The Prokaryotic cell and eukaryotic cells. Cell membranes and cell organelles: their structure and function.

Cell theory
Rober Hooke was able to leverage a primitive microscope. It had lenses that would provide some magnification, use of
a flame as a light and he would channel that light so it gets reflected over whatever he was observing.
He saw some little squares which are really similar to little rooms that monks live in that are called cells.
Antoine von Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch lens crafter, was inspired by Hooke’s work and said he could craft lenses so he
could make a better microscope and better observations. He was able to directly observe living cells and living
unicellular organisms. He could saw sperm, protists
In 1830’s Matthias Schleiden and Theodor Schwann are the ones that star the foundation of the “modern cell theory”.
There they deduce that all live is composed of one or more cells, so you could sat that the cell is the basic unit of life.
They also were able to observe cells coming from other cells
Mid 1800’s we get the idea that all cells come from other cells. The one that established that idea was Robert Remark;
however sometimes the credit goes to Rudolph Virchow who actually plagierized Remak’s work

The origin → 4 billion years ago!!

- Phospholipis naturally form bi-layers and that can actually form spherical membranes that have phospholipid
bi-layers
- Self-replicating RNA molecules or maybe self-replicating proteins

1. All living things are composed of one or more cells

2. The cell is the basic unit of life
3. New cells arise from pre-existing cells

The Prokaryotic cell and eukaryotic cells

All cells fall into one of two broad categories.
- Only the single-celled organisms of the domains Bacteria and Archaea are classifies as prokaryotes ( pro means
before and kary means nucleus)
- Animals, plants, fungi and protists are all eukaryotes (eu means true

C 1. Plasma membrane → is an outer covering that separates the cell’s interior from its surroundgin
O environment
M 2. Cytoplasm → consists of the jelly-like cytosol inside the cell PLUS the cellular structures suspended in it. In
M eukaryotes it means the region outside the nucleus but inside the plasma membrane
O 3. DNA → is the genetic material of the cell
N 4. Ribosomes → are molecular machines that synthesize proteins

Prokaryotes Eukaryotes

- From 0-1 to 5-0 micrometers (μm) in diameter - From 10 to 100 μm in diameter

- Simple, single-celled organism
- Lacks a nucleus and membrane-bound
organelles
- Not divided up on the inside by membrane walls,
it consist instead of a single open space
- The majority of DNA is found in a central region of
the cell called the nucleoid (it consists of a single
lager loop called a circular chromosome).
- A membrane-bound nucleus
- A central cavity surrounded by membrane that
houses the cell’s genetic material
- Membrane-bound organelles, compartments
with specialized functions that float in the cytosol
 - Multiple linear chromosomes, as opposed to the
single
circular

chromosome of a prokaryote

More information about prokaryotes

❏ Bacteria are very diverse in form, so not every type of bacterium will have all the features shown in the diagram
❏ Most bacteria are surrounded by a rigid cell wall made out of peptidoglycan

Peptidoglycans → polymer composed of linked carbohydrates ans smal proteins

❏ The cell wall provides an extra layer of protection, helps the cell maintain its shape and prevents the
dehydration

● Many bateria have an outermost layer of carbohydrates called capsule

Capsule → is sticky and helps the cell attach to surfaces in its environment

➢ Some bacteria also have specialized structures found on the cell surface, which may halp them move, stick to
surfaces or even exchange genetic material with other bacteria. e.g. flagella

Flagella → are whip-lipe structures that act as rotary motors to help bacteria move

➔ Other structures are

Fimbriae → are numerous, hair-like structures that are used for attachment to host cells and other surfaces
** a class of cell surface protrusions that are numerous, relatively short and involve in attachment to surfaces

Pili → are rod-like structures which come in different varieties. e.g. some types of pili allow a bacterium to
transfer DNS molecules to other bacteria. Others are involved in bacterial locomotion
** less numerous, longer and more specialized cell surface protrusions

- Archea may also have most of these cell surface features, but their versions of a particular feature are typically
different from those of bacteria. e.g. although archaea also have a cell wall, it’s not made out of
peptidoglycan (altohugh it does contain carbohydrates and proteins)

More about cell size

As cells become larger, it gets harder for them

to exchange enough nutrients ans wastes with
their environment.

Surface-area-to-volume-radio
This is important because the plasma membranes is the cell’s interface with the environment. If the cell need to take up
nutrients, it must do so across the membrane and if it needs to eliminate wastes, the membrane is again ist only route.
Each path of membrane can exchange only so much of a given substance in a given period of time, for instance,
because it contains a limited number od channels. If the cell grows too large, its membrane will not have enough
exchange capacity (surface area, square function) to support the rate of exchange required for its increased
metabolic activity (volumen, cube function)

Cell membranes and cell organelles: their structure and function

Plasma membrane

- Both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells have a plasma membrane, a double layer of lipids called
phospholipids that separate the cell interior from the outside environment
Phospholipid
- Is made up of a hydrophilic (water-loving) phosphate head along with two hydrophobic (water-fearing) fatty
acid tails.
- They spontaneously arrange themselves in a double-layered structure with their hydrophobic tails pointing
inward and their hydrophilic head facing outward.

● Proteins are also an important component of the plasma membrane. Some of them pass all the way through
the membrane, serving as channels