CELL BIOLOGY

EVOLUTION OF THE CELL

• It is the biological science which deals with the study of
structure, functions, molecular organisation, growth,
reproduction and genetics of the cell.
• Classical cytology: deals with only light microscopically
visible structure of the cell
• Cell physiology: deals with biochemistry, biophysics and
function of the cell
• Cell biology: deals with molecules such as nucleic acids and
proteins
• Aristotle and Paracelsus posited that “all animals and plants no
matter how complicated constitute few elements which are repeated
in each of them e.g. macroscopic structures of roots, leaves and
flowers.

• De Vinci(1485): recommended the uses of lenses in viewing small

objects. It was Conrad Gesner (1855) published the results of studies
on protist called foraminifera

• Growth and development of cell biology led to the development of

compound microscope
• First compound microscope was invented by Francis Janssen and
Zacharias Janssen (1590). “flea glasses”

• In 1610 Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) invented a simple microscope

having only one magnifying lens. Used to examine the arrangements
of facets in the compound eye of insects
• Marcelo Malpighi (1628-1694) was the first to use microscope to
describe thin animal tissues from organs of the brain, liver, kidney,
spleen, lungs and tongue.
• Robert Hooke(1635-1703) was credited with the term “ CELL” .He
examined a thin slice cut from dried cork under compound
microscope. The crude microscopes did not permit the observation of
intracellular structure.
• Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) improved magnification of
microscopes to 300X.
• He was the first to observe living free-living cells from rain water
(bacilli, cocci, spirilla and other Monera), protozoa, rotifers and Hydra.

• He was the first to describe the sperm cells of humans, dogs, rabbits,
frogs, fish and insects and to observe the movement of blood cells of
mammals, birds, amphibians and fish.
• Nehemiah Grew (1641-1721) published microscopic sections through
flowers, roots and stems of plants tissue.
• Mirbel (1807) stated that all plant tissues were composed of cells.

• Rene Dutrochet (1776—1827) concluded that all animal and plant

tissues were aggregates of “globular cells”.

• Robert Hooke (1771-1858) discovered and named the nucleus in the

cells from the epidermis of stigmas and pollen grains of Tradescantia
plant.
 CELL THEORY
• Mathias Jacob Schleiden (1804-1881) and Theodor Schwann (1810-
1882) postulated that cell is the basic unit of structure and function in
all life.
• Nageli, K. and Rudolf Virchow confirmed the principles that cells arise
from pre-existing cells.
• Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) supported the Virchow theory
• Modern version of cell theory:
1. All living organisms are made up of one or more cells and cell
products.
2. All metabolic reactions in unicellular and multicellular organisms
takes place in the cell.
3. Cells originate from another cell i.e. no cell can spontaneously or de
novo comes into being only by division and duplication of pre existing
cells.
4. The smallest clearly defined unit of life in the cell.
Exception to Cell Theory: All true cells share the following basic
characteristics
(a) Must have a set of genes which constitute the blue prints for
regulating cellular activities and producing new cells.
(b) A limiting plasma membrane that permits controlled exchange of
matter and energy.
(c) A metabolic machinery for sustaining activities such as growth,
reproduction, and repairs of parts.
• A VIRUS do not easily fit into these parameters of true cell
• (a) definite genetically determined macromolecular organizations
• (b) contains a genetic or hereditary material in the form of either DNA
or RNA.
• (c) A capacity of auto-reproduction.

What is the difference between protoplasm and organismal theory?

• Cytotaxonomy (Cytology and Taxonomy): Each plant and animal have
a definite number of chromosomes in its cells and the chromosomes
of the individuals of a species resemble one another in shape and
size. Cytotaxonomy is defined as the cytological science which
provides cytological support to the taxonomic position of any species.

• Cytogenetics: is the branch of cell biology concerned with cytological

and molecular basis of heredity, variation, mutation, phylogeny,
morphogenesis and evolution of organisms.

• Cell physiology: is the study of life activities such as

nutrition,metabolism, growth, cell division etc
• Cytochemistry: is the branch of cytology which deals with chemical
and physico-chemical analysis of living matter. It has revealed the
presence of carbohydrate, lipids, proteins, nucleic acid, etc.

• Cytopathology: the application of molecular biology to understand

basis of human diseases at molecular level. Alteration in genetic code
in DNA results in changes in enzymes and metabolic activities.

