinguishing
self from non self).
• Maintenance of cell shape and structure via cytoskeletal
filaments and extracellular matrix components
• A transport function – selective permeability to ion and
macromolecules, which helps to maintain the cytosolic ionic
composition, osmotic pressure and pH[ 7.2-7.4]
• Intercellular communication involving signal transduction via
transmembrane receptors
• Intercellular adhesion via specialized junctions
• Direct cell movement
• Protecting the integrity of the interior cell.
• Providing support and maintaining the shape of the cell.
• Helps in regulating cell growth through the balance of
endocytosis and exocytosis.
• The cell membrane also plays an important role in cell
signalling and communication.
• It acts as a selectively permeable membrane by allowing the
entry of only selected substances into the cell.
• Nucleus
– Spheroidal or roughly spherical
– Enveloped in nuclear membrane
• Double membrane
• Flattened sack
• Perinuclear membrane
• Outer membrane in contact with ER
• Inner in contact with chromosomes/chromatin
• Perinuclear space and lumen of ER may contain similar
enzymes
• Nuclear pores for trans membrane transport
– Nucleolus, a patchwork of granules rich in RNA
• most prominent and numerous in growing cells
• site of synthesis of ribosomes
– Functions
• Existence of cell, enucleate cell dies
• Storage and replication of DNA
• Synthesis and storage of RNA
• Golgi apparatus- made up of a series of flattened, stacked pouches
called cisterine
– Collection of saccules
– Located close to nucleus
– Also membranous
– Fns
• Site for conc of proteins & Polysacc or secretory prods
• Synthesis of glycoproteins, CHO is added here
• Raw materials for CHO or polysacc are first seen here
• Polymerization of glucose to form polysacc eg glycogen
• Glycosyl transferase used as marker
 MITOCHONDRIA
• Power house of the cell
• Sausage or cigar shaped
• Bounded by 2 glycoprotein membranes & space
• Inner membrane thrown into folds-matrix-with multienzyme
assembly
• Contains granules, DNA & RNA
• Regulates the metabolic activity of the cell
• Promotes the growth of new cells and cell multiplication
• Helps in detoxifying ammonia in the liver cells
• Plays an important role in apoptosis or programmed cell death
• Responsible for building certain parts of the blood and various
hormones like testosterone and oestrogen
• It is also involved in various cellular activities like cellular
differentiation, cell signalling, cell senescence, controlling the cell
cycle and also in cell growth
 LYSOSOMES
• They are sphere-shaped sacs filled with hydrolytic enzymes
that have the capability to break down many biomolecules
• Also a membranous structure
• Contains over 30 acid hydrolases
• functions
• Digestive system of the cell
• Involved in endocytosis
• Maybe autophagic [autolysis]
 PEROXISOMES
• They are small vesicles, single membrane bound organelles
usually assoc with ER
• Functions
• Impt for formation & breakdown of toxic by-products of
metabolism such as peroxides by peroxidase and the catalase
enzyme
• Involved in lipid metabolism and catabolism of D-amino acids,
polyamines and catalase
 ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM
• It is a complex network of tubular membranes that form
continuous folds, joining the outer layer of the nuclear
membrane
• Present in all cells except the RBCs and sperm cells
• Divided into two based on appearance;
• Rough (granular) ER, has ribosomes embedded in its structure
• It synthesizes and secretes protein and
• It is involved in initial folding of polypeptide and protein sorting
• It is prominent in the cells where protein synthesis occurs[hepatocytes]
• Smooth (agranular) ER
• Steroid synthesis in steroid secreting cells esp the phospholipids and
cholesterol the chief lipids in cell membranes
• Also responsible for the production and secretion of steriod hormones
• It is involved in carbohydrate metabolism
• It stores and releases calcium ions, important for musclar and nervous
systems
• SER transports the product of RER to other cellular organelles esp the
golgi apparatus
 CYTOSKELETON
• It is the structure that maintains the shape and internal organization
of the cell, and provides it mechanical support
• It is a network of fibres
• Made up of three types of fibres;
• Microfilament- they are thread-like protein fibres of about 3-6nm in
diameter
• They are mainly found in the muscle cells and consist of protein
actin, responsible for muscle contraction
• They are also involved in cellular movements including cytokinesis
• Microtubules- appear like small, hallow, round tubes with a diameter of
about 24nm
• They are made up of protein, tubulin, I3 tubulins link to form a single
tube
• They help in transporting cellular materials and dividing chromosomes
during cell division
• Intermidiate Filaments- they are about I0 nm in diameter and provide
tensil strength to the cell
• They facilitate the formation of keratins and neurofilament
• Other cytoskeleton include kinesin,dyneins and myosin
 MOLECULAR MOTORS
• They move proteins, organelles & other cell parts to all parts of the cell
• They are a class of proteins that drive intracellular trafficking by
converting chemical energy to mechanical work along cytoskeletal
filaments
• Three different classes of motors exist;
• kinesins,
• dyneins and
• Myosins
• They are responsible for cellular activities such as muscle contraction and
intercellular vesicle transport
 INTERCELLULAR JUNCTIONS
