How is the liver adapted to regulating blood component concentrations?

Sinusoids are chambers within the liver where deoxygenated blood from the gut (containing products of digestion) and oxygenated blood from the heart, mix. Sinusoids are lined with liver cells (hepatocytes) which are able to remove, or return substances into the blood. This allows the concentrations of the components of the blood to be regulated, an example of this is Kupffer cells- these are macrophages that break down and recycle old blood vessels. Furthermore, the hepatocytes themselves are able to add or remove substances where necessary, due to their specialised structure. Hepatocytes are cuboidal to increase surface area of contact to the blood, they also contain many organelles that are necessary for synthesis/degradation of substances in the blood, which include ribosomes (for protein synthesis) and lysosomes (for protein degradation).

Answered by Sana Z. Biology tutor

3126 Views

See similar Biology A Level tutors

Related Biology A Level answers

All answers ▸

How is the content of Biology A-level examined in the 3 papers sat in June of A2?


Describe the secondary structure of a protein.


Describe how an atheroma may lead to a myocardial infarction.


Why is ATP used as an energy store in cells?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact usWhatsapp logoMessage us on Whatsapptelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo
Cookie Preferences