B016091 - GENERAL PHYSIOLOGY AND LABORATORY

Italian

Homeostasis: active and passive factors. Water and solute transport. Elettrochemical equilibrium. Bioelectrical potentials. Propagation and transmission of the information in the nervous system. Signal transduction in the sense receptors. Muscle contraction and cell motility. The mechanisms of visceral functions (gas and solutes exchanges). Example of a regulated system: Sensory-motor integration

Randall et al.: Eckert, Fisiologia animale IV ed.), Zanichelli
Aidley: The Physiology of excitable cells, (IV ed). Cambridge University Press
D’Angelo – Peres: Fisiologia, Edi Ermes
Nicholls et al.: Dai neuroni al cervello. Zanichelli
Berne et al.: Fisiologia. Casa Editrice Ambrosiana.

Knolewdge acquired:
Mechanisms of functioning of the animals at cell, tissue and organ levels.
Competence acquired
To understand the relation between structure and function at the different levels of organization of the living matter. To understand
the role of the external milieu and of passive and active parameters implied in cell and tissue homeostasis.



Skills acquired (at the end of the course):
To analyse and understand the relation between the parameters that are relevant for a biological function, using graphic representations. To understand the concepts reported in the textbooks of general physiology and the progress of knowledge in the field.

Courses to be used as requirements (required and/or recommended)
.
Courses required: Mathematics, Physics, General and inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry
Courses recommended: Citology and Hystology, Biochemistry, Comparative Anatomy

Total hours of the course (including the time spent in attending lectures, seminars, private study, examinations, etc...): 225
Hours reserved to private study and other indivual formative activities:149
Contact hours for: Lectures (hours): 64
Contact hours for: Laboratory (hours): 12
Contact hours for: Laboratory-field/practice (hours):
Seminars (hours): 0
Stages: 0
Intermediate examinations: 9

Frequency of lectures, practice and lab:
requested
Teaching tools:
Model simulations. Video on techniques in General Physiology.
Office hours:

Friday, 14-17, upon phone call or email message.
Email: vincenzo.lombardi@unifi.it

Exam modality: written tests “in itinere” and final oral exam

Course Contents (detailed programme): CELL OMEOSTASIS, TRANSPORT MECHANISMS AND IONIC EQUILIBRIUM
Structure of cell membrane. Concept of cell membrane in physiology. Omeostasi: meccanismi passive e attivi. Transmembrane transport of water and solutes. Osmolarity and tonicity. The time constant in diffusion processes. Mediate transports. Ionic channels, carriers, pumps. Types of active transport. Transepithelial transport. Energy balance. Transport between moving compartments. Countercurrent exchanger and multiplier in the kidney. Gas diffusion through the respiratory epithelia.
Electrochemical equilibrium and bioelectric potentials. Equilibrium potential. Gibbs-Donnan equilibrium. Multi-ionic membrane potentials. Na+-K+ pump. Electric model of the membrane.
MECHANISMS OF SOMATIC FUNCTIONS
Electric and chemical signals. Animal electricity. Excitability, threshold. Recording of electrical activity of nerve cells. The mechanism of the action potential. Characteristics of voltage- dependent ion channels. Propagation and transmission of nerve impulse. Electric and chemical synapses. Gap junctions. The neuromuscular junction: neurotransmitter mechanism. Ca++ and exocytosis of the neurotransmitter. Kinetics of the neurotransmitter receptor-channel. Synapses between neurons. Synaptic integration in spinal motoneurons. Direct and indirect chemical synapses. Ionotropic and metabotropic receptors. Neuromodulation. Sensory receptors. The receptor potential and the transduction mechanism. Relation between the intensity of the stimulus and receptor response. Adaptation. Amplitude and frequency codification of the response. Neural control of the receptor response.
Cell motility and muscle contraction. Structure-function relation in skeletal muscle. Muscle proteins and reconstituted contractile models. Sliding filament theory. Mechanics and energetic of the contraction. Heath and work production. Power and efficiency. Chemo-mechanical coupling. The action of the molecular motor protein myosin II. Excitation-contraction coupling. Structure-function relation of the transversal and longitudinal sarcoplasmic reticulum. Regulation: role of Ca++ and regulatory proteins.
MECHANISMS OF VISCERAL FUNCTIONS.
The heart and the circulatory system. Structure-function of the heart in vertebrates. Cardiac action potential. ECG. Pace-maker potential. Relation between electrical and mechanical cycle in the heart activity. Neural control. Microcirculation. Exchange of gasses and solutes in tissues.
Structure-function relation of smooth muscle cell. Relation between the electrical activity and the mechanical response. Factors that influence the function of smooth muscle: mechanical stimuli, chemical mediators, hormons.
Metabolism. Direct and indirect calorimetry.
INTEGRATED SYSTEMS OF REGULATION AND CONTROL.
Negative and positive feedback. Integrated functions. The control of movement. Feedback instability and its correction.