Lecture Notes in Basic Cell Biology

History of Cell Biology and Structure and Function of Cells

History of Cell Biology (Cytology)
1665 Robert Hooke –an English physicist and amateur biologist who discovered tiny compartments like
empty rooms from thin slices of cork tissue which he called cella “ cells”. He also
called the dead thickened linings of cork cells as “cell walls”.
1774 Felice Fontana , an Italian physicist and physiologist who discovered “nucleolus” in Eel cells.
1808-Charles Francois Breisseau de Mirbel(French botanist and politician)Founder of the science of
Plant Cytology.He concluded that plants are formed by membraneous cellular
tissue.
1809-Jean Baptiste de Lamarck(French invertebrate zoologist and evolutionist)stated that any living
body must have its parts of cellular tissue or formed by such tissue
1831 Robert Brown , a Scottish botanist who discovered the cell nucleus in orchid leaf cells.In 1839 he
also discovered the structure surrounding the nucleus which he called “cytoplasm.”
He described that the nucleus is the central feature of cells.
1838 Matthias Jacob Schleiden, a German botanist discovered “cells in plants”, and cell theory
proponent
1838 Theodore Schwann , a German zoologist discovered “cells in animals” and cell theory proponent
1840 Jan Evangelista Purkinje(Czech anatomist and physiologist)-gave the name of cell contents as
protoplasm,the living substance of the cell
1855 Rudolf Virchow , a German physician (Pathologist),contributed a premise on the cell theory as
recorded in his book “Cellular Pathologie” which stated that all cells arise from
pre-existing cells “Omnis cellulae e cellula”.
1855-Carl Naegeli and Carl Edward Cramer (Swiss botanists) discovered the “Cell Membrane” 200 years
after the discovery and invention of microscopes wherein no one noticed that cell
membrane existed in which they saw only cell walls.
1856 Andreas Franz Wilhelm Schimper ,a German botanist and phytogeographer was first to
observe “chloroplast” that closely resemble cyanobacteria. Its origin was suggested
by a Russian biologist Konstantin Mereschkowski.
1857 Albert von Kolliker (Swish anatomist and physiologist)discovered mitochondria as powerhouses of
the cell,which in 1886 was called as “bioblasts”(life’s germs) by Richard Altman
1883 Edouard van Beneden discovered “centrioles” and later in 1888 was named by Theodore Boveri
as “centrosome”
1897 Claude Garnier , a French cytologist who discovered Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER)which earlier he
named “ergastoplasm”.
1903 Nikolai K. Kolstov,(Russian biologist and pioneer in modern genetics)proposed that the shape of
the cell was determined by a network of tubules that he termed cytoskeleton,the
microscopic network of actin filaments, intermediate filaments and microtubule
and considered the structural framework of the cell.
1945 Keith R. Porter, Albert Claude and Ernest F. Fullan were first to observe the Endoplasmic
Reticulum(ER)in the light microscope.
1955 Christian de Duve discovered the organelles lysosomes and peroxisome through centrifugation. In
which in 1954 the latter was described by a Swedish doctoral student Johan Rhodin.
1955 George Emil Palade, a Romanian cell biologist similarly in that year discovered “ribosomes” as
small particles in the cytoplasm that preferentially associated with endoplasmic
reticulum which are important in the synthesis of proteins.
1964 John Bertran Gurdon, an English developmental biologist discovered “nucleolus” in the African
 clawed frog (Xenopus laevis) egg cells.

ULTRASTRUCTURES OF THE CELL

Membrane Bounded and Non-Membrane Bounded Organelles

The cell is made up of the following parts:

A. Cell Membrane
1. Microvilli
2. Vesicles
3. Junctional complexes
4. Glycocalyx

B. Cell Body or cytosome

1. Nucleus
a. Nuclear mebrane
b. Nucleolus
c. Cchromatin

2. Cytoplasm
a. Endoplasmic reticulum
b. Ribosome
c. Golgi Apparatus
d. Lysosome
e. Metochondria
f. Microtubules
g. Inclusions

CELL MEMBRANE (Plasma Membrane/Plasmalemma/Cell Envelop)

The cell membrane is the delimiting membrane of the cell. It is principally composed of
lipids and protein together with oligosacccharide side chains.

Functions :
1. Protection
2. Regulates exchange of material between the cell and the surrounding media
3. Permits to cell to cell adhesion
4. Permits intercellular communications
5. For molecular recognition
These functions are correlated with the following structures:
1. Microvilli – finger-like projection or evagination which increases the area of membrane
absorption.

2. Vesicles – invagination which makes possible the entrance of large molecules.

3. Junctional complexes – differentiation of the mebrane in the form of tight junctions,

intermediary junction, gap junction and desmosomes for cell adhesion and
communication.

4. Glycocalyx (Cell coat) – side chain of glycoprotein for molecular recognition.

All parts inside the membrane constitute the cell body or cytosome.

NUCLEUS (KARYON)
This is the spherical or oval body generally found at the center of the cell. It contains a
number of organelles suspended in a liquid matrix called the karyoplasms or nuclear sap, and
considered to be the Cell’s control center for all metabolic activities.

PARTS:
1. Nuclear membrane (Nucleolemma/Karyolemma) – a double-walled membrane
regulating the exchange of materials between the nucleus and cytoplasm.

