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AnimalCell|Structure|FunctionofAnimalCell|Biology@TutorVista.com

AnimalCell

All animal cells are multicellular. They are eukaryotic cells. Animal cells are surrounded by plasma membrane
anditcontainsthenucleusandorganellesthataremembranebound.
Animal cells are of various sizes and have irregular shapes. Most of the cells size range between 1 and 100
micrometers and are visible only with help of microscope. Trillions of cells are found in the human body. There
aremanydifferenttypesofcells,approximately210distinctcelltypesinadulthumanbody.

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AnimalCellDefinition

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Animalcellsareeukarytoic.Animalcellsarehaveouterboundaryknownastheplasmamembrane.The nucleus
and the organelles of the cell are bound by a membrane. The genetic material (DNA) in animal cells is within
thenucleusthatisboundbyadoublemembrane.Thecellorganelleshaveavastrangeoffunctionstoperform
likehormoneandenzymeproductiontoprovidingenergyforthecells.
The components of animal cells are centrioles, cilia and flagella, endoplasmic reticulum, golgi apparatus,
lysosomes, microfilaments, microtubules, mitochondria, nucleus, peroxisomes, plasma membrane and
ribosomes.

PartsofAnimalCell

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Animalcellcontainsmembraneboundnucleus,italsocontainsothermembraneboundcellularorganelles.These
cellular organelles carry out specific functions that are necessary for the normal functioning of the cell. Animal
cellslackcellwall,alargevacuoleandplastids.Duetothelackofthecellwall,theshapeandsizeoftheanimal
cells are mostly irregular. The constituents of animal cells are structures like centrioles, cilia and flagella and
lysosomes.
Partsoftheanimalcellareasfollows:

Cellmembraneformstheoutercoveringofthecell,andissemipermeable.
Cytoplasmisagellikematrixwherealltheothercellorganellesaresuspendedinsidethecell.
NucleuscontainsthehereditarymaterialDNAanddirectstheactivitiesofthecell.
Centriolesorganizethemicrotubulesassemblyduringcelldivision.
EndoplasmicReticulumareanetworkofmembranescomposedofroughandsmoothendoplasmic
reticulum.
Golgicomplexisresponsibleforstoring,packagingofcellularproducts.

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Lysosomesareenzymesacs,thatdigestcellularwastes.
Microtubulesarehollowrods,functionprimarilyassupportandshapetothecell.
Mitochondriaisthesiteforcellularrespirationandproducersofenergy.
RibosomesaremadeofRNAandproteins,andaresitesforproteinsynthesis.
Nucleolusisthestructurewithinthenucleusandhelpsinsynthesisofribosomes.
Nucleoporeisthetinyholeinthenuclearmembrane,allowsthemovementofnucleicacidsandproteins
in/outofthecell.

AnimalCellStructure

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Animalcellsareeukaryoticcells,thenucleusandotherorganellesofthecellareboundbymembrane.

Cellmembrane
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Itisasemipermeablebarrier,allowingonlyafewmoleculestomoveacrossit.
Electronmicroscopicstudiesofcellmembraneshowsthelipidbilayermodeloftheplasmamembrane,it
alsoknownasthefluidmosaicmodel.
The cell membrane is made up of phospholipids which has polar(hydrophillic) heads and nonpolar
(hydrophobic)tails.
Cytoplasm
Thefluidmatrixthatfillsthecellisthecytoplasm.
Thecellularorganellesaresuspendedinthismatrixofthecytoplasm.
Thismatrixmaintainsthepressureofthecell,ensuresthecelldoesn'tshrinkorburst.
Nucleus
NucleusisthehouseformostofthecellsgeneticmaterialtheDNAandRNA.
Thenucleusissurroundedbyaporousmembraneknownasthenuclearmembrane.
TheRNAmovesin/outofthenucleusthroughthesepores.
Proteinsneededbythenucleusenterthroughthenuclearpores.
TheRNAhelpsinproteinsynthesisthroughtranscriptionprocess.
Thenucleuscontrolstheactivityofthecellandisknownasthecontrolcenter.
Thenucleolusisthedarkspotinthenucleus,anditisthelocationforribosomeformation.
Ribosomes
RibosomesisthesiteforproteinsynthesiswherethetranslationoftheRNAtakesplace.
Asproteinsynthesisisveryimportanttothecell,ribosomesarefoundinlargenumberinallcells.
Ribosomes are found freely suspended in the cytoplasm and also are attached to the endoplasmic
reticulum.
Endoplasmicreticulum
ER is the transport system of the cell. It transports molecules that need certain changes and also
moleculestotheirdestination.
ERisoftwotypes,roughandsmooth.
ERboundtotheribosomesappearroughandistheroughendoplasmicreticulumwhilethesmoothERdo
nothavetheribosomes.
Lysosomes
Itisthedigestivesystemofthecell.
They have digestive enzymes helps in breakdown the waste moelcules and also help in detoxification of
thecell.
Ifthelysosomeswerenotmembraneboundthecellcouldnothaveusedthedestructiveenzymes.
Centrosomes
Itislocatednearthenucleusofthecellandisknownasthe'microtubuleorganizingcenter'ofthecell.
Microtubulesaremadeinthecentrosome.
Duringmitosisthecentrosomeaidsindividingofthecellandmovingofthechromosometotheopposite
sidesofthecell.
Vacuoles