• Cytoecology: studies the effects of ecological changes on the

chromosome number of the cell.
• PROKARYOTES: is a simple, single-celled (unicellular) organism that
lacks a nucleus, or any other membrane-bound organelle. Prokaryotic
DNA is found in the central part of the cell: a darkened region called
the nucleoid.
• A eukaryotic cell is a cell that has a membrane-bound nucleus and
other membrane-bound compartments or sacs, called organelles,
which have specialized functions. The word eukaryotic means “true
kernel” or “true nucleus,” alluding to the presence of the membrane-
bound nucleus in these cells.
 PLASMA MEMBRANE
Like prokaryotes, eukaryotic cells have a plasma membrane made up of
a phospholipid bilayer with embedded proteins that separate the cell’s
internal contents from its surrounding environment.
❖A phospholipid is a lipid molecule composed of two fatty acid chains,
a glycerol backbone, and a phosphate group.
❖The plasma membrane regulates the passage of some substances,
such as organic molecules, ions, and water, preventing the passage of
some to maintain internal conditions, while actively bringing in or
removing others.
❖Other compounds move passively across the membrane.
Structure of plasma membrane
• . The plasma membrane is an ultrathin, elastic, living, dynamic and
selective transport barrier. It is a fluid-mosaic assembly of molecules of
lipids (phospholipids and cholesterol), proteins and carbohydrates.
• Plasma membrane controls the entry of nutrients and exit of waste
products and generates differences in ion concentration between the
interior and exterior of the cell.
• It also acts as a sensor of external signals (for example, hormonal,
immunological, etc.) and allows the cell to react or change in response
to environmental signals
• The cells of bacteria and plants have a plasma membrane between
the cell wall and the cytoplasm. The plasma membrane forms the cell
surface for cells without cell walls (e.g., mycoplasma and animal
cells).

• All biological membranes including the plasma membrane and

internal membranes of eukaryotic cells (i.e., membranes bounding
endoplasmic reticulum or ER, nucleus, mitochondria, chloroplast,
Golgi apparatus, lysosomes, peroxisomes, etc.) are similar in structure
(i.e., fluid-mosaic) and selective permeability but differing in other
functions
• The plasma membrane is also called cytoplasmic membrane, cell
membrane, or plasmalemma. The term cell membrane was coined by
C. Nageli and C. Cramer in 1855 and the term plasmalemma has been
given by J. Q. Plowe in 1931.
 CHEMICAL COMPOSITION

• Chemically, plasma membranes and other membranes of different

organelles are found to contain proteins, lipids and carbohydrates,
but in different ratios. For example, in the plasma membrane of
human red blood cells proteins represent 52 per cent, lipids 40 per
cent and carbohydrates 8 per cent.
• Protein Lipids Carbohydrates
• Myelin (Nerve cell) 18 79 3
• Plasma membrane :
• (i) Mouse liver 44 52 4
• (ii) Amoeba 54 42 4
• (iii) Human erythrocyte 52 40 8
• Spinach chloroplast lamellae 70 30 0
• Mitochondrial inner membrane 76 24 0
 LIPIDS
• Four major classes of lipids are commonly present in the plasma
membrane and other membranes: phospholipids (most abundant),
sphingolipids, glycolipids and sterols (e.g., cholesterol).

• . The relative proportions of these lipids vary in different membranes.

Phospholipids may be acidic phospholipids (20 per cent) such as
sphingomyelin or neutral phospholipids (80 per cent) such as
phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylserine, etc.

