Chapter 3

Cell Structures, Tissues and Their

Functions
Learning Outcomes:
At the end of this power point presentation, students will:
1. Identify different types of cells and describe their functions.
2. Describe the structure and functions of the plasma membrane.
3. Explain how substances cross the plasma membrane.
4. Describe the process of osmosis.
5. Describe the cell life cycle.
6. Describe the processes of mitosis.
 BASIC CONCEPTS
❑ Cells and tissues carry out all chemical activities
needed to sustain life
❑ Cells are the building blocks of all living things
❑ Tissues are groups of cells that are similar in
structure and function
 Functions of the Cell
➢ Smallest functional units of life
➢ Cell metabolism and energy use
➢ Synthesis of molecules
➢ Communication
➢ Reproduction and inheritance
Types of Cell
 Cell Membrane
❑ The cell membrane, or plasma membrane, is the outermost
component of a cell.
❑ It forms a boundary between material in inside the cell and
the outside.
❑ Materials inside the cell are intracellular and those outside
are extracellular.
❑ It acts as a selective barrier.
 Cell Membrane Structure

❑ The fluid mosaic model describes the structure of the plasma

membrane as a mosaic of components —including
phospholipids, cholesterol, proteins, and carbohydrates—that
gives the membrane a fluid character
 Movement through the Cell Membrane
❑ The cell membrane has selective permeability, which allows
only certain substances to pass in and out of the cell.
❑ Substances such as enzymes, glycogen, and potassium are
found in higher concentrations inside the cell.
❑ Substances such as sodium, calcium, and chloride are found in
higher concentrations outside the cell.
 Cell Membrane Passage
❑ Some substances, like O2 and CO2, can pass directly through
the cell membrane’s phospholipid bilayer.
❑ Some substances must pass through transmembrane
protein channels, such as Na+ through its channels.
❑ The route of transport through the membrane depends on
the size, shape, and charge of the substance.
 Cell Membrane Passage
❑ Some substances require carrier molecules to transport
them across the cell membrane, such as glucose.
❑ Some substances require a vesicular transport across the
membrane.
❑ The vesicle must fuse with the cell membrane for transport.
 Cellular Physiology: Membrane Transport
❑Membrane Transport – movement of substance into and out
of the cell
❑Transport is by two basic methods
o Passive transport
✓ No energy is required
o Active transport
✓ The cell must provide metabolic energy
 Cell Membrane Transport
❑ Passive membrane transport does not require the cell to
expend energy.
❑ Passive membrane transport mechanisms include
diffusion, osmosis, and facilitated diffusion.
❑ Active membrane transport does require the cell to
expend energy, usually in the form of ATP.
❑ Active membrane transport mechanisms include active
transport, secondary active transport, endocytosis, and
exocytosis.
 Passive Transport Processes
❑Diffusion
o Particles tend to distribute
themselves evenly within a
solution
o Movement is from high
concentration to low
concentration, or down a
concentration gradient
 Passive Transport Processes
❑Types of diffusion
o Simple diffusion o Osmosis – simple diffusion of
✓ Unassisted process water
✓ Solutes are lipid- ✓ Highly polar water easily
soluble materials or crosses the plasma membrane
small enough to pass
through membrane o Facilitated diffusion
pores ✓ Substances require a protein
carrier for passive transport
Diffusion through the Plasma Membrane
 Passive Transport Processes
❑Filtration
o Water and solutes are forced through a membrane by fluid,
or hydrostatic pressure
o A pressure gradient must exist
✓ Solute-containing fluid is pushed from a high pressure
area to a lower pressure area
 Leak and Gated Channels
❑ Two classes of cell membrane channels include leak channels
and gated channels.

o Leak channels constantly allow ions to pass through.

o Gated channels limit the movement of ions across the
membrane by opening and closing.
Leak and Gated Membrane Channels
 Osmosis
❑ Osmosis is the diffusion of water (a solvent) across a selectively
permeable membrane from a region of higher water
concentration to one of lower water concentration.
❑ Osmosis exerts a pressure, termed osmotic pressure, which is
the force required to prevent movement of water across cell
membrane
 Osmotic Pressure and the Cell
❑Osmotic pressure depends on the difference of solution
concentrations inside a cell relative to outside the cell.

