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Introduction to Cell biology and Genetics INTRO

A brief start
➢ Biology: is the study of life and living organisms, which can be defined as an entity that has an organized

structure that is composed of several types of cells that, together, can react to external and internal stimuli,

grow, reproduce, and maintain homeostasis for the whole organism (for example: the human body).

➢ Cell: is the fundamental unit of life and it’s considered as the basic structural and functional unit for big organisms.
Organisms can be classified according to the number of cells they contain into:

A- Unicellular organisms: in which the organism is totally composed of one cell (like Bacteria).

B- Multicellular organisms: in which the organism is composed of two or more cells (like human body).

In addition, cells can be classified according to their inner cellular structure to:

A- Prokaryotes: which are cells that do not contain a true nucleus or membranebounded organelles inside them (like
Bacteria and Archaea).

B- Eukaryotes: which are cells that contain a true nucleus and membranebounded organelles (like animal cells, plant
cells, fungi, etc.).

In spite of such differences between these types, they still share some characteristics between each other like the
presence of plasma membrane, the genetic information that is encoded by DNA, the cytosol, and the ribosomes that
are used for protein synthesis.

Panoramic view of the cell

➢ First of all, let’s start talking about the plasma membrane of the cell.

➢ The plasma membrane is the boundary that separates the environment inside the cell from the one outside the
cell. Its principal components are lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates.

➢ The predominant lipids forming the plasma membrane are phospholipids, which are amphipathic compounds that
contain both hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions on the same molecule.

➢ Phospholipids have a unique arrangement in the plasma membrane, they are arranged into a bilayer (two layers)
with hydrophilic regions (heads) facing the aqueous environments inside and outside the cell and hydrophobic
regions (tails)

being in the middle of the bilayer.

➢ Another important lipid in the plasma membrane is cholesterol, which maintains the fluidity and permeability of
the plasma membrane.

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➢ We have two types of phospholipids in the plasma membrane (sphingolipids & phosphoglycerides).

phosphoglycerides contain glycerol as a backbone and attached to it by ester bonds are two chains of fatty

acids that may be equal in their length or different from each other, and the third carbon atom of glycerol is

bonded by a phosphate group. The two fatty acids resemble the hydrophobic tails of the molecule and the

phosphate group resembles the hydrophilic head of the molecule.

➢ The simplest phosphoglyceride is phosphatidic acid, which is a precursor for other members of this group. Mostly,
this molecule contains an alcohol group attached to its phosphate group, which can react with other molecules that
contain alcohol group as well (for example, combining choline with phosphatidic acid to generate
phosphatidylcholine.

➢ Other examples of phosphoglycerides are shown on the right.

➢ The fatty acids, which are a component of the phospholipids, are classified according to their structure into:

A- Saturated fatty acids: fatty acids that have the maximum number of hydrogens their carbon atoms can

carry (in other words, all their carbon-carbon bonds are single bonds).
B- Unsaturated fatty acids: which have less that the maximum number of hydrogen atoms their carbons can carry (in
other words, they have at least one carbon-carbon double bond or more with a cis or trans configuration).

➢ The double bonds that are existed in the unsaturated fatty acids will result in a kink or bend in the fatty acid chain.

➢ Cis and trans configurations have different bending structures.

➢ In the cis configuration, the hydrogen atoms of the carbon-carbon double bond are at the same side of the

molecule, which results in the fatty acid chain being bended to the same side of the double bond, and this is
important in the phospholipids’ structure to maintain the fluidity of the plasma membrane.

➢ The plasma membrane exhibits a feature called selective permeability, which makes the plasma membrane

allow certain molecules to pass easily through it to inside or outside the cell. Cholesterol is one of the plasma

membrane lipids that aid in maintaining such a feature of the plasma membrane.

❖ Now, what else does the plasma membrane contain?

➢ The plasma membrane contains carbohydrates as well, which may be bound to proteins, forming glycoproteins, or
to lipids, forming glycolipids.

➢ Also, plasma membrane contains proteins, which are classified to integral proteins or peripheral proteins.

➢ Integral proteins are proteins that penetrate the plasma membrane and has several functions, since they
penetrate the plasma membrane, they contain hydrophobic regions composed of nonpolar amino acids to make
them stable in the hydrophobic region of the plasma membrane.

➢ On the other hand, peripheral proteins do not penetrate the plasma membrane, they exist on the surface of the

plasma membrane.
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❖ Now, what do plasma proteins do?

➢ They have several functions which include enzymatic activity (since most of the enzymes are proteins),

transportation of substances (like protein channels and carriers), cell-cell recognition, and in signal

transduction.
The nucleus
➢ When we talk about the nucleus, we’re talking about the eukaryotic cells, because prokaryotic cells do not have

a true nucleus, but instead they have a region called nucleoid which contains their DNA.

➢ The nucleus of the eukaryotic cells contains most of the cell’s genetic material . The nucleus is

enclosed by a double-membraned structure called the nuclear envelope, which separates the nuclear

components from the cellular components outside the nucleus, this envelope has openings that are called

nuclear pores that allow certain substances (like RNA and proteins) to enter and exit from the nucleus.

➢ On the inside of the nucleus, the genetic material is organized into discrete units called chromosomes, each

chromosome is composed of one long DNA molecule associated with many proteins that aid in coiling the

DNA molecule so that it can fit inside the nucleus.

➢ The complex of DNA molecules associated with their proteins is called chromatin.

➢ Another structure inside the nucleus is called the nucleolus, which is the place where ribosomal RNA (rRNA)

is synthesized, and ribosomes are assembled.