• Many membranes contain cholesterol. Cholesterol is especially

abundant in the plasma membrane of mammalian cells and absent
from prokaryotic cells.
 PROTEIN
• The amount and types of proteins in the membranes are highly
variable :
• In the myelin membranes which serve mainly to insulate nerve
cell axons, less than 25 per cent of the membrane mass is
protein,
• whereas, in the membranes involved in energy transduction
(such as internal membranes of mitochondria and chloroplasts),
approximately 75 per cent is protein.
• Plasma membrane contains about 50 per cent protein.
• According to their position in the plasma membrane, the proteins fall
into two main types :
• integral or intrinsic proteins and
• peripheral or extrinsic proteins,
• both of which may be either ectoproteins, lying or exposing to external
or extracytoplasmic surface of the plasma membrane or endoproteins,
lying or sticking out at the inner or cytoplasmic surface of the plasma
membrane.
• On the basis of their functions, proteins of plasma
membrane can also be classified into three main types:
• Structural proteins, enzymes and transport proteins
(permeases or carriers).
• Some of them may act as antigens, receptor molecules (e.g.,
insulin binding sites of liver plasma membrane).
• Regulatory molecules.
 CARBOHYDRATES
• Carbohydrates are present only in the plasma membrane. They are
present as short, unbranched or branched chains of sugars
(oligosaccharides) attached either to exterior ectoproteins (forming
glycoproteins) or to the polar ends of phospholipids at the external
surface of the plasma membrane (forming glycolipids).
• All types of oligosaccharides of the plasma membrane are formed by
various combinations of six principal sugars: glucose derivatives) : D-
galactose, D-mannose, L-fucose, N-acetyl neuraminic acid (also called
sialic acid), N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.
 FUNCTIONS OF PLASMA MEMBRANE
• Permeability: The plasma membrane is a thin, elastic membrane around
the cell which usually allows the movement of small ions and molecules
of various substances through it. This nature of plasma membrane is
termed as permeability. According to permeability following types of the
plasma membranes have been recognised :
• Impermeable plasma membranes: The plasma membrane of the
unfertilized eggs of certain fishes allows nothing to pass through it
except the gases. Such plasma membranes can be termed as
impermeable plasma membranes.
• Semi-permeable plasma membranes: The membranes which allow only
water but no solute particle to pass through them are known as semi-
permeable membranes. Such membranes have not so far been
recognised in animal cells.
• Selectively permeable plasma membranes: The plasma membrane
and other intracellular membranes are very selective in nature. Such
membranes allow only certain selected ions and small molecules to
pass through them.
• Dialysing plasma membranes: The plasma membranes of certain cells
have certain extraneous coats around them. This type of plasma
membrane having extraneous coats around it, acts as a dialyzer. In
these membranes, the water molecules and crystalloids are forced
through them by the hydrostatic pressure forces.
• Transport molecules within cells:
• Osmosis
• Simple diffusion
• Facilitated Diffusion
• Active transport: Active transport uses specific transport proteins,
called pumps, which use metabolic energy (ATP) to move ions or
molecules against their concentration gradient. For example, in both
vertebrates and invertebrates, the concentration of sodium ions is
about 10 to 20 times higher in the blood than within the cell.
• . Endocytosis: small regions of the plasma membrane fold inwards or
invaginate, until it has formed new intracellular membrane-limited
vesicles. In eukaryotes, the following two types of endocytosis can
occur: pinocytosis and receptor-mediated endocytosis.
• Pinocytosis: Pinocytosis (= to drink; ‘cell drinkng’) is the non-specific
uptake of small droplets of extracellular fluid by endocytic vesicles or
pinosomes, having diameter of about 0.1 µm to 0.2 µm. Any material
dissolved in the extracellular fluid is internalized in proportion to its
concentration in the fluid.
Illustration of Endocytosis
 CELL WALL
• The plant cell is always surrounded by a cell wall and this feature
distinguishes them from animal cells.

• The cell wall is a non-living structure which is formed by the living

protoplast (A plant cell without its cell wall is called a protoplast.

• In most of the plant cells, the cell wall is made up of cellulose,

hemicellulose, pectin and protein.

• In many fungi, the cell wall is formed of chitin and in bacteria, the cell
wall contains protein-lipid-polysaccharide complexes.
• Due to the shape of cell walls many types of plant cells as the
parenchymatous, collenchymatous, etc., have been recognised.