2. Nucleolus (Karyosome)– one or more spherical bodies rich in RNA for protein synthesis.

3. Chromatin – long thread-like or granular structures rich in DNA for heredity

4. Nuclear Cytoplasm (Nucleoplasm/Karyoplasm) – the protoplasm of the nucleus which is

complexly composed of nuclear matrix that fills the space between the chromatin and
nucleolus.

CYTOPLASM (CYTOMATRIX)
The cytoplasm is the part of the cell between the nucleus and the cell membrane. It
contains a number of organelles suspended in liquid matrix called hyaloplasm. It is composed
of membrane-bounded (MBO’s and non-membrane bounded organelles (NMBO’s) namely:

A. Membrane Bounded Cytoplasmic Organelles

1. Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER)

 a complex system of minute canals extending from form the uclear membrane to the
cytoplasm or from nuclear membrane to the cell membrane for transport of materials.
It is subdivided into Rough ER wherein the outer wall with attached ribosomes and
Smooth ER without attached ribosomes. Rough ER is the site of protein synthesis and is
 concerned with the transport of proteins and lipids within the cell. Smooth ER is the
site of important metabolic reactions including phospolipids, fatty acid and steroid
synthesis.

2. Golgi Apparatus (Golgi Bodies/Dictyosomes)

 a system of flat sacs, cisternae, vesicles and vacuoles on one side of the nuclear
membrane for the synthesis of cellular products like enzymes, secretions, hormones
and modification of these products for packaging. It completes post-translational
modifications, packages and places an address on products of cell metabolism.

3. Lysosomes (Digestive Vacuoles/Cell Fragments Scavenger)

 are or referred as “bags of enzymes”, or “scavengers” of the cells “suicide bags”
containing hydrolytic or digistive enzymes for cell digestions. It is the recycling
machinery of the cell necessary for breaking down unwanted substances.
 Sites of intracellular digestion and turn over of cellular components.

4. Mitochondria
 are oval to elongated bodies commonly termed the “powerhouse” of the cell
essential for cellular respiration. It synthesize ATP through Kreb’s Cycle and electron
transport chain which is an important energy fuel for cell metabolism.

5. Peroxisomes (Microbodies) – are spherical membrane-limited organelles that contain

enzymes involed in lipid metabolism. It contains peroxidases (catadose and urate oxidase)
that oxidizes their substrates to O 2 and H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide). They are active in
detoxification particularly in liver cells and associated with the production and
degredation of peroxides.
5.1 Glyoxisomes - are special types of plant peroximes which are found in
germinating seeds and active in undergoing glyoxylate cycle- a modification
of Kreb’s Cycle.
6. Cytoskeleton – a network of fibers composing of microtubules, intermediate filaments
and actin microfilaments serving as the structural supporting framework of the cell.

7. Ribosomes
 small, granular structures free in hyaloplasm or attached temporarily to the outer
membrane of the ER (rough ER) for protein synthesis.

8. Microtubules
 are system of tubules associated with cell division (centrioles and spindle fibers) and
movement (cilia and flagella). It is composed spirally arranged protein units called
“tubulin dimers”, (complex of alpha and beta tubulins).
9. Cell Inclusions-are non living parts of the cell in the form of granules or globules of
proteins,
fats, crystals, and pigments in plants

B. None-Membrane Bounded Cytoplasmic Organelles

1. Basal Bodies (Kinetosomes)-are cellular oragnelles that enduce the formation of cilia and
flagella and similar to and sometimes derived from centriole. It is composed of nine sets
of microtubules, each set arranged in triplets embedded in a dense granular matrix.

2. Centrioles – are hollow cylindrical structures normally one or a pair lying at right angles to
one another adjacent to the nuclear envelope in animal cells and composed of nine sets
of microtubules, each set arranged in triplets (9 to axoneme). They are organizes of
microtubular structures in the region containing the pairs called “centrosome” or MTOC
(Microtubule Organizing Center) and serve as poles of the spindle apparatus during
mitotic and meiotic cell divisions.

3. Cilia – are short hairlike appendages composing of nine microtubules doublets forming a
cylinder circulference surrounding two central singlets (9+2 axoneme). Usually found in
ciliate protozoans and in pseudostratified ciliated epithelial tissues of vertebrate trachea
and epididymides). They said in locomotion in paramecia and driving of substances inside
the digestive and reproductive tubes.

4. Flagella – are threadlike organelles found in bacteria and eukaryotic cells composing of
microtubules with similar arrangement with that of cilia (9 + 2 axoneme). They aid in
locomotion wherein bacterial flagella rotates while eukaryotic flagella undulates.

5. Ribosomes-small non-membrane bounded organelle composed of ribonucleoproteins

which are either scattered in the cytoplasm or attached on the outer membrane of
endoplasmic reticulum necessary for protein synthesis. They link amino acid together

6. Cell Inclusions-several non-living substances not bounded by membranes which are

composed of stored nutrients and secretory products such as fat globules, crystals and
pigment granules.

7. Microfilaments-are double stranded molecule of polymerized fibrous actin(F-actin) and

globular actin(G-actin) and tubulin forming intracellular meshwork making up the
cytoskeleton and function in translocation of intracellular vesicles and coordinated
contraction of muscle tissues.
8. Intermediate filaments-composed of variety of proteins expressed in different types of
cells which compose the cytoskeleton such as desmin, vimentin, keratin. They bear
tension maintaining the shape of the cell.