Digestion & Absorption
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レッスンノート
Digestion: An Overview
- Digestion is the hydrolysis of large biological molecules into smaller molecules that can be absorbed across cell membranes.
- Proteins are hydrolysed into amino acids.
- Carbohydrates are hydrolysed into simple sugars.
- Lipids are hydrolysed into glycerol and fatty acids.
- The small molecules produced are used by cells to release energy via respiration and to build new molecules for growth, repair and function.
- The human digestive system is an organ system containing a series of organs that work together to digest and absorb food.
Organs of the Digestive System
- Mouth and salivary glands: teeth break food into smaller pieces; saliva is secreted; amylase begins starch digestion into maltose.
- Stomach: protease enzymes begin protein digestion; hydrochloric acid provides a suitable pH for enzymes and destroys pathogens.
- Liver: produces bile salts, which aid lipid digestion and neutralise stomach acid as it exits the stomach.
- Pancreas: produces amylase, protease and lipase, which are released into the duodenum.
- Small intestine (duodenum): acidic stomach contents are neutralised by bile and become slightly alkaline; enzymes complete chemical digestion.
- Small intestine (ileum): food and water are absorbed into the blood via villi in the lining.
Enzymes in Digestion
- Digestive enzymes are extracellular, meaning they function outside body cells.
- The three main types of digestive enzymes are carbohydrases, lipases and proteases.
- Carbohydrases include amylase, maltase and lactase.
- Amylase hydrolyses starch into the disaccharide maltose; it is made in the salivary glands, pancreas and small intestine.
- Maltase hydrolyses maltose into the monosaccharide glucose; it is a membrane-bound disaccharidase attached to the cell-surface membranes of epithelial cells lining the small intestine.
- Lipase enzymes in the lumen of the small intestine break down lipids to glycerol, monoglycerides and fatty acids.
- Bile salts emulsify lipids by binding to large lipid droplets and breaking them into smaller droplets, increasing surface area for lipase action.
- Bile is not an enzyme and does not carry out chemical breakdown of lipids.
Protein Digestion
- Protein digestion involves endopeptidases, exopeptidases and dipeptidases.
- Endopeptidases hydrolyse peptide bonds within polypeptides, creating shorter polypeptide chains.
- Exopeptidases hydrolyse peptide bonds at the ends of polypeptide chains, producing single amino acids.
- Dipeptidases are a type of exopeptidase that break down dipeptides into individual amino acids.
- Membrane-bound dipeptidases are attached to the cell-surface membrane of epithelial cells in the small intestine.
- Remember: endo = within, exo = outside.
Investigating Digestive Enzymes
- The effect of pH on amylase activity can be investigated using the iodine test.
- A strong positive iodine test (blue-black) means starch is present at high concentration, so amylase activity is absent or very low.
- A weak positive iodine test means starch is present at low concentration, so amylase activity is high.
- A negative iodine test (orange-brown) means no starch remains, so amylase has converted all starch to maltose.
- Control variables include: equal volume and concentration of enzyme solution, equal volume and concentration of substrate solution, equal volumes of buffer solution, and the same stirring method.
- The point at which iodine no longer changes colour can be subjective; a colorimeter can measure the reaction objectively.
- The effect of bile salts on lipase activity can be investigated using milk, phenolphthalein indicator and sodium carbonate solution.
- Phenolphthalein is pink in alkaline conditions and colourless in acidic conditions; as lipase breaks down lipids, fatty acids lower the pH and the pink colour disappears.
Mechanisms of Absorption: Co-transport
- Amino acids and monosaccharides are absorbed via co-transport.
- Co-transporter proteins are found in the cell-surface membranes of epithelial cells in the small intestine.
- Step 1: Sodium ions are actively transported from the epithelial cell into the blood via a sodium-potassium pump, decreasing sodium ion concentration in the epithelial cell.
- Step 2: Sodium ions move down their concentration gradient from the intestine into the epithelial cell, carrying an amino acid or glucose at the same time via the co-transporter protein (a form of facilitated diffusion).
- Step 3: The concentration of amino acids or glucose in the epithelial cell increases, and they diffuse down their concentration gradient into the blood.
- While the co-transporter protein action is passive, energy is required to create the sodium ion gradient, so co-transport is considered overall active transport.
Mechanisms of Absorption: Lipids
- The products of lipid digestion are fatty acids and monoglycerides.
- Monoglycerides and fatty acids associate with bile salts to form micelles, which transport insoluble molecules to the cell-surface membranes of epithelial cells.
- Micelles constantly break up and reform; when they break apart, their lipid-soluble contents can cross the membrane by diffusion.
- The contents of micelles are non-polar and can diffuse through the phospholipid bilayer of the cell membrane.
- Short fatty acid chains can move directly into the blood via diffusion.
- Longer fatty acid chains recombine with monoglycerides and glycerol to form triglycerides in the endoplasmic reticulum.
- Triglycerides are packaged into chylomicrons, which eventually enter the bloodstream.
Modelling Absorption with Visking Tubing
- Visking tubing (dialysis tubing) is a non-living, partially permeable membrane made from cellulose.
- Pores in the tubing prevent passage of large molecules (e.g. starch) but allow smaller molecules (e.g. glucose) to pass through by diffusion.
- Method: tie one end of tubing, fill with starch and amylase mixture, suspend in a beaker of water, and test the outside liquid at intervals for starch and glucose.
- Results show glucose is present outside the tubing while starch is absent; starch molecules are too large to pass through the pores, but amylase digests starch into glucose, which diffuses out.
- The rate of absorption/diffusion can be measured quantitatively using colorimetry to determine glucose concentration.
- The model can investigate the effect of pH (using buffer solutions) and temperature (using water baths).
Limitations of the Visking Tubing Model
- Visking tubing does not contain biological membranes or membrane features such as channel proteins.
- Active transport cannot occur across Visking tubing due to a lack of carrier proteins and energy from respiration.
- The surface area of Visking tubing is less than that of intestinal epithelium due to the absence of villi.
- The distilled water does not flow like blood, so it does not maintain the concentration gradient.
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練習問題
無料プレビュー — 59問中8問。すべて見るには登録を。
1.Which of the following is the correct definition of a gland in the context of digestion?
Medium- AA group of cells that secretes substances such as enzymes or bile
- BA muscular organ that churns food
- CA membrane that absorbs nutrients
- DA type of enzyme that breaks down food
2.Which statement correctly describes why the stomach is classified as part of the alimentary canal whereas the liver is not?
Medium- AThe stomach is a hollow tube through which food passes, while the liver is an accessory organ that secretes bile.
- BThe stomach produces enzymes, while the liver does not.
- CThe stomach absorbs nutrients, while the liver stores them.
- DThe stomach is connected to the mouth, while the liver is connected to the pancreas.
3.Which row correctly completes the table for the digestion of the named molecules?
Medium- AK = amino acids; L = lipids; M = sucrase
- BK = amino acids; L = fatty acids and glycerol; M = maltase
- CK = peptides; L = lipids; M = sucrase
- DK = amino acids; L = lipids; M = maltase
4.Which of the following are features of the environment inside the stomach that enable chemical and physical digestion? (select all that apply)
Medium- APresence of hydrochloric acid
- BPresence of protease enzymes
- CPresence of bile salts
- DMuscular contractions
- EPresence of amylase
5.In an experiment examining the rate of reaction of an amylase-catalysed reaction, what would be the final colour observed from the iodine test in a test tube containing denatured amylase?
Medium- ABlue-black
- BOrange-brown
- CBrick red
- DPurple
6.Which of the following is a suitable control variable in an experiment measuring the effect of temperature on the rate of a lipase-catalysed reaction?
Medium- AVolume and concentration of lipase solution
- BThe temperature of the water bath
- CThe time taken for the pH to change
- DThe final pH of the solution
7.Which of the following correctly describes the role of structures 0.5–1.0 mm in length present on the epithelial lining of the small intestine?
Medium- AThey increase surface area for absorption of digested food.
- BThey secrete digestive enzymes into the lumen.
- CThey produce bile salts to emulsify fats.
- DThey store faeces before egestion.
8.Which of the following is a property of Visking tubing that makes it a good choice for experiments that model the action of enzymes in the gut?
Medium- AIt is partially permeable, allowing small molecules to pass through but not large ones.
- BIt contains carrier proteins for active transport.
- CIt has villi to increase surface area.
- DIt contains biological membranes that mimic epithelial cells.