Test 2: week 3 material + slides + week 4:

Slides:
1.24:

Centriole – represents the microtubular organizing center of the cell, it is made up of 9 triplets of
microtubules.

Centrosome is made up of centriole + pericentriolar matrix around it + statelllite structures (grainy

strands around triplets).

1.29 Cells that are arranged in a single place, for instance covering epithelia, have a distinct structural
and functional modifications of cell surface:

Apical surface – oriented to free space, carries various functional structures such as microvilli, kinocilia.

Lateral surface – contact site with adjacent cells, providing cohesion of epithelia tissue.

Basal surface – site for the adhesion of the epithelia cell to the basement membrane carrying adhesion
junctions.

1.32: striated border is composed of rows of highly organized microvilli on apical surface of the cell.

1.35: mucosa of oviduct is composed of two types of cells:

1. Ciliated cells – look like thin long bushes, involved in constant flow of fluid with oocyte.
2. Secretory cells with microvilli – white dots on a grayish field.

1.36: intercellular junctions:

a. zonula occludens – tight junction – dark lip.

b. zonula adherens – lip with light area in between.

b. zonula adherens desmosome – light area in between cell membranes, dark area around them
because of the filaments.

1.37: tonofilament bundle – aka intermediate filaments, long thing strands, cytoplasmic protein
structures in epithelial tissues that converge at desmosomes

1.38: nexus (gap junction) – allows communication of two adjacent cells by small molecules. The nexus
is composed of transmembrane channels, each composed of two connexons (one from each side) that
are composed of six protein subunits called connexins.

1.39: human spermatozoon with flagellum:

Acrosome – sheath around head of the sperm cell, derived from the Golgi apparatus and contains
enzymes necessary for penetration of zona pellucida of oocyte.

Centriole – between head and tail, is used by the zygote.

Axoneme – middle strand in the tail of the sperm cell, the central strand of a cilium or flagellum. It is
composed of an array of microtubules, typically in nine pairs around two single central ones.

Outer dense fibers – two of them, each around the axoneme.

Mitochondrial sheath – spiral sheath along the outer dense fibers.

1.40: pinocytic vesicles – type of endocytosis, when small vesicles containing extracellular fluid bud from
plasma membrane and fuse with lysosomes. Can be seen as a small part of the membrane forming a
circle, yet still connected with the rest of the membrane (before budding off).

Embryology:
Gametogenesis – formation of germ cells.

Formation of male is spermatogenesis, female is oogenesis.

Meiosis: creation of germ cells, consists of two cell divisions, during which the chromosome number in
each new cell will be reduced by half. During prophase the homologous chromosome pair up.

Time period between fertilization to dearth is called ontogeny.

In humans’ ontogeny is divided into two periods:

- Prenatal period – from fertilization to delivery

- Postnatal period – delivery and till death

Pre-embryonic phase:

The first three weeks after fertilization o the ovum, can be distinguished into several stages:

- Zygote - the cell which is the result of the fusion between male and female sex cells (gametes).
- Morula – the solid ball consisting of 12-16 blastomeres (cells produced by cleavage of the
zygote). Blastomeres are genetically equal, each can grow to a new individual.
- Blastocyst – the stage when the embryo has two different cell components and a cavity inside
that is filled with fluid. The cells are - trophoblast cells + inner cell mass or embryoblast cells.
This stage is reached usually by day 5.
o The phase of development that results in formation of blastocyst is called blastomeres
and becomes smaller with each division. Cleavage takes place in the uterine tube and in
the uterus.
- Gastrula – bilaminar pre-embryonic stage, the main body axis and polarity begin to become
apparent. Lasts from day 7 to the end of the second week after fertilization.

Ovum:
Diameter over 100um

- Well-developed nucleolus
- Numerous free ribosomes and smaller mitochondria
- Voluminous Golgi apparatus located near the nucleus.
- Few ER
- Absence of centrioles
- Cortical granules under cell membrane, contain material of mucopolysaccharide character.
- Surface of the ovum is limited by cell membrane, short microvilli project from it into the zona
pellucida, which is a clear envelope (10-12um thick).

Spermatogenesis:

Maturation process of male gametes. Two times mitosis to maintain a high number, then meiosis and
lastly development of the acrosome and tail. The site where spermatozoa undergo their development
and maturation is in the seminiferous tubules of the testis.

Oogenesis:

Maturation process of female gametes, 2 phases:

Oocytogenesis – mitotic division, begins during the fetal period, the oogonia enlarges to form the
primary oocytes, then enter the first meiotic division. The first meiotic division doesn’t create 4 equal
cells, it gives rise to one large secondary oocyte. During ovulation the secondary oocyte enters the
second meiotic division, but it stops at metaphase. The completion of the second meiotic division is
connected with the penetration of the sperm cell.

Capacitation of sperm cells:

An activation process that takes about 7 hours in the uterus or uterine tube, influenced by substances
secreted in these parts. the physiological changes spermatozoa must undergo in order to have the
ability to penetrate and fertilize an egg.

Acrosome reaction:

Follows capacitation, involves series of events, multiple points of fusion of the plasma membrane wwith
the outer acrosomal membrane, cause rupture and produce multiple perforations through them
enzymes containing acrosome escape.