The Cell

Structure and Function

a
 History of Cells
 Zaccharias Janssen and son Hans Janssen
1590
 Robert Hooke was the 1st to view cells. Piece of
cork 1665
 1674 – Anton van Leeuwenhoek built a simple
microscope with only one lens to examine
blood, yeast, insects and bacteria.
 Electron scope 1931, STM 1981
 Isolating Organelles by Cell
Fractionation
 Cell fractionation
 isolate
(fractionate) cell components, based on size
and density.
 Blend and centrifuge cells at various speeds
 Homogenization
Tissue
cells
1000 g Homogenate
(1000 times the
force of gravity)
10 min Differential centrifugation
Supernatant poured
into next tube

20,000 g
20 min

80,000 g
Pellet rich in 60 min
nuclei and
cellular debris 150,000 g
3 hr
mitochondria
(and chloro-
plasts if cells
are from a (pieces of
plant) plasma mem-
branes and
Pellet rich in
cells’ internal
ribosomes
membranes)
Cell Theory
 All living things are composed of cells
 They are the smallest units of life
 Cells come only from pre-existing cells
 A view of the Cell
 Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells
 All cells have: plasma membrane, cytosol,
DNA, ribosomes.
 Cell Size:
 Mostbacteria are 1-10 microns in diameter.
 Eukaryotic cells are typically 10-100 microns in
diameter.
Animal Cell
Plant Cell
 Bacterial or Prokaryotic Cell
Pili: attachment structures on
the surface of some prokaryotes
Nucleoid: region where the
cell’s DNA is located (not
enclosed by a membrane)
Ribosomes: organelles that
synthesize proteins
Plasma membrane: membrane
enclosing the cytoplasm
Cell wall: rigid structure outside
the plasma membrane
Capsule: jelly-like outer coating
Bacterial of many prokaryotes
chromosome 0.5 µm

(a) A typical Flagella: locomotion (b) A thin section through the

bacterium
rod-shaped bacterium organelles of
Bacillus coagulans
some bacteria (TEM)
Why are Cells Small?
 Plasma Membrane
 Made of a phospholipid bilayer, with polar
head on the lipid and non-polar tails
 heads hydrophilic and tail hydrophobic
 functions as a selective barrier
 Fluid in nature with a mosaic proteins and
carbs embedded in it.
Plasma Membrane PIC.
 The Nucleus
 Contains DNA
 mRNA and Ribosomes made here
 about 5 microns in diameter
 double membrane 7-8 nm with 20-40nm
perinuclear space in between.
 3000-4000 pores in the nuclear membrane
120nm wide mass of 120 million daltons.
 nucleolus which makes ribosomal RNA (rRNA)
 Continuous with ER
 The Ribosome
 Contain rRNA and protein.
 Made of 2 subunits Total size 30nm
 Large made of 45 proteins
 Small made of 33 proteins

 Number varies depending on cell 350,000+ and

up to the millions.
 free ribosomes and bound ribosomes
 Function as a building site for proteins.
Ribosome Pic.
The Endoplasmic reticulum (ER)
 Continuous with the nucleus
 Cisternae (flattened sacs)
 Smooth and Rough ER.
 Enzymes of smooth ER synthesize lipids,
including oils, phospholipids, and steroids
 The rough ER mainly packages proteins made
on its ribosomes for into or across the
memebrane
 Golgi Conmplex

 Discovered by Camillo Golgi

 Process and package secretory proteins and
produces complex polysaccharides .
 consists of flattened membranous sacs
 Involved in lysosome and peroxisome
production
Golgi
 Lysosome
 sac of hydrolytic enzymes (hydrolases)
 digests macromolecules, can fuse to incoming
food vacuoles or other organelles
 can break down proteins, fats, polysaccharides,
and nucleic acids.
 lysosomes can destroy a cell.
 lysosomal enzymes and membrane are
synthesized by rough ER and then transferred
to the Golgi.
 lysosomes play a critical role in the apoptosis
Pic. Of Lysosomes
 Peroxisomes

 Make and break peroxide (H2O2), a poison, but

the peroxisome has another enzyme (catalase)
that converts H2O2 to water
 break fatty acids down to smaller molecules
that are transported to mitochondria for fuel
 detoxify alcohol and other harmful compounds
Vacuoles

 Food vacuoles

 Contractile vacuoles

 Central vacuoles
 Mitochondria

 Mitochondria are the sites of cellular respiration

 1um wide 3-5 long. Same as most bacteria?
 Hundreds in a typical cell
 Almost all eukaryotic cells have mitochondria
 quite dynamic: moving, changing shape, and dividing.
 Double membrane
 Endosymbiotic Theory- Contain own DNA (circular),
mRNA, tRNA, and ribosomes (similar to prokaryotic
cells). Purple Bacteria and Cyanobacteria for plants
 Are semiautonomous!
Mitochondria
 Chloroplast

 Chloroplasts, found in plants and eukaryotic

algae,
 site of photosynthesis
 Chloroplasts get their color from high levels of
the green pigment chlorophyll
 Endosymbiotic as well!
 Cytoskeleton

 network of fibers extending throughout the cytoplasm

in 3 dimensions
 organizes the structures and activities of the cell.
 provides support and maintains shape of the cell.
 Is dynamic, dismantling in one part and reassembling
in another to change cell shape
 plays a major role in cell motility.
 three main types of fibers in the cytoskeleton:
microtubules, microfilaments, and intermediate
filaments.
 Cilia and Flagella

 move unicellular and small multicellular organisms by

propelling water past the organism
 cilia sweep mucus carrying trapped debris from the
lungs.
 Flagella and cilia are about the same width but flagella
are much longer.
 flagellum has an undulatory movement
 Cilia move more like oars
Cilia and Flagella
 Cell Junctions

 Plant cells have plasmodesmata

 Animal: 3 main types of intercellular links:
 Tight junctions

 Desmosome

 Gap junctions
 Plants: Plasmodesmata
Cell walls

Interior
of cell

Interior
of cell

Figure 6.30 0.5 µm Plasmodesmata Plasma membranes