Cells

• Anton Leeuwenhoek invented

the microscope in the late
1600’s, which first showed that
all living things are composed
of cells. Also, he was the first
to see microorganisms.
• Light microscopes have a
limited resolution:
magnification of more than
about 2000-fold does not
improve what you can see.
• Electron microscopes use
electrons instead of light. The
short wavelength of electrons
allows magnifications much
better than visible light.
 The Cell Theory
• Use of the microscope for 150 years or so led to these
basic beliefs about cells:
• 1. All living things are made of cells.
• 2. The cell is the smallest unit of life.
• 3. All cells arise from pre-existing cells.
 Basic Cell Organization
• All cells contain:
– 1. cell membrane that keeps the
inside and outside separate.
– 2. DNA-containing region that
holds the instructions to run the
processes of life.
– 3. Cytoplasm: a semi-fluid region
containing the rest of the cell’s
machinery.

• Prokaryotes: (bacteria): simple

cells with no internal membrane-
bound structures. DNA is in a
special region of the cytoplasm.
• Eukaryotes: complex cells with
internal membranes. DNA is in a
nucleus separated from the
cytoplasm by a membrane.
 Why Cells?
• The basic problem is surface-to-volume ratio. All food and oxygen has to come in through the
cell’s surface. As size increases, you get less surface area to support a given volume of cell
contents.
• For example, if the cell’s diameter increases: 1-2-3-4-5, its surface area increases 1-4-9-16-25,
and its volume increases 1-8-27-64-125. A 5-fold increase in diameter cuts the amount of surface
area per volume to 1/5 of the original: the cell starves.
• Also, consider how a cell responds to a change in the environment: the signal must travel from the
surface of the cell to the nucleus, then the nucleus issues new instructions to deal with the
situation. The instructions must reach all parts of the cell. The bigger the cell, the longer it takes
to respond to the environment.
• Thus, cells are limited to small sizes, and multicellular organisms are composed of many cells.
• Some minor exceptions: long thin cells, like nerve cells, can be several feet long. Also, cells can
increase their surface area by using frilly membranes, like the cells that absorb food in the small
intestine.
Cell Size
 Eukaryotic Cells
• Eukaryotic cells contain internal
membranes and organelles. An
organelle is an internal membrane
bound structure that serves some
specialized function within the cell.
• Organelles we will discuss:
– Cell membrane
– Nucleus
– Cytomembrane system, including
endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi
apparatus, vesicles, lysosomes,
and peroxisomes
– Mitochondria
– Cytoskeleton
– Special plant organelles:
chloroplast, central vacuole, cell
wall
 Cell Membrane
• Composed of phospholipids, with a
polar (and therefore hydrophilic) head
group, and 2 non-polar (hydrophobic)
tails. A bilayer with the polar heads on
the outsides and hydrophobic tails
inside satisfies all of the molecule. The
membrane is a “phospholipid bilayer”.
• The membrane also contains
cholesterol and various proteins. The
proteins act as sensors, attachment
points, cell recognition, or they
transport small molecules through the
membrane.
• Membrane proteins and membrane
lipids often have sugars attached to
their outside edges: glycoproteins and
glycolipids. For example, the
differences between the ABO blood
groups are due to differences in
sugars attached to the outer
membranes of red blood cells.
 Cell Membrane, pt. 2
• The molecules in the membrane can move
about like ships floating on the sea: the
membrane is a two-dimensional fluid
• In some cells, the membrane proteins are held
in fixed positions by a network of proteins just
under the membrane, a cytoskeleton.
• Only water, a few gasses, and a few other small
non-polar molecules can move freely through a
pure phospholipid membrane. Everything else
must be transported into the cell by protein
channels in the membrane.
 Transport Across the Cell
Membrane
• Basic rule: things spontaneously move from high
concentration to low concentration (downhill).
This process is called diffusion.
• To get things to move from low to high (uphill),
you need to add energy. In the cell, energy is
kept in the form of ATP.
• Three basic transport mechanisms: passive
transport for downhill, active transport for uphill,
and bulk transport for large amounts of material
in either direction.
• Also need to deal with excess water entering the
cell.
 Passive and Active Transport
• Passive transport uses protein
channels through the membrane that
allow a particular molecule to go
through it, down the concentration
gradient. The speed and direction of
movement depends on the relative
concentrations inside and outside.
Glucose is a good example: since cells
burn glucose for energy, the
concentration inside is less than the
concentration outside.