Ribosomes, the protein factors

➢ Ribosomes are protein factories that are assembled in the nucleolus from ribosomal RNA and proteins, they are
composed of two subunits, a large subunit (50S) and a small subunit (30S),

small subunit (30S), which combine together to carry out

which combine together to carry out protein synthesis.

➢ In the cells that have a high rate of protein synthesis, a large

number of ribosomes is present in them.

➢ Ribosomes are existed either in the cytoplasm as free

ribosomes or bound to the endoplasmic reticulum as

bound ribosomes.

➢ The free ribosomes produce proteins that are directed for use inside the same cell, while bound ribosomes

produce proteins that are directed for use outside the cell or on the plasma membrane of the same cell.

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❖ So, how does protein synthesis occur?

➢ The whole process starts inside the nucleus, where a piece

of DNA called gene undergoes a process called

transcription that copies its sequence of DNA in the form

of RNA called pre-messenger RNA (pre-mRNA).

➢ Then, the pre-mRNA undergoes certain modifications to

become a mature mRNA.

➢ After that, the mRNA leaves the nucleus through the

nuclear pores and goes to a ribosome that can read the

codes that are carried on the mRNA and, with the help of

transcriptive RNA (tRNA), translates the codes into a

sequence of amino acids in a process called translation.

The endomembrane system

➢ Many of the different membranes of the eukaryotic cells are part of a system that is called the endomembrane

system.

➢ This system includes the nuclear envelope, the endoplasmic reticulum, the Golgi apparatus, lysosomes,

and the plasma membrane.

➢ It’s responsible for protein synthesis, transportation of proteins to organelles or outside the cell, metabolism,

movement of lipids, and detoxification of poisons.

Since we’ve talked about the plasma membrane and the nuclear envelope, let’s talk about the endoplasmic

reticulum.

➢ The endoplasmic reticulum is a membranous structure that is

composed of an extensive network of membranous tubules and sacs

that are found within the cytoplasm and its lumen is continuous with

the space between the two membranes of the nuclear envelope.

➢ Two regions of the endoplasmic reticulum are existed according to

the presence or absence of ribosomes on their outer surface, which

are the smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER, no ribosomes) and

the rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER, ribosomes are existed).

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❖ The major functions of smooth endoplasmic reticulum :

➢ Synthesis of lipids, such as steroids and phospholipids, since the enzymes inside the SER are important in

their synthesis, other enzymes in the SER aid in detoxification of drugs and poisons, especially in liver cells.

➢ SER enzyme also play a role in the metabolism of carbohydrates.

➢ Finally, the SER plays a role in the storage of calcium ions.

❖ What about the rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER)?

➢ The RER is responsible for production of proteins that are directed for use outside the cell, it produces,

modifies, and ensures proper folding of proteins inside its lumen.

➢ The secretory proteins depart from the RER from a zone called transitional ER inside transport vesicles to

go for other endomembrane structures like Golgi apparatus.

❖ Now, what’s next? Golgi apparatus

➢ The Golgi apparatus is composed of flattened membranous sacs called cisternae, which look like a stack of
pancakes .

➢ It receives the transport vesicles coming from the RER which fuse with Golgi apparatus on the cis face of it, which
is the receiving face that faces the RER, and sends the modified and packaged proteins to the plasma membrane
from

the trans face.

➢ So, we can say that the Golgi apparatus is like a warehouse for receiving, sorting, and shipping the ER products.

❖ Now, let’s talk about lysosomes.

➢ Lysosomes are one of the products that depart from Golgi apparatus, these are membranous sacs filled with
hydrolytic enzymes that are used by the cell to digest macromolecules.

➢ These enzymes work in the acidic environment, that’s why the cell has a kind of protection from these enzymes
(pHcell = around 7).

➢ Lysosomal enzymes and membrane are made by the RER and then transferred to Golgi apparatus for further
processing, then they exit the Golgi apparatus through the trans face. They carry out intracellular digestion in a
variety of circumstances.

➢ Amoeba and other unicellular eukaryotes get their food by engulfing its particles inside the cell in a food vacuole
and fusing it with the lysosome to make the hydrolytic enzymes digest the food vacuole’s contents in a process called
phagocytosis, this process also occur in a special type of cells in human body called the macrophages, which

aid in protecting the human body against microorganisms by engulfing and digesting them.

➢ Another function of the lysosomes is their contribution in a cellular process called autophagy, in which the

cell digests its own old organelles using lysosomes to reuse their components inside the cell.

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❖ Last but not least, we will talk about the mitochondria.

➢ Mitochondria are found in nearly all eukaryotic cells, their primary function is to generate energy in the form

of ATP, that’s why they’re called (the powerhouse of the cell).

➢ Mitochondria have two membranes that are separated by a space called the intermembrane space.

➢ An outer membrane that is smooth and contains special channels formed by a protein called porin that makes the
membrane semi-permeable to most of small ions and molecules.

➢ And an inner membrane that is impermeable to most of the small ions, and convoluted with infoldings called

cristae that increase the surface area of the inner membrane, inside the inner membrane we have the

mitochondrial matrix that contains the mitochondrial DNA, ribosomes, and enzymes.

➢ The enzymes of an important series of protein complexes called the electron transport chain are embedded in

the inner membrane, these series of protein complexes transfer electrons from one carrier to the next, starting

from NADH and FADH2 molecules, which are products of carbohydrates metabolism, and as the electrons

move through the complexes, the complexes pump protons (H+) from the matrix into the intermembrane space,

which will create an electrochemical gradient that drives the protons to go back into the matrix through a

protein called ATP synthase (also called complex V), the movement of proteins through the ATP synthase

causes conformational changes in the protein that drive the formation of ATP molecules from ADP molecules

and inorganic phosphate.