❑A cell may be placed in solutions that are either hypotonic,

isotonic, or hypertonic compared to the cell cytoplasm.
 Hypotonic
❑A hypotonic solution has a lower concentration of solutes
and a higher concentration of water relative to the
cytoplasm of the cell.
❑The solution has less tone, or osmotic pressure, than the
cell.
❑Water moves by osmosis into the cell, causing it to swell.
❑If the cell swells enough, it can rupture, a process called
lysis.
 Hypertonic
Isotonic ❑ The cytoplasm of a cell in a
❑ A cell immersed in an hypertonic solution has a lower
isotonic solution has the solute concentration and higher
same solute water concentration than the
concentrations inside and surrounding solution.
outside the cell. ❑ Water moves by osmosis from
❑ The cell will neither the cell into the hypertonic
shrink nor swell. solution, resulting in cell
shrinkage, or crenation.
Red Blood Cell Changes in Differing Solutions
 Active Transport Process
❑ Active transport is a carrier-mediated process, requiring
ATP, that moves substances across the cell membrane from
regions of lower concentration to those of higher
concentration against a concentration gradient.
❑ Active transport processes accumulate necessary
substances on one side of the cell membrane at
concentrations many times greater than those on the other
side.
 Active Transport Process
❑Transport substances that are unable to pass by diffusion
o They may be too large
o They may not be able to dissolve in the fat core of the
membrane
o They may have to move against a concentration gradient
❑Two common forms of active transport
o Solute pumping – chemical exchanges
o Bulk transport - exocytosis
 Carrier-Mediated Transport
❑ Some water-soluble, electrically charged or large sized particles cannot
enter or leave through the cell membrane by diffusion.
❑ These substances include amino acids, glucose, and some polar molecules
produced by the cell.
❑ Carrier molecules are proteins within the cell membrane involved in
carrier-mediated transport.
❑ Carrier-mediated transport mechanisms include facilitated diffusion and
Active transport.
❑ Facilitated diffusion does not require ATP for energy.
❑ Active transport does require ATP for transport.
 Sodium-Potassium Pump
❑ A major example of active
transport is the action of the
sodium-potassium pump
present in cell membranes.
❑ The sodium-potassium pump
moves Na+ out of cells and K+
into cells.
❑ The result is a higher
concentration of Na+ outside
cells and a higher
concentration of K+ inside
cells.
 Secondary Active Transport
❑ Secondary active transport uses the energy provided by a
concentration gradient established by the active transport
of one substance, such as Na+ to transport other
substances.
❑ No additional energy is required above the energy provided
by the initial active transport pump.
❑ In cotransport, the diffusing substance moves in the same
direction as the initial active transported substance.
 Exocytosis
❑ Exocytosis involves the use of
membrane-bound sacs called
secretory vesicles that accumulate
materials for release from the cell.
❑ The vesicles move to the cell
membrane and fuse, ultimately
releasing the material by
exocytosis.
❑ Examples of exocytosis are the
secretion of digestive enzymes.
 Endocytosis
❑ Endocytosis is a process that that brings materials into cell
using vesicles.
❑ Receptor-mediated endocytosis occurs when a specific
substance binds to the receptor molecule and is transported
into the cell.
❑ Phagocytosis is often used for endocytosis when solid particles
are ingested.
❑ Pinocytosis has much smaller vesicles formed, and they
contain liquid rather than solid particles.
 Cell Life Cycle
❑Cells have two major periods
o Interphase
✓ Cell grows
✓ Cell carries on metabolic processes
✓ Genetic material duplicated and readies a cell for division into two
cells
✓ Occurs toward the end of interphase
o Cell division
✓ Cell replicates itself
✓ Function is to produce more cells for growth and
repair processes
 Events of Cell Division
❑Mitosis
• Mitosis involves formation of 2 daughter cells from a single
parent cell.
• Mitosis is divided into four phases: prophase, metaphase,
anaphase, and telophase.
 Stages of Mitosis
❑Interphase
o No cell division occurs
o The cell carries out
normal metabolic
activity and growth
❑Prophase
o First part of cell division
o Centromeres migrate to
the poles
❑Metaphase
o Spindle from centromeres are
attached to chromosomes that
are aligned in the center of the
cell
❑Anaphase
o Daughter chromosomes are
pulled toward the poles
o The cell begins to elongate
❑Telophase
❑ Daughter nuclei begin forming
❑ A cleavage furrow (for cell
division) begins to form