• Active transport uses proteins as

pumps to concentrate molecules
against the concentration gradient.
The pumps use ATP for energy. One
example is the calcium pump, which
keeps the level of calcium ions in the
cell 1000 times lower than outside, by
constantly pumping calcium ions out.
The balance of sodium and potassium
ions is maintained with potassium high
inside and sodium low inside, using a
pump. Up to 1/3 of all energy used by
the cell goes into maintaining the
sodium/potassium balance.
 Bulk Transport
• In bulk transport, materials can move into
the cell (called endocytosis) or out of the
cell (called exocytosis). The two
processes are reverses of each other.
• In endocytosis, an area of the cell
membrane forms an indentation that
gradually pinches off into a small, self-
contained membrane-bound sphere
called a vesicle. The vesicle contains
material that used to be outside the cell.
An example is white blood cells engulfing
and killing bacteria that have invaded the
body.
• In exocytosis, material the cell wishes to
remove is contained in a vesicle. The
vesicle fuses with the cell membrane,
releasing the contents to the outside
world. This is the way in which digestive
enzymes are released into the stomach.
 Water in the Cell
• Water also moves down the concentration
gradient. It moves into the cell to dilute the
many molecules that are concentrated
there. This process is called osmosis, and it
exerts a pressure that can cause cells to
swell up and burst. We say that pure water
is hypotonic relative to the inside of a cell:
pure water has fewer particles in it, so the
water moves into the cell.
• Conversely, if cells are put into a
concentrated salt solution, water will leave
the cells, moving to dilute the water outside.
The concentrated salt solution is
hypertonic: has more particles in it than the
inside of the cell.
• Normal body fluids are isotonic, having the
same concentration of particles as the
inside of the cell.
• Cells need to defend themselves from the
bad effects of osmosis, by keeping the
concentration of water constant inside the
cell.
Response to Osmotic Pressure
• Plants have a simple defense
against osmotic pressure: their
cells are enclosed in a rigid cell
wall, which resist the pressure so
the cells don’t burst. If plants get
too dry, they wilt because their
cells are no longer held rigidly
against the cell walls by osmotic
pressure. Fungi and bacteria also
use cell walls.
• Many protists that live in fresh
water have a special organelle
that constantly pumps pure water
out of the cell.
• Animal cells constantly pump
various ions (mostly sodium and
potassium) in and out of the cell to
combat osmotic pressure.
 Nucleus
• The nucleus issues instructions to build and
maintain the cell, respond to changes in the
environment, and to divide into 2 cells.
• The cell’s instructions are coded in the
DNA, which is the main part of
chromosomes. A chromosome is
composed of a single DNA molecule plus
the proteins that support it and control it.
• Most eukaryotes have a small number of
chromosomes: humans have 46
chromosomes, corn plants have 20. The
number is fixed within a species: all humans
have 46 chromosomes except for some
genetic oddities.
• Each instruction in the DNA is called a
gene. The genes issue their instructions,
get expressed, as RNA copies. AN RNA
copy of a gene is called messenger RNA
(mRNA). The mRNA instructions move out
of the membrane into the cytoplasm, where
they are translated into proteins.
• The translation of RNA messages into
proteins is accomplished by ribosomes,
which are structures made of both RNA and
protein.
 Nucleus, pt. 2
• Ribosomes are made in a special
part of the nucleus, called the
nucleolus.
• However, the translation of
messenger RNA into proteins by
the ribosomes occurs in the
cytoplasm outside the nucleus.
Both the ribosomes and the
messages move out of the
nucleus into the cytoplasm to
function.
• The nucleus is surrounded by a
double membrane called the
nuclear envelope. It is studded
with pores (made of protein) that
let the ribosomes and the RNA
messages out into the cytoplasm.
 Cytomembrane System
• The cytomembrane system is
a group of organelles that has
3 basic functions: to
manufacture new lipids and
membranes, to modify
polypeptides into their final
proteins, and to synthesize
and package proteins and
other molecules for export.
• We will talk about 4 organelles
as part of this system: the
endoplasmic reticulum (ER),
the Golgi bodies, the
lysosomes, and the
peroxisomes.
 Endoplasmic Reticulum
• “Reticulum” means network; the ER is
a network of tubules in the cytoplasm,
composed of membranes just like the
cell membrane. It provides a
membrane channel from the nucleus
to the cell membrane.
• Two types, connected together: rough
ER and smooth ER
• Rough ER looks rough because it is
studded with ribosomes, the cellular
machines that synthesize proteins.
Ribosomes on the rough ER make the
proteins that go into the membrane,
using the instructions from messenger
RNA. Other ribosomes, not attached
to the ER, make other proteins.
• Smooth ER has no ribosomes. It is
used to synthesize the lipids of the
membrane. It is also used in liver
cells to detoxify harmful chemicals in
the blood. Other functions as well.
 Golgi Body and Secretion
• Proteins that are synthesized in the
rough ER get finished in the Golgi
body: sugars and phosphates added.
• Golgi looks like a series of stacked
plates.
• Vesicles carry proteins from the ER to
the Golgi, and then from the Golgi
body to the cell membrane. Secretion
to the outside world occurs by
exocytosis: the vesicle fuses with the
cell membrane, releasing its contents.
• Proteins synthesized into the
membrane of the ER end up in the cell
membrane by the same mechanism
• Basic mechanism of secretion:
– genes are copied into messenger RNA
