CELL

3 components of the body:

1. Cell
- each cell is a discrete entity bound by a membrane that
“isolates” it from it environment
2. Intercellular or extracellular substances
- materials that lie between cells to support and nourish them
3. Body fluids
-including:
• Blood
- confined within the vascular system
• tissue or intercellular fluid
- between and around cells
• lymph
- drain tissue fluid back to the
venous system
 Human Histology (Microscopic Anatomy)
Histology: Microanatomy:

The science concerned with the minute structure of cells, tissues and organs in relation to their function.
 CELL STRUCTURE
Definition:
• The cell is the smallest unit of protoplasm capable
of living independently. It is the structural and
functional unit of the body.
 2 types of cells:
1. PROKARYOTIC
• found in primitive cells such as bacteria
• metabolic and hereditary components are mixed
• have no histones (specific basic proteins) bound to
their DNA
• no membranous organelles

2. EUKARYOTIC
• in all higher plants and animals
• bulk or hereditary material is isolated in a membrane-
bound nucleus lying in the remainder of the cell or
cytoplasm
 COMPONENTS OF PROTOPLASM
1. PROTEIN
- main structural elements of the cell and the intercellular
material
- exist as: pure lipoprotein, glycoprotein, proteoglycan, or
mucoprotein
ex. Secretory products such as enzymes, some hormones.

2. NUCLEIC ACIDS
DNA – found mainly in the nucleus
RNA – nucleus and cytoplasm
3. CARBOHYDRATES
- as glucose, stored as glycogen
4. LIPID
- also an energy source
- important component of cellular membrane
5. INORGANIC MATERIALS
- exists as:
➢ free radicals
➢sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), magnesium (Mg2+),
calcium (Ca2+), phosphate (HPO42-), chloride (Cl-), and
bicarbonate (HCO3-)

INVOLVED IN ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

a) maintenance of osmotic pressure gradients
b) muscle contraction/relaxation
c) tissue rigidity (e.g. bone)
d) cell adhesion
e) enzyme activation
6 .Water
-75% of protoplasm
-partly free: available for metabolic processes
-partly bound to protein: as a structural component
 PROPERTIES OF PROTOPLASM

Irritability
Conductivity
Contractility
Respiration
Absorption
Secretion
Excretion
Growth
1. Irritability – capability to respond to a stimulus

2. Conductivity – can transmit a wave of excitation (an electrical

impulse) throughout the cell from the point of stimulus
- highly developed in nerve cells lesser extent, in muscle cells

3. Contractility – property of changing shape in the sense of

shortening
- ex. Muscle cells

4. Respiration – essential for life. Process whereby food

substances and oxygen within the cell interact chemically to
produce energy, carbon dioxide and water
5. Absorption – imbibition of materials that later may be
assimilated by the cell in metabolism or otherwise utilized

6. Secretion – process by which cell extrudes material (useful)

- such as digestive enzyme or a hormone

7.Excretion – extrusion of waste material from the cell

8. Growth – increase in size

 Components of the cell
CYTOPLASM
CYTOPLASM
3 main structural components NUCLEUS
• organelles
• inclusions
• Cytoskeleton

Fluid component: cytosol

- exhibits functional interactions among organelles
Result in:
a) uptake and release of material
b) protein synthesis
c) intracellular digestion
ORGANELLES INCLUSIONS
• Plasma membrane • Glycogen
• Ribosomes • Lipid droplets
• Rough endoplasmic reticulum • Lipofuscin
• Smooth endoplasmic reticulum
• Annulate lamellae CYTOSKELETON
• Mitochondria • Microtubules
• Golgi complex (apparatus) • Microfilaments
• Coated vesicles • Intermediate filaments
• Lysosomes • Microtrabecular lattice
• Peroxisomes
• Centrioles
ORGANELLES
- metabolically active units of living matter
- limited by a membrane

1. PLASMA MEMBRANE/ cell membrane/ plasmalemma

- 7.5 nm thick
- composed of a lipid bilayer and associated proteins
- envelopes the cell
- aids in maintaining its structural and functional integrity
- functions as a semi-permeable membrane between the cytoplasm
and the external environment
- sensory device
- recognize other cells and macromolecules
- composed of an inner leaflet (facing the cytoplasm) and an
outer leaflet (facing the extracellular environment
- exhibits a trilaminar structure (called the unit membrane)
- performs special processes like: phagocytosis, pinocytosis,
exocytosis

Lipid bilayer
- composed of phospholipids, glycolipids and cholesterol
2. RIBOSOMES/ Palade granules
- 12 nm wide and 25 nm long
- consist of a small and large subunit composed of several types
of RNA
- may be:
• free in the cytosol
• bound to membranes of the
*rough endoplasmic reticulum
*outer nuclear membrane
• actual sites of protein synthesis
• responsible for the basophilic staining of the cytoplasm
3. ROUGH ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM (RER)
- site where non-cytosolic proteins are synthesized
• Secretory
• Plasma membrane
• Lysosomal
- provide an area of storage and transport of proteins
4. SMOOTH ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM/Agranular
endoplasmic reticulum
- irregular network of membrane bounded channels that lack
ribosomes on its surface appearing smooth
- appears as branching anastomosing tubules or vesicles
membranes
- less common than RER
- predominates in cells synthesizing steroids, triglycerides and
cholesterol
- serves different functions in different cell types:
• steroid hormones and lipid synthesis
• drug detoxification (liver)
• muscle contraction and relaxation
5. ANNULATE LAMELLAE

- parallel stacks of membranes (6-10) located near the

nucleus
- resemble the nuclear envelope, including its pore
complexes
- are continuous with the RER
- are found in rapidly growing cells (germ cells, embroyonic
cells, tumor cells)
- function is not fully known
6. MITOCHONDRIA
- rod-shaped organelles [0.2 µm (W) – 7 µm (L)] double layered sac
- possess an outer smooth membrane and an inner membrane, which
invaginates to form cristae
- important in energy metabolism
- as major source of adenosine triphosphate (ATP)
- site of many metabolic reaction
- subdivided into an intermembrane
compartment and an inner matrix compartment
- contain granules within the matrix that bind the
divalent cations Mg+2 and Ca+2
- contain all of the enzymes of the krebs (TCA)
cycle
7. GOLGI COMPLEX (apparatus)
- consists of disk-shaped cisternae (saccules) arranged in a stack
- pale area near the nucleus
2 major functions:
1. processing of non-cytosolic proteins synthesized in the RER
2. membrane retrieval, recycling and redistribution(renewal of
cell membrane)
8. COATED VESICLES

- characterized by a visible cytoplasmic surface coat

2 varieties:
• clathrin-coated vesicles
• clathrin
3 large and 3 small polypeptide chains that form a triskelion (3
legged structure)
• formed during endocytosis
• associated with signal-directed transport
• non-clathrin-coated vesicles
• involved in the transport of proteins
• from RER to golgi,
• one golgi cisterna to another
• golgi complex to plasma membrane
• associated with constitutive protein transport
8. COATED VESICLES
9. LYSOSOMES
- dark staining body containing hydrolytic enzymes
- essential for intracellular digestion
Types of lysosomes:
a. Multivesicular bodies/endosomes
b. Phagolysosomes/phagosomes + lysosomes
c. Auto-phagolysosomes
d. Residual bodies
10. PEROXISOMES
- also known as microbodies
- membrane-bound, ovoid
- has oxidative enzyme for the breakdown of hydrogen
peroxide and alcohol

11. CENTRIOLES
- pair of cylindrical rods (0.2 µm wide and 0.5 µm long)
oriented at right angles to one another
- located in the centrosome (cell center)
- direct the formation of spindle fiber during cell division
forms the bases of cilia and flagella (mother centriole)
INCLUSIONS

- glycogen, lipid droplets, lipofuscin

- lifeless accumulations of material
- not metabolically active
- temporarily present
CYTOSKELETON
- microtubules, microfilaments, intermediate filaments,
microtrabecular lattice
- structural framework within the cytosol

functions in:
• maintaining cell shape by providing cellular support
• stabilizing cell attachments
• facilitating endocytosis and exocytosis
• promoting cell motility
NUCLEUS
Includes:
Nuclear envelope Nucleoplasm
Nucleolus Chromatin
- control various activities of the cell essential for reproduction and
heredity transmission
- contains genetic apparatus encoded in the deoxyribonucleic acid
(DNA) of chromosomes
- directs protein synthesis in the cytoplasm via:
ribosomal RNA (rRNA)
messenger RNA (mRNA)
transfer RNA (tRNA)
NUCLEAR ENVELOPE
- surrounds the nuclear material
- consists of two parallel membranes separated from each
other by a narrow perinuclear cisterna
- perforated at intervals by openings called nuclear pores

NUCLEOLUS
- well-defined nuclear inclusion (sometimes > one)
- eccentrically placed within the nucleus
- not membrane-bound
- present in cells actively synthesizing protein
- generally detectable only when cell is in interphase
- involve in synthesis of rRNA and its assembly into precursors
of ribosomes
NUCLEOPLASM
- portion of the protoplasm that is surrounded by the nuclear
envelope
- consists of a matrix and various types of particles