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Theyareboundbysinglemembraneandsmallorganelles.
Inmanyorganismsvacuolesarestorageorganelles.
Vesiclesaresmallervacuoleswhichfunctionfortransportin/outofthecell.
Golgibodies
Golgibodiesarethepackagingcenterofthecell.
The Golgi bodies modify the molecules from the rough ER by dividing them into smaller units with
membraneknownasvesicles.
Theyareflattenedstacksofmembraneboundsacs.
Mitochondria
Mitochondriaisthemainenergysourceofthecell.
Theyarecalledthepowerhouseofthecellbecauseenergy(ATP)iscreatedhere.
Mitochondriaconsistsofinnerandoutermembrane.
Itissphericalorrodshapedorganelle.
Itisanorganellewhichisindependentasithasitsownhereditarymaterial.
Peroxisomes
Peroxisomes are single membrane bound organelle that contain oxidative enzymes that are digestive in
function.
Theyhelpindigestinglongchainsoffattyacidsandaminoacidsandhelpinsynthesisofcholesterol.
Cytoskeleton
Itisthenetworkofmicrotubulesandmicrofilamentfibres.
Theygivestructuralsupportandmaintaintheshapeofthecell.
CiliaandFlagella
Ciliaandflagellaarestructurallyidenticalstructures.
Theyaredifferentbasedonthefunctiontheyperformandtheirlength.
Ciliaareshortandareinlargenumberpercellwhileflagellaarelongerandarefewerinnumber.
Theyareorganellesofmovement.
The flagellar motion is undulating and wavelike whereas the ciliary movement is power stroke and
recoverystroke.

FunctionofAnimalCell

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All living organisms are made up of cells. Cells are differentiated into plant cells and animal cells. Structurally
thereareafewdifferencesinplantandanimalcellsthoughtheirfunctionalityisalmostthesame.

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Allthecellsareenclosedinaprotectivemembranecalledthecellmembranehoweverplantcellshaveanextra
addition the cell wall. The cells have certain organelles that are membrane bound within them, these structures
are called cellular organelles. These organelles are specified to perform certain activities that are important for
the survival of the cell. All the cells function together in coordination with each other and help the organism to
survive. The functions of animal cell is carried out by the different cell organelles. The organelles of the cell
function as a unit and regulate the activities of the cell. The different cell organelles and their functions are as
follows:
CellNucleusCellnucleusisreferredtoasthecontrolcenterofthecell.Thegeneticmaterialoftheorganismis
present in the cell. The replication of DNA, and synthesis of RNA occurs in the nucleus of the cell. It also
regulatestheactivitiesoftheothercellularorganelles.
Mitochondria The mitochondria is referred to as the power house of the cell. Its main function if to produce
energyforcellbytheprocessofcellularrespiration.TheenergyproducedisATP.
EndoplasmicReticulumItisanetworkfortransportationofcertainsubstancesinandoutofthenucleus.
Golgi Apparatus It is involved with processing and packaging of the molecules that are synthesized by the
cells.ThecrudeproteinsthatarepassedonbytheERtotheapparatusaredevelopedbythegolgiapparatusinto
primary,secondary,andtertiaryproteins.
RibosomesThefunctionofribosomesisproteinsynthesis.
LysosomesTheyarereferredtoasthesuicidebagsofthecell.Theyhavedigestiveenzymesandareinvolved
in clearing the in wanted waste materials from the cell. They also engulf damaged materials like the damaged
cells,andinvadingmicroorganismsanddigestfoodparticles.
VacuoleTheyarelargestorageorganelles.Theystoreexcessfoodorwater.
FunctionsofTheAnimalCell
Theanimalcellsperformvarietyofactivitiesbytheaidofthecellularorganelles.Thesecellsfunctionasaunit
andthecellstogetherformtissues.Agroupgotissueswithsimilarfunctionformanorganandagroupoforgan
of specific function to perform becomes and organ system. Thus, the microscopic cells form the basic unit for
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theactivitiesandcoordinationandhelpsurvivaloftheorganism.

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