in the nucleus
– mRNA leaves the nucleus and
attaches to ribosomes in the
cytoplasm.
– the ribosomes move to the rough ER
and synthesize new proteins
– proteins are transported by vesicles to
the Golgi for finishing
– proteins are transported in other
vesicles to the cell membrane, where
they are released from the cell.
 Lysosomes and Peroxisomes
• Lysosomes are intracellular stomachs: they
are full of digestive enzymes that operate at
low pH. You can think of them as little acid
vats. Vesicles transport materials to the
lysosomes, and the lysosomes digest them.
In the process of “programmed cell death”,
cells scheduled to die are destroyed from
within by their lysosomes. An example is
the tail of a tadpole, which is destroyed to
make a tailless frog.
• Lysosomal storage diseases are caused by
genetic defects. An example is Gaucher
disease, in which certain lipids accumulate
inside of lysosomes instead of being broken
down. This leads to interference with bone
marrow function: blood and bone problems.
• Peroxisomes are membrane-bound sacs
used to break down fatty acids and some
other molecules. They generate hydrogen
peroxide, a poisonous molecule, in the
process, which is the source of the name
peroxisome.
 Mitochondria
• The mitochondria are the site where most of the cell’s
ATP is generated, when organic compounds are
broken down to carbon dioxide and water, using
oxygen.
• All eukaryotes have mitochondria. The number in a
cell depends on that cell’s energy needs.
• Mitochondria have their own circular DNA, the same
kind found in bacteria. This and other evidence has
led to the theory that mitochondria were once free-
living bacteria that developed a mutually beneficial
relationship with a primitive eukaryotic cell.
• Mitochondria have 2 membranes, forming 2
compartments inside. To generate energy, hydrogen
ions are accumulated between the 2 membranes.
Then they flow down the concentration gradient into
the inner compartment through a protein that uses the
energy of their flow to create ATP.
• Genetic defects in the mitochondria affect tissues that
use a lot of energy: nerves, muscles, liver, kidney.
They are unusual because they are inherited strictly
from the mother—only the egg’s mitochondria go into
the next generation.
Endosymbiont Hypothesis
 Cytoskeleton
• The cytoskeleton consists of proteins that
give the cell shape. Without the
cytoskeleton, cells would all be spherical.
The cytoskeleton also causes organelles to
move within the cell, and causes the cells
themselves to move about.
• The three main components of the
cytoskeleton are: microtubules,
microfilaments, and intermediate filaments,
• Microtubules are long hollow tubes made up
of many subunits called tubulin. They are
used to pull the chromosomes apart during
cell division, and to transport vesicles
around inside the cell.
• Microtubules can also be put into a special
circular arrangement to form cilia and
flagella. Special “motor proteins” cause
these structures to have a whip-like motion,
which propels the cell: a human sperm cell
has a flagellum as a tail.
 Cytoskeleton, pt. 2
• Microfilaments are composed
of actin, which is also used in
muscles. Organelles move
inside the cell by using a motor
protein (myosin) to pull
themselves along the actin
microfilaments.
• The rapid assembly and
disassembly of microfilaments
just under the cell’s surface
causes the movements of
amoebas and various animal
cells
• Intermediate filaments are
composed of several different
proteins. They strengthen
cells and give them their basic
shape.
 More Cytoskeleton
• There are many genetic diseases
affecting the cytoskeleton proteins.
• One of the worst is Duchenne
muscular dystrophy (DMD). This
disease causes the muscles to swell
up and eventually lose all strength,
with the victims in wheelchairs by age
12 and dead of respiratory failure by
age 20.
• DMD is caused by the failure of the
protein dystrophin to hold the actin
microfilaments inside the muscle cells
to their attachment points on the
membrane. When the cells move,
they rip their membranes apart and
die. The muscle cells swell and burst
as fluid enters through the torn
membranes.
 Plant Cell Organelles
• Plants have three special structures not found
in animals: the chloroplast, the cell wall, and
the central vacuole.
• The chloroplast is the site of photosynthesis,
the process of converting carbon dioxide into
sugar and oxygen using sunlight. Most life
depends on photosynthesis, directly or
indirectly. It uses the green pigment
chlorophyll to capture the energy from light.
• Like the mitochondria, chloroplasts have two
membranes and their own circular DNA.
Chloroplasts are also thought to have
originated from an ancient mutually beneficial
relationship between photosynthetic bacteria
and a primitive eukaryote.
• In some plant cells, chloroplasts are modified
to store starch (as in potatoes) or to contain
other pigments (as in flowers).
 More Plant Organelles
• Each plant cell is surrounded
by a rigid cell wall made of
cellulose and polysaccharides.
The cell wall is outside of the
cell membrane. In woody
plants, the cell walls can
become very thick and rigid.
• Plant cells contain a central
vacuole, which stores water.
Osmotic pressure from the
central vacuole squeezes the
rest of the cytoplasm against
the cell wall, giving the cell its
strength.
 Prokaryotic Cells
• No internal membranes or
organelles.
• DNA loose in the cytoplasm.
• Has a cell membrane, surrounded
by a rigid cell wall that gives it
shape.
• Sometimes also a polysaccharide
capsule surrounding the cell wall.
• Flagella used for propulsion.
Different structure than eukaryotic
flagella.
• Not much internal structure, but
prokaryotes have a very wide
variety of internal metabolic
systems, and they inhabit a much
wider range of habitats than
eukaryotes.