• The Cell wall usually consists of Cellulose, Hemicellulose, Pectin,

Lignin, Cuticular substances, and Mineral deposits.
• Cellulose is a linear, unbranched polymer, consisting of straight
polysaccharide chains made of glucose units linked by 1-4 β- bonds
(called glycosidic bonds)
• Complete hydrolysis of cellulose yields D-glucose and cellobiose
• Hemicelluloses are short but branched heteropolymers of various
kinds of monosaccharides such as arabinose, xylose, mannose,
galactose, glucose and uronic acid.
• Pectins are water soluble, heterogeneous branched polysaccharides
that contain many negatively charged D-galacturonic acid residues
along with D-glucuronic acid residues.
• Lignin is a biological plastic and non-fibrous material. It occurs only in
mature cell walls and is made of an insoluble hydrophobic aromatic
polymer of phenolic alcohols (e.g., hydroxyphenyl propane).
• Cutin is also a biological plastic and is made of fatty acids (waxes).
• Mineral deposits occur in cuticles in the form of calcium and
magnesium carbonates and silicates.
CYTOPLASM
The cytoplasm comprises the contents of a cell between the plasma
membrane and the nuclear envelope. It is made up of organelles
suspended in the gel-like cytosol, the cytoskeleton, and various
chemicals. Even though the cytoplasm consists of 70 to 80 percent
water, it has a semi-solid consistency, which comes from the proteins
within it. However, proteins are not the only organic molecules found in
the cytoplasm.
Glucose and other simple sugars, polysaccharides, amino acids, nucleic
acids, fatty acids, and derivatives of glycerol are found there too.
Ions of sodium, potassium, calcium, and many other elements are also
dissolved in the cytoplasm. Many metabolic reactions, including protein
synthesis, take place in the cytoplasm.
The Cytoskeleton
Within the cytoplasm, there would still be ions and organic molecules,
plus a network of protein fibers that helps to maintain the shape of the
cell, secures certain organelles in specific positions, allows cytoplasm and
vesicles to move within the cell, and enables unicellular organisms to
move independently. There are three types of fibers within the
cytoskeleton: microfilaments, also known as actin filaments, intermediate
filaments, and microtubules.
The Endomembrane System
The endomembrane system (endo = within) is a group of membranes
and organelles in eukaryotic cells that work together to modify,
package, and transport lipids and proteins. It includes the nuclear
envelope, lysosomes, and vesicles, the endoplasmic reticulum and
Golgi apparatus. Although not technically within the cell, the plasma
membrane is included in the endomembrane system and interacts with
the other endomembranous organelles.
 NUCLEUS
Typically, the nucleus is the most prominent organelle in a cell. The
nucleus houses the cell’s DNA in the form of chromatin and directs the
synthesis of ribosomes and proteins.
The nuclear envelope is a double-membrane structure that constitutes
the outermost portion of the nucleus. Both the inner and outer
membranes of the nuclear envelope are phospholipid bilayers. The
nuclear envelope is punctuated with pores that control the passage of
ions, molecules, and RNA between the nucleoplasm and the cytoplasm.
STRUCTURE OF NUCLEUS
 ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM
It is a series of interconnected membranous tubules that collectively
modify proteins and synthesize lipids. However, these two functions are
performed in separate areas of the endoplasmic reticulum:
The rough endoplasmic reticulum and the smooth endoplasmic
reticulum, respectively.
The hollow portion of the ER tubules is called the lumen or cisternal
space.
• RER synthesize and transport proteins
• SER synthesis of carbohydrates, lipids (including phospholipids), and
steroid hormones; detoxification of medications and poisons; alcohol
metabolism; and storage of calcium ions.
Lysosomes
• Digestive enzymes within the lysosomes aid the breakdown of
proteins, polysaccharides, lipids, nucleic acids, and even worn-out
organelles.
• Lysosomes also use their hydrolytic enzymes to destroy disease-
causing organisms that might enter the cell.
• Ribosomes are the cellular structures responsible for protein
synthesis.

• Mitochondria: are oval-shaped, double-membrane organelles that

have their own ribosomes and DNA. They are responsible for making
adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the cell’s main energy-carrying
molecule. The inner layer has folds called cristae, which increase the
surface area of the inner membrane. The area surrounded by the
folds is called the mitochondrial matrix. The cristae and the matrix
have different roles in cellular respiration.
Peroxisomes are small, round organelles enclosed by single
membranes. They carry out oxidation reactions that break down fatty
acids and amino acids. They also detoxify many poisons that may enter
the body. Alcohol is detoxified by peroxisomes in liver cells.
• The ___________ is the basic unit of life. a. organism b. cell c. tissue
d. organ
• Which of the following is found both in eukaryotic and prokaryotic
cells? a. nucleus b. mitochondrion c. vacuole d. ribosome
• Draw a well labelled diagram of an animal cell or plant cell as seen
through an electron microscope. Describe the functions of nucleus,
nucleus, mitochondria, ribosomes, and microtubules.
Which of the following is not a component of the endomembrane system?
• a. mitochondrion, b. Golgi apparatus c. endoplasmic reticulum
d. Lysosome
The cytosol is best described as (a) a set of internal cellular membranes (
b) a component found only in prokaryotic cells (c) a viscous fluid that is
the site of many chemical reactions (d) a collection of filamentous
organelles (e) the highly structured internal membranes of mitochondrial
and chloroplasts.
Which is a functional mismatch? a Nucleolus-RNA synthesis b. Golgi
complex-packaging and sorting secretions c. lysosomes-synthesis of
polysaccharides d. ribosomes-synthesis of proteins
• What role do ribosomes play in transmission of genetic instructions?
• Describe the structural and functional distinctions between rough and
smooth ER.
• List four (4) functions of lysosomes.
• Why are mitochondria termed as the “power houses” of the
eukaryotic cells ?
• What is the major function of mitochondria ?
• What differences exist in structure and function between the inner
and outer membranes of the mitochondria ?