CELL- Basic Unit of Life

Part-1

Mrs. Quratulain
MPhil (Physiology)
Topics To be Covered

• Cell as the living units of the body

• Physical Structure of the Cell
• Functional system of the Cell
• Process of cell division i.e mitosis
• Causes of uncontrol cell division
Objectives

• By the end of lesson students will be able to:

• Apprehend organization and composition of a living cell
• Understand basic physical arrangement of cell membrane and
enclosed cellular structures
• Discuss basic functions of different cell organelles
• Understand physiological process underlying regulatory cellular
functions
• Discuss different phases of cell division and its importance
• Develop understanding about cancer and it’s causes
Cell- The Life Begins
100 trillion cells

• Surrounded by Interstitial Fluid- appropriate nutrients

• building blocks of the body

• ingest nutrients and convert them to energy

• contain the body’s hereditary code

• make copies of themselves

ORGANIZATION OF THE CELL
Protoplasm
Chemical composition

nucleus cytoplasm
water, electrolytes, proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates.
Composition Of The Cell
• Ions
• Water: 70% to 85%
• Potassium
• Dissolve all cellular
• Magnesium
components
• Phosphate
• suspended solid particulates
• Sulfate
• Site for cellular chemical
• Bicarbonate
reactions
• smaller quantities of sodium
• chloride and
• calcium
• regulate cellular reactions
• eg., required for transmission of electrochemical
impulses in nerve and muscle fibers.
Composition Of The Cell cont………
Proteins
• most abundant after water (10 to %of the cell mass)
two types:
• structural proteins (long filaments forming cytoskeleton- cilia, nerve axons, the mitotic
spindles)
• functional proteins (enzymes -catalyze intracellular chemical reactions.

Lipids
• Phospholipids and cholesterol- form the cell membrane and intracellular membrane
barriers that separate the different cell compartments
• Triglycerides (neutral fat)- storehouse of energy-giving nutrients
Composition Of The Cell cont…….
Carbohydrates
• provide nutrition
• dissolved glucose is always present in the surrounding extracellular fluid
• a small amount of carbohydrate is stored in the cells in the form of glycogen- an insoluble polymer of
glucose that can be depolymerized and used rapidly to supply the cells’ energy needs
Physical Structure of Cell membrane
Cell have highly organized intracellular organelles.

Most organelles- covered by membranes composed of

lipids and proteins
• Lipids- provide a barrier: blocks movement of water
and water-soluble substances across cell
compartment

Protein molecules: penetrate all the way through the

membrane
• providing specialized pathways (pores in membrane)
Physical Structure of Cell membrane cont.……

Cell Membrane
• Thin
• Flexible
• elastic
• Composed of proteins and lipids
• basic structure- lipid bilayer, each layer only one molecule thick
• three main types of lipids: phospholipids, sphingolipids, and cholesterol
Physical Structure of Cell membrane cont.……

Phospholipids- most abundant

phosphate end- hydrophilic
fatty acid end- hydrophobic :
impermeable to the usual water-soluble substances,
such as ions, glucose, and urea
permeable to fat-soluble substances, such as oxygen,
carbon dioxide, and alcohol
Physical Structure of Cell membrane cont.……
Sphingolipids- mostly present in nerve cells
• Protect cell from harmful environmental factors
• signal transmission and
• provide adhesion sites for extracellular proteins

cholesterol molecules
• dissolved in the bilayer of membrane
• determine the degree of permeability
• Determine fluidity of the membrane
Physical Structure of Cell membrane cont.……
Cell Membrane Proteins.
Integral proteins- most abundant- protrude through cell
membrane
Provide:
• structural channels (or pores) through which water
molecules and water soluble substances, especially ions, can
diffuse between the extracellular and intracellular fluids
• act as carrier proteins for transporting substances that could
not penetrate lipid bilayer
• Perform active transport
• serve as receptors for hormones

Peripheral proteins- attached only to one surface of the

membrane (mostly with integral protein)and do not penetrate
all the way through.
• act as enzyme
Physical Structure of Cell membrane cont.……
Membrane Carbohydrates—The Cell “Glycocalyx.”
occur in the form of glycoproteins or glycolipids.
The “glyco” portions protrude outward from the cell surface - loosely attached to the outer surface of the cell
Function:
• gives negative surface charge to cell help attach cells to one another
• hormones binding receptor e.g., insulin internal proteins intracellular enzyme cascade
• stimulates immune reactions