• They are structures that provide adhesions and communications between cells
• They are mostly present in epithelial cells that have strong attachment to one
another and to the extracellular matrix
• Three types of intercellular junctions;
• Tight junctions (zonula occludens)
• It is the most apical structure in the epithelial cell forming a seal between the two
membranes
• This seal consists of the transmembrane proteins caudin and occludin
• Tie cells together and confers strength and stability to tissues
• Also provide transcellular and paracellular transport of molecules and ions across
epithelial cells
• Adherent or anchoring junctions[zonula adherens], including the desmosomes and
hemidesmosomes
• Hold cells together via transmembrane glycoprotein cadherin which fxns in the
presence of ca2+, binding to catenin via actin binding proteins to actin filaments
• Attach cells to their basal laminar
• Gap junctions
• A gap jxn consists of proteins named connexin, which many of together form a
complex- connexon
• This connexon has a pore with diameter of I.5nm, permitting exchange of large
molecules
• Transport molecules across epithelia
 Transport Across Cell Membranes
• Types
– Simple diffusion
– Osmosis
– Solvent drag
– Facilitated diffusion
– Active transport
– Endocytosis
– Exocytosis
 OSMOSIS
• Osmosis is net movement or diffusion of water molecules across a
semipermeable membrane from a region of higher concentration to
lower concentration of water (solvent)
• It is a passive processthat takes place without expenditure of energy
• The transport of solvent molecules continues from low to high conc
regions until there is equilibrium on both sides
• The main fxn of osmosis is to help stabilize the internal environment
of the body by balancing the levels of water and intracellular fluids,
nutrients and minerals
• Osmotic pressure is the minimal pressure reuired to prevent
inward flow of a solution’s pure solevent across a
semipermeable membrane
• It is the pressure that must be applied to halt the flow of
solvent molecules through semipermeable membrane
• It is dependent on the concentration of solute particles in the
solution
 TONICITY
• It is the capability of a solution to modify the volume of cells by
altering their water content
• The movement of water into a cell can lead to hypotonicity or
hypertonicity when water moves out of the cell
• It is a measure of effective osmolarity in cell biology
• Classification is into 3 ranges;
• Hypertonicity
• Hypotonicity
• Isotonicity
 ISOTONICITY
• The state of being isotonic, or having equal tension or tonicity.
• Isotonicity means two solutions have same osmotic pressure
across the semi-permeable membrane
• Examples
• 0.9% NaCl
• Ringers lactate
• 1.5% Urea
• 5.3% Glucose
 HYPERTONICITY
• Hypertonic solutions are solutions that have a greater
concentration of solute compared to the cell
• This causes water to rush out making the cell wrinkle or shrivel.
• A solution will be hypertonic to a cell if its solute concentration
is higher than that inside the cell, and the solutes cannot cross
the membrane
• Examples- 3% NaCl, I0% Dextrose in water, 50% Dextrose in
water, 5% Dextrose saline, pure water
 HYPOTONICITY
• A hypotonic solution is a solution with a lower concentration of
solutes than another solution OR the solvent
• Hypotonic solutions are used when the cell is dehydrated and
fluids need to be put back intracellularly.
• Examples include;
• 0.45% saline [I/2N/S]
• 0.225% saline [I/4 N/S]
 SIMPLE DIFFUSION
• Diffusion is a physical process that refers to the net movement
of molecules from a region of high concentration to one of
lower concentration.
• The material that diffuses could be a solid, liquid or gas
• It is a passive movement of molecules or particles along the
concentration gradient
• examples include gaseous exchange and transport in the body
 Factors Affecting Diffusion
• Solute concentration
• Nature of diffusing molecule
• Lipid solubility
• Hydrophilicity
• Molecular size
• Temperature
• Viscosity of medium
• Nature of membrane
• Thickness of membrane
• Chemical composition of membrane
 SOLVENT DRAG
• Also known as bulk transport
• Facilitated diffusion (also known as passive-mediated
transport) is the process of spontaneous passive transport (as
opposed to active transport) of molecules or ions across a
biological membrane via specific transmembrane integral
proteins.
• Being passive, facilitated transport does not directly require
chemical energy from ATP hydrolysis in the transport step itself
• It is a selective process, i.e., the membrane allows only
selective molecules and ions to pass through it.
• It, however, prevents other molecules from passing through
the membrane, guided by the presence of another molecule–
usually an integral membrane protein forming a pore or
channel
 ACTIVE TRANSPORT
• Also known as uphill transport
• In cellular biology, active transport is the movement of
molecules across a cell membrane from a region of lower
concentration to a region of higher concentration —against the
concentration gradient.
• During the process of active transport, a protein pump makes
use of stored energy in the form of ATP, to move molecules
• Pump for sodium and potassium
• Sodium-glucose transport protein
• Phagocytosis of bacteria by Macrophages.
• Movement of Ca2+ ions out of cardiac muscle cells.
• Transportation of amino acids across the intestinal lining in the
human gut.
• Secretion of proteins like enzymes, peptide hormones, and
antibodies from different cells