Advanced Cell Ch.

20

Extracellular matrix and connective tissues:

o Plant cells
The supportive matrix is called a cell wall
Cell walls are tough but not rigid
Can be filled with water to distend the cells and create turgor pressure
Two types of cell wall:
Primary cell walls:
o Primarily composed of pectin
o Not as strong and sturdy as secondary walls
o Allow growth; usually found on the outside of plant
Secondary cell walls:
o Primarily composed of cellulose
o Formed by thickening of primary wall or deposition of new layers with a

different composition
Cellulose:
o Polysaccharide
o Form long fibers along the lines of stress
o Cellulose microfilaments are interwoven with other polysaccharides and
structural proteins
o It is synthesized on the outer surface of the cell by enzyme complexes
embedded in the plasma membrane
Complexes transport sugar monomers across the membrane and

add them to growing chains

Each chain assembles to form cellulose microfibril
o Complexes move through the membranes trailing cellulose behind them
o Complexes follow microtubules under the plasma membrane.
Plant cells can become specialized:
Waxy, waterproof leaves
o Lignin: network of polymers embedded in the cellulose cell wall
Hard, thick, woody walls
o Animal cells
Connective tissues
Extracellular matrix is extensive
o It carries the bulk of the tensile force
Depends heavily on Collagen
o A protein with many varieties
o Chief proteins in bone, tendon, and skin
o Has a long, stiff triple-helical structure
Made of three collagen polypeptide chains

o These collagen molecules in turn assemble into polymers called collagen

fibrils
Thin cables of collagen triple-helices
o Pack together further to form collagen fibers
Connective tissue cells:
o In skin, tendon and other connective tissues they are called fibroblasts
o In bone they are called osteoblasts
In extracellular matrix
o To prevent formation in the cell, a precursor form of collagen, called
procollagen, is made and transported out of the cell
o Procollagen proteinases cut off extensions and assembly of collage

occurs
Organization of collagen:
o In alternating layers to resist tensile stress in multiple directions
o In one direction to resist tensile stress in one direction
o Fibroblasts control this organization
Deposit collagen in an oriented fashion
Then they rearrange it
Integrins couple the matrix to the cytoskeleton inside the cell
o Cells do not attach well to bare collage
o So fibronectin, another protein, binds to collagen and another part forms
a connection site for a cell
o Cell uses a receptor protein called an integrin to attach to the fibronectin
o Internal part of integrin binds to an actin filament through a set of adaptor
molecules
o Integrins undergo conformational changes as the cell moves
Integrins on white blood cells help them crawl out of blood

vessels at sites of infection

Deficiency of this integrin is leucocyte adhesion deficiency
Suffer from repeated bacterial infections
Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs): macromolecules in the extracellular matrix that
prevent compression
o They are negatively charged polysaccharide chains made of repeating
disaccharide units
o Highly hydrophilic
o Form hydrophilic gels because their negative charges attract cations and
water
Causes swelling

Swelling with stiff collagen can create a tough and durable

framework, like cartilage.

GAGs are usually covalently linked to core proteins to form proteoglycans
o These are extremely diverse in size, shape and chemistry
Typically many GAG chains are attached to a single core protein
o Core protein could be linked at the other end to more GAGs
o Structure of this looks like a bottle brush
In compact connective tissues like bone and tendon:
o GAGs proportion is small, matrix consists almost entirely of collagen
In eye:
o Almost entirely GAGs and water
Proteoglycans form gels that can filter out different sized and charged molecules
Epithelial tissues
Stratified: many cells thick
o Epidermis
Simple epithelium: only one cell layer thick
o Lining of the gut
Columnar: tall column shaped cells; one layer
Cuboidal: square and squat; one layer
Squamous: flattened cells
Epethilial cells have two faces:
o Apical surface is free and exposed to the air or to a watery fluid
o Basal surface is attached to a sheet of connective tissue called the basal

lamina
Lamina consists of a thin, tough sheet of extracellular matrix,

composed of many special types of collagen

Also protein called laminin
Provided adhesive sites for integrin molecules in the basal
plasma membranes of epithelial cells
The two faces are chemically different is polarized cell

Junctions:
o Tight Junctions: sealing function
seal neighboring cells together so that water-soluble molecules

cannot easily leak between them

formed by proteins called claudins and occludins
they are arranged in strands along the lines of the junction to

create the seal

help maintain cell polarity
o Adherens Junctions: bind one cell to another

a cadherin molecule is tethered inside the cell, via linker proteins,

to actin filaments
adherens form a continuous adhesion belt around each of the

interacting cells
near the apical end
bundles of actin filaments are connected from cell to cell across
the membrane
allows movement and vesicle formation
important in embryonic development of the neuronal tube;
gives rise to central nervous system and lens vesicle=lens

of eye
o Desmosomes: bind one cell to another
Different set of cadherin molecules connects to keratin filaments
Intermediate filaments found in epithelial
Keratin criss-cross the cytoplasm in bundles
Spot-welded with desmosome junctions
o Hemidesmosomes: bind cells to the basal lamina
Integrins connect to the basal lamina
Inside the cell, integrin tails are linked to keratin fibers
o Gap Junctions:
Transmembrane proteins called connexons are aligned to form

narrow, water-filled channels across the two plasma membranse

Allow cytosolic inorganic ions and small molecules to pass from

cell to cell
Can be opened and closed in response to extracellular or
intracellular signals
i.e. dopamine in retina neurons in response to increase in

light intensity
o Plasmodesmata: in plants only
Like gap junctions
Differ in that the channels of plasmodesmata are lined with

plasma membrane
Tissue Maintenance and Renewal:
o Basic Cell requirements:
All tissues need mechanical strength
Need for oxygen, nutrients, and waste disposal
Maintenance of the different tissue types that are in co-existence
Three factors contribute to this:
o Cell communication:

Cells continually monitor the environment for signals from other

cells
o Selective cell adhesion:
Cells adhere selectively due to different cadherin proteins, etc.
Homophillic binding to cells of the same type
Can bind to different cells, but only if the same adhesion

protein
o Cell memory: gene expression of past divisions is kept.
Fibroblast always produces fibroblasts
o Different tissues are renewed at different rates:
Cell turnover varies from cell to cell.
Ionizing radiation blocks cell division
Halts renewal
Cancers originate through violation of the controls mandating cell renewal
o Stem Cells:
Most of the specialized cells that need frequent renewal cannot renew themselves
They are terminally differentiated
o At the end of their developmental pathway
Instead they are generated from a stock of proliferating precursor cells
These derive from a much smaller number of self-renewing stem cells
Both reside with the differentiated cells
Stem cells can divide with no limit
Must choose between making more stem cells or making differentiated cells
Precursor cells are already slightly differentiated
Lining of small intestine:
Absorptive and secretory cells are arranged in a single layer covering the villi
Continuous with the epithelium lining the crypts
o Descend into the underlying connective tissue
Stem cells are near the bottom of the crypts
o Give rise mostly to proliferating precursor cells
o Move upward in the plane of the epithelial sheet
o As they move upward they terminally differentiate
Cells die when they reach the tip of the villi
Cancer:
o