CHROMATIN
- double-stranded DNA complexed with histones and acidic
proteins
- responsible for RNA synthesis
2 forms: heterochromatin and euchromatin

1. HETEROCHROMATIN
- light microscope: basophilic clumps of nucleoprotein
- electron microscope: dense granular clumps
- concentrated at periphery of nucleus, around the nucleolus and
scattered throughout the nucleoplasm
- transcriptionally inactive

2. EUCHROMATIN
- light microscope: lightly stained dispersed region of the nucleus
- electron microscope: electron-lucent regions among
heterochromatin
- transcriptionally active
 CELL CYCLE
2 major periods:
1. Interphase – interval
2. Mitosis (M phase) – period of cell division

1. Interphase
- longer than M phase
- cell doubles in size and DNA content
- 3 separate phases: G1, S and G2
G1 phase
- the gap phase just after mitosis
- when certain “trigger proteins” are
synthesized enabling the cell to reach a
threshold (restriction point) and proceed to the
S phase
- lasts from a few hours to several days
- cell growth and protein synthesis occur,
restoring daughter cells to normal volume and
size
S phase
- synthetic phase
- DNA replication and protein synthesis occur
- resulting in duplication of the chromosomes
- period when centrioles are self-duplicated
- lasts 8-12 hours in most cells
G2 phase
- gap phase
- follows the S phase and extends to mitosis
- lasts 2-4 hours
- when:
• cell prepares to divide
• centrioles grow to maturity
• energy required for the completion of mitosis is stored
• RNA and proteins necessary for mitosis are
synthesized
2. Mitosis
- follows the G2 phase
- completes the cell cycle
- involves: Karyokinesis – division of the nucleus
Cytokinesis – division of the cytoplasm resulting
in the production of two identical daughter cell
-last 1-3 hours
- 4 major stages:
• prophase
• metaphase
• anaphase
• telophase
1. Prophase
- chromosomes condensed and become rod-like
- centrioles are forming asters
- nucleus and nuclear envelope disappear
2. Metaphase
- condensed chromosomes are aligned at the
equatorial plate of the mitotic spindle
3. Anaphase
- chromatids separate at the centromere
- daughter chromosomes move to opposite poles of the
cell
- elongation of the spindle
- formation of a cleavage furrow
- due to contraction of a band of actin filaments called
the contractile ring
4. Telophase
- deepening of the cleavage furrow which leaves the
midbody (containing overlapping polar microtubules) b/w
daughter cells
- facilitating the completion of cytokinesis and formation
of 2 identical daughter cells
- reformation of the nuclear envelope
- reappearance of nucleoli
- completed when daughter cells enlarged and dense
chromosomes disperse in interphase
MEIOSIS
- special form of cell division
- sex cells divide this type
- chromosome number is reduced from diploid (2n) to haploid
(n)
- occurs in developing germ cells (spermatozoa and
oocytes), fertilization results in diploid zygotes
Involves:
• doubling of DNA content in S phase
• affected by 2 successive cell divisions that give rise to 4
haploid cells
- accompanied by recombination of maternal and paternal
genes by crossing over and random assortment
2 stages:
A. Reductional division (meiosis I)
1. Prophase I
a) Leptotene d) Diplotene
b) Zygotene e) Diakinesis
c) Pachytene
2. Metaphase I
3. Anaphase I
4. Telophase I

B. Equatorial division (meiosis II)

- begins soon after completion of meiosis I
- events similar to meiosis
A. Reductional division (meiosis I)
- occurs following interphase during which 46 chromosomes are
duplicated giving the cell a 4CDNA content (total DNA content of
the cell)

1. Prophase I
5 stages:
a) Leptotene
- chromatin condenses into visible chromosomes
- each contains 2 chromatids joined at the centromere

b) Zygotene
- homologous maternal and paternal chromosomes pair and
make physical contact (synapsis) via the synaptonemal
complex, forming a tetrad
c) Pachytene
- chiasmata are formed
- crossing over occurs
- random exchange of geners b/w segments of homologous
chromosomes
- increasing genetic diversity

d) Diplotene
- chromosomes continue to condense
- chiasmata can be observed
- indicating sites where crossing over has taken place
 e) Diakinesis
- nucleolus disappears
- chromosomes are condensed maximally
- nuclear envelope disappears

2. Metaphase I
3. Anaphase I
4. Telophase I

B. Equatorial division (meiosis II)

- begins soon after completion of meiosis I, following a brief
interphase without DNA replication
- separation of sister chromatids and distribution into 4 daughter
cells each containing
 CELL MEMBRANE

NUCLEUS

CYTOPLASM

NUCLEAR
MEMBRANE

CHROMATIN

NUCLEOLUS
END.