Excitable Cells

Name the three different types of cell transport driving forces?

How is a chemical driving force created?

From where does an electrical driving force arise?

Is the ICF more positive or more negative?

What convention is taken when describing the membrane potential of a cell and approximately how much is it?

What is the electrical force dependent on?

Are uncharged molecules affected by an electrical force?

What is the magnitude of the electrical driving force dependent on?

Generally, what is an electrochemical driving force?

What does an electrochemical driving force dependent on?

If an electrical and chemical driving force are travelling the same way, what direction does the electrochemical driving force take?

If an electrical and chemical driving force are equal and opposite, what direction does the electrochemical driving force take?

If an electrical and chemical driving force are travelling in opposing directions, what direction does the

If an electrochemical potential is greater than the membrane potential, is the chemical or electrical driving force greater? Therefore which direction does the electrochemical force take?

What is the Nernst equation? State all variables and its units.

Define the rate of transport.

Name the different types of passive transports.

What is simple diffusion?

What does simple diffusion rely on?

What is Fick’s Law of diffusion?

What is the mechanism that assists with facilitated diffusion?

How does a protein carrier work?

What are the two factors which affect a binding site?

What are the factors which affect the rate of facilitated diffusion?

What is the similarity/difference between simple and facilitated diffusion?

What is a channel?

What is an aquaporin?

What is an ion channel?

What is the difference between an ion channel with and without binding sites?

What are the factors that affect the rate of transport through the ion channels?

What are the two forms of active transport?

What is the different between active and passive transport?

What is an ion pump?

State the steps in a Na+/K+/ATPase pump.

Why is this considered active transport?

How is it similar/dissimilar to an ordinary carrier protein?

What is a secondary active transport?

What is a co-transport and provide an example.

What is a counter-transport and provide an example.

In a counter transport, which is the substance that is being actively transported?

What are the factors that affect the rate of transport?

Is water transport through membranes actively or passively transported?

Is it affected by membrane potentials?

What is it driven by?

What is osmolarity and what is it measured in?

What is tonicity and what is it measured in?

What is an isotonic solution?

What is a hypertonic solution?

What is a hypotonic solution?

What is osmosis dependent on?

What is the osmotic pressure equation; state the variables and their units.

What is endocytosis?

What is exocytosis?

What is the function of exocytosis?

What is potential difference?

What is membrane potential?

What is resting membrane potential?

What does the resting membrane potential depend on?

How a negative membrane is potential generated in a cell permeable only to K+?

How is equilibrium established in a cell only permeable to K+?

How is an equilibrium established in a neuron cell (with relation to K+ and Na+ ion channels?

What are gated channels and how do they generally work?

What are the three types of gated channels and how does each work?

What is hyperpolarization?

What is depolarization?

What is repolarization?

What is a graded potential?

Define threshold.

Define action potential.

What are the 3 phases of an action potential, draw it, and explain what happens in each phase.

How are action potentials and voltage gated ions related?

What is an activation gate responsible for?

What is an inactivation gate responsible for?

What happens to the voltage gated ions at rest?

What happens if both the voltage gated ions are open?

What happens when the inactivation gate is closed?

How can the inactivation gate reopen again?

What is the regenerative mechanism?

What happens to the gates at repolarization?

What are the 2 phases of a refractory period and what happens during these phases?

What are some properties of the refractory period?

Define the propagation of an action potential.

What does the propagation depend on?

State the steps of propagation in an unmyelinated axon.

State the steps of propagation in a myelinated axon.

What is a presynaptic neuron?

What is a postsynaptic neuron?

What is the synaptic cleft?

What is an axodendrite synapse?

What is an axosomatic synapse?

What is an axoaxonic synapse?

State the steps of an active presynaptic neuron when an action potential occurs.

How is a fast response induced?

Why is a PSP a fast occurring action?

How is a slow response induced?

What is an excitatory synapse?

How do fast EPSPs occur?

What is the process of a slow EPSP?

What is an inhibitory synapse?

What produces an IPSP?

What happens when both an EPSP and an IPSP are active?

Where is ACh found?

Where is ACh released?

State the steps on how ACh reaches the cholinergic receptors.

What are the two types of cholinergic receptors?

T/F nicotinic is metabotropic.

How many binding sites are in a nicotinic cholinergic receptor?

What happens to a nicotinic cholinergic receptor?

Muscarinic cholinergic receptors are metabotropic T/F.

What happens to a muscarinic cholinergic receptor?

What is the neuromuscular junction?

What are terminal boutons?

At the motor end of the plate are there nicotinic or muscarinic cholinergic receptors?

How is ACh terminated in a neuromuscular junction?

State the steps for when an ac