antidiuretic hormone

DEFINITION:

See vasopressin.

ADH

DEFINITION:

Alcohol dehydrogenase; antidiuretic hormone; see vasopressin.

osmotic water permeability

DEFINITION:

The ability to channel water across a membrane in response to a concentration gradient.

urinary bladder

DEFINITION:

Vesica urinaria . The musculomembranous sac, situated in the anterior part of the pelvic cavity, that serves as a reservoir for urine; it receives the excretory products of the kidneys through the ureters, and expels them through the urethra.

fusion

DEFINITION:

1. The act, process, or result of melting.

2. The merging or coherence of adjacent parts or bodies.

3. The coordination of the separate images of the same object in the two eyes into one.

4. The operative formation of an ankylosis or arthrodesis.

intracellular vesicles

DEFINITION:

Vesicles within a cell.

granular

DEFINITION:

Made up of or marked by the presence of granules or grains.

cell

DEFINITION:

1. Any one of the minute protoplasmic masses that make up organized tissue, consisting of a nucleus which is surrounded by cytoplasm which contains the various organelles and is enclosed in the cell or plasma membrane. A cell is the fundamental, structural, and functional unit of living organisms.

2. A small, more or less closed space.

neuroglial cells - The cells of the supportive tissue of the central nervous system (neuroglia); these non-neural cells are of three kinds: astrocytes, oligodendrocytes (collectively termed macroglia) and microglia.

reticular cells - The cells forming the reticular fibers of connective tissue; those forming the framework of lymph nodes, bone marrow, and spleen are part of the reticuloendothelial system and under appropriate stimulation may differentiate into macrophages.

stem cell - 1. Any precursor cell.

2. A blood cell progenitor, or mother cell, having the capacity for both replication and differentiation, and giving rise to various morphologically recognizable precursors of different blood cell lines, such as the proerythrocyte and myeloblast, which cannot self-replicate and must differentiate into more mature daughter cells.

apical plasma membrane

DEFINITION:

Indicating the apex of the plasma membrane.

water channels

DEFINITION:

Channels in a cell membrane that permit passage of water molecules; chemical substances such as vasopressin cause the opening of new channels and increase permeability.

ADH

DEFINITION:

Alcohol dehydrogenase; antidiuretic hormone; see vasopressin.

ADH

DEFINITION:

Alcohol dehydrogenase; antidiuretic hormone; see vasopressin.

osmotic

DEFINITION:

Of, relating to, or having the properties of osmosis.

quantitative

DEFINITION:

1. Denoting or expressing a quantity.
2. Relating to the proportionate quantities or to the amount of the constituents of a compound.

endocytosis

DEFINITION:

The uptake by a cell of material from the environment by invagination (infolding) of its plasma membrane; it includes both phagocytosis and pinocytosis.

apical membrane

DEFINITION:

See under membrane.

apical membrane

DEFINITION:

See under membrane.

incubation

DEFINITION:

1. The development of the embryo in the eggs of oviparous animals.

2. The maintenance of an environment with controlled temperature, humidity, and oxygen for the development of an infant, especially of a premature one.

3. The development of an infectious disease from the entrance of the pathogen to the appearance of clinical symptoms.

4. The development of microorganisms or other cells in an appropriate medium under controlled environmental conditions, especially of temperature, to permit optimum growth.

5. The process of maintaining reaction mixtures at a given temperature for specified time periods for the development of chemical or enzymatic reactions.

apical membrane

DEFINITION:

See under membrane.

phenomenon

DEFINITION:

Any sign or objective symptom; any observable occurrence or fact.

permission

DEFINITION:

Formal consent; authorization.