OCR A LEVEL BIOLOGY
Module 5 - Communication, homeostasis and energy
5.2 - Excretion as an example of homeostatic control
Excretion: removal of metabolic waste from the body.
Secretion: Process by which substances are produced or discharged from
a cell, glands etc.
Examples of metabolic waste:
- Carbon dioxide from respiration
- Urea
- Nitrogenous waste
- Bile pigments in faeces
Importance of excretion:
- All products that are formed in excess by the chemical processes
occurring in the cells must be removed from the body so that they
do not build up and inhibit enzyme activity or become toxic.
Metabolic products such as carbon dioxide and ammonia are toxic. They
interfere with cell processes by altering the PH so that normal metabolism
is prevented. Other metabolic products may act as inhibitors to reduce the
activity of essential enzymes.
Carbon dioxide is transported as hydrogen carbonate ions in the blood.
2
C O + H 2O> H 2 CO 3 ( carbonic acid)
Carbonic acid dissociates to release H+ ions.
H2CO3 > H+ + HCO3-
Hydrogen ions affect the PH of the cytoplasm in the red blood cell. The hydrogen
ions interact with the bonds within haemoglobin, changing its 3d shape. This
reduces the affinity of haemoglobin for oxygen affecting oxygen transport.
Excess hydrogen ions can reduce the PH of the plasma. Maintaining the PH
of the plasma is essential because changes could alter the structure of many
proteins in the blood that help transport a wide range of substances around the
body—proteins in the blood act as buffers to resist change in PH.
If the change in PH is small then extra hydrogen ions are detected by the
respiratory centre in the medulla oblongata of the brain. Thai causes an increase
in breathing rate to help remove excess carbon dioxide.
If the PH drops below 7.35 it may cause headaches, drowsiness, tremor and
confusion. There might also be a rapid heart rate and changes in blood pressure,
This is respiratory acidosis. It can be caused by diseases or conditions that
affect the lungs itself eg asthma chronic bronchitis and severe pneumonia
Deamination: ( the removal of an amino group from a molecule)
Amino acids are broken down by the process of deamination. The
nitrogen-containing part of the molecule is then combined with carbon
dioxide to make urea.
Deamination: Amino acid + oxygen. keto acid + ammonia
Formation of urea: Ammonia + carbon dioxide > urea + water
Ornithine cycle: a series of biochemical reactions that converts ammonia
to urea
Ammonia + carbon dioxide > urea + water
( 2NH3 + CO2 > CO(NH2)2 + H20
The gross structure and histology of the kidney
The kidney consists of three regions surrounded by a tough capsule:
- The outer region is called the cortex
- The inner region is called the medulla
- The centre is the pelvis, which leads to the ureter
Blood and filtering
THe renal artery splits to form many different arterioles which each
lead to a knot of capillaries called the glomerulus. Blood from the
glomerulus continues into an efferent arteriole which carries blood
to more capillaries surrounding the rest of the tuble. These capillaries
eventually flow together into the renal vein.
Each glomerulus is surrounded by the bowman's capsule. Fluid in the
blood is pushed into the bowman's capsule by the process of ultrafiltration.
The filter is the barrier between the blood in the capillary and the lumen of
the bowman’s capsule. The barrier consists of three layers all adapted to
enable ultrafiltration:
1. The endothelium of the capillary: They are narrow gaps between the
cells of the endothelium of the capillary wall. The cells of the
endothelium of the capillary wall. The cells of the endothelium also
contain pores called fenestrations. The gaps allow blood plasma and
the substances dissolved in it to pass out of the capillary.
2. THe basement membrane: The membrane consists of a fine mesh of
collagen fibres and glycoproteins. This mesh acts as a filter to
prevent the passage of molecules with a relative molecular mass of
greater than 69000. This means that most proteins and all blood
cells are held in the capillaries of the glomerulus.
3. THe epithelial cells of the bowman capsule: these cells called
podocytes have a specialised shape - they have tiny finger-like
projections called major processes or foot processes that hold the
cells away from the endothelium of the capillary. These projections
ensure that there are gaps between the cells. Fluid from the blood in
the glomerulus can pass between these cells into the lumen of the
bowman's capsule.
The bowman's capsule leads into the rest of the tubule, which has three
parts
1. Proximal convoluted tubule
2. Loop of Henle
3. Distal convoluted tubule
The fluid from many nephrons enters the collecting ducts, which
pass down through the medulla to the pelvis at the centre of the
kidney.
The function of the mammalian kidney:( Urine formation )
The nephron is responsible for the formation of urine. Urine formation
occurs in two stages;
- Ultrafiltration: is the filtering of blood at a molecular level. Blood
flows into the glomerulus through the afferent arteriole, which is
wider than the efferent arteriole that carries blood away from the
glomerulus. The difference in diameters ensures that the blood in
the capillaries of the glomerulus maintains a higher pressure than
the pressure in the Bowman's capsule. This pressure difference
tends to push fluid from the blood into the Bowman's capsule that
surrounds the glomerulus
- The function of the nephrons: AS the fluid from the Bowman's
capsule passes along the nephron tubule its composition is altered
by selective reabsorption.
- In the proximal convoluted tubule, the fluid is altered by the
reabsorption of all the sugars, most mineral ions and some water.
The cells of these tubules are highly folded surfaces producing a
brush border which increases the surface area.
- In the ascending limb of the loop of Henle, the water potential is
increased as mineral ions are removed by active transport.
- In the collecting duct, the water potential is decreased again by the
removal of water. The final product in the collecting duct is urine.
- This process ensures that urine has a low water potential. The urine,
therefore, has a higher concentration of solutes than those found in
the blood and tissue fluid. Urine passes into the pelvis and down the
ureter to the bladder.
- Selective reabsorption:
Reabsorption involves active transport and cotransport. The cells
lining the proximal convoluted tubule are specialised to achieve this
reabsorption
The cell surface membrane also contains special cotransporter
proteins that transport glucose or amino acids, in association with
sodium ions from the tubule into the cell.
The cell surface membrane in contact with the tubule fluid is highly
folded to form microvilli. The microvilli increase the surface area for
reabsorption.
The opposite membrane of the cell, close to the tissue fluid and blood
capillaries is also folded to increase its surface area. This membrane
contains sodium/potassium pumps that pump sodium ions out of the cell
and potassium ions into the cell
THe cell cytoplasm has many mitochondria. This indicates that an active or
energy-requiring process is involved because many mitochondria will
produce a lot of ATP.
The mechanism of reabsorption
Glucose and amino acids are selectively absorbed by the movement of
sodium ions and glucose into the cell driven by the concentration gradient
created by pumping sodium ions out of the cell. The sodium ions move
into the cell by facilitated diffusion but they cotransport glucose or amino
acids against their concentration gradient. This is sometimes called
secondary active transport. Larger molecules such as small proteins that
may have entered the tubule can be reabsorbed by endocytosis
