BIOL 2401 Anatomy & Physiology
Instructor: Gilkerson
Final Exam Study Guide
The Final Exam will be in an identical format to Exams 1, 2, 3, and 4: 50 questions, multiple
choice, closed-book, no electronics.
Re-examine and utilize the previous study guides and practice questions.
I have highlighted figures from the book, to help point you toward the major points of
each chapter.
Important concepts:
Cell structure:
What are the components of a human cell?
- Carbohydrates: provide fuel to produce energy
- Proteins: do cellular work
- Lipids: form membranes
- Nucleic acids (DNA, RNA): blueprint
Where is DNA stored?
- Nucleus “control center”
What is a gene?
- Made up of DNA, act as instructions to make proteins.
- Basic unit of inheritance
What are some examples of how proteins do the work in a cell? How are cells such as neurons
and muscle fibers alike and different?
Membrane potential:
How is resting membrane potential generated?
- Produced by the separation of oppositely charged particles (voltage) across the
membranes in all cells.
- “Polarized” cells
- Around -70mV
At rest, which side of the membrane is negative and which is positive?
, - The inside is negative (K+) and the outside is positive (Na+)
Why is the sodium-potassium pump important?
- Na+ becomes attracted to cell due to its negative charge, affects the RMP, giving it a
more positive charge.
- Can generate an EPSP… action potential
- DEPOLARIZES (positive)
How does membrane potential change during an action potential?
- Begins at the negative resting membrane potential (-70mV)
- Becomes positive (-55mV; Na+ rushes in cell)
- Back to rest
Skeletal muscle contraction: How are neuronal action potentials converted to mechanical
energy using: acetylcholine, calcium, troponin, actin, myosin?
- Action potential arrives at axon terminal: neurotransmission begins with the arrival of
AP at the PREsynaptic axon terminal
- Voltage-gated Ca++ channels open and Ca++ enters the axon terminal:
depolarization of the membrane by the AP opens not only Na+ channels, but the Ca++
channels as well. Ca++ floods down the electrochemical gradient from the ECF into the
terminal
- Ca++ entry causes synaptic vesicles to release neurotransmitter by exocytosis:
Ca++ in the axon terminal acts like an intracellular messenger. The protein
Synaptotagmin (senses Ca++) binds to Ca++. As a result, the synaptic vesicles fuse with
the axon membrane and empty their contents into the synaptic cleft. Ca++ is quickly
removed from the terminal.
- Neurotransmitter diffuses across the synaptic cleft and binds to specific receptors
on the POSTsynaptic membrane
- Binding of neurotransmitter opens ion channels, creating graded potentials: when
a neurotransmitter binds to the receptor protein, the receptor changes chape. This
change leads to ion channels opening and creating graded potentials. POSTsynaptic
membranes often contain receptor proteins and ion channels packaged together and
chemically ion channels. The POSTsynaptic neuron may be excited or inhibited
depending on the channels and receptors.
- Neurotransmitter effects are terminated: as long as the neurotransmitter is bound to a
POSTsynaptic receptor, a neurotransmitter can continue to affect membrane
permeability and block reception of additional signals from PREsynaptic neurons.
o Reuptake by astrocytes or the presynaptic terminal
o Degradation by enzymes
o Diffusion away from the synapse
, Neuronal communication: How do neural impulses use neurotransmitters, graded potentials,
threshold, and action potentials? How do neurons communicate at a synapse?
Instructor: Gilkerson
Final Exam Study Guide
The Final Exam will be in an identical format to Exams 1, 2, 3, and 4: 50 questions, multiple
choice, closed-book, no electronics.
Re-examine and utilize the previous study guides and practice questions.
I have highlighted figures from the book, to help point you toward the major points of
each chapter.
Important concepts:
Cell structure:
What are the components of a human cell?
- Carbohydrates: provide fuel to produce energy
- Proteins: do cellular work
- Lipids: form membranes
- Nucleic acids (DNA, RNA): blueprint
Where is DNA stored?
- Nucleus “control center”
What is a gene?
- Made up of DNA, act as instructions to make proteins.
- Basic unit of inheritance
What are some examples of how proteins do the work in a cell? How are cells such as neurons
and muscle fibers alike and different?
Membrane potential:
How is resting membrane potential generated?
- Produced by the separation of oppositely charged particles (voltage) across the
membranes in all cells.
- “Polarized” cells
- Around -70mV
At rest, which side of the membrane is negative and which is positive?
, - The inside is negative (K+) and the outside is positive (Na+)
Why is the sodium-potassium pump important?
- Na+ becomes attracted to cell due to its negative charge, affects the RMP, giving it a
more positive charge.
- Can generate an EPSP… action potential
- DEPOLARIZES (positive)
How does membrane potential change during an action potential?
- Begins at the negative resting membrane potential (-70mV)
- Becomes positive (-55mV; Na+ rushes in cell)
- Back to rest
Skeletal muscle contraction: How are neuronal action potentials converted to mechanical
energy using: acetylcholine, calcium, troponin, actin, myosin?
- Action potential arrives at axon terminal: neurotransmission begins with the arrival of
AP at the PREsynaptic axon terminal
- Voltage-gated Ca++ channels open and Ca++ enters the axon terminal:
depolarization of the membrane by the AP opens not only Na+ channels, but the Ca++
channels as well. Ca++ floods down the electrochemical gradient from the ECF into the
terminal
- Ca++ entry causes synaptic vesicles to release neurotransmitter by exocytosis:
Ca++ in the axon terminal acts like an intracellular messenger. The protein
Synaptotagmin (senses Ca++) binds to Ca++. As a result, the synaptic vesicles fuse with
the axon membrane and empty their contents into the synaptic cleft. Ca++ is quickly
removed from the terminal.
- Neurotransmitter diffuses across the synaptic cleft and binds to specific receptors
on the POSTsynaptic membrane
- Binding of neurotransmitter opens ion channels, creating graded potentials: when
a neurotransmitter binds to the receptor protein, the receptor changes chape. This
change leads to ion channels opening and creating graded potentials. POSTsynaptic
membranes often contain receptor proteins and ion channels packaged together and
chemically ion channels. The POSTsynaptic neuron may be excited or inhibited
depending on the channels and receptors.
- Neurotransmitter effects are terminated: as long as the neurotransmitter is bound to a
POSTsynaptic receptor, a neurotransmitter can continue to affect membrane
permeability and block reception of additional signals from PREsynaptic neurons.
o Reuptake by astrocytes or the presynaptic terminal
o Degradation by enzymes
o Diffusion away from the synapse
, Neuronal communication: How do neural impulses use neurotransmitters, graded potentials,
threshold, and action potentials? How do neurons communicate at a synapse?
