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Osmoregulation is the active regulation of the osmotic pressure of an organism's body fluids, detected by osmoreceptors, to maintain the homeostasis of the organism's water content; that is, it maintains the fluid balance and the concentration of electrolytes (salts in solution which in this case is represented by body fluid) to keep the body fluids from becoming too diluted or concentrated.
Fluid balance is an aspect of the homeostasis of organisms in which the amount of water in the organism needs to be controlled, via osmoregulation and behavior, such that the concentrations of electrolytes (salts in solution) in the various body fluids are kept within healthy ranges.
Osmoregulation is the homeostasis mechanism of an organism to reach balance in osmotic pressure. Hypertonicity is the presence of a solution that causes cells to shrink. Hypotonicity is the presence of a solution that causes cells to swell. Isotonicity is the presence of a solution that produces no change in cell volume.
Osmoprotectants can be placed in three chemical classes: betaines and associated molecules, sugars and polyols, and amino acids. These molecules accumulate in cells and balance the osmotic difference between the cell's surroundings and the cytosol. [2] In plants, their accumulation can increase survival during stresses such as drought.
EnvZ is a sensor-transmitter that spans the inner cytoplasmic membrane and has historically been divided into two domains, the sensory and the transmitter domain. [3] [4] The protein is composed of a short N-terminal tail in the periplasm, two transmembrane regions with an intervening periplasmic loop, and a cytoplasmic domain containing the autophosphorylated histidine residue, which is ...
The CV does not exist in higher organisms, but some of its unique characteristics are used by them in their osmoregulatory mechanisms. Research on the CV can therefore help us understand how osmoregulation works in all species. Many issues regarding the CV remain, as of 2010, unsolved: Contraction.
An effector is the target acted on, to bring about the change back to the normal state. At the cellular level, effectors include nuclear receptors that bring about changes in gene expression through up-regulation or down-regulation and act in negative feedback mechanisms. An example of this is in the control of bile acids in the liver. [4]
It seeks to understand the mechanisms that work to keep the human body alive and functioning, [4] through scientific enquiry into the nature of mechanical, physical, and biochemical functions of humans, their organs, and the cells of which they are composed. The principal level of focus of physiology is at the level of organs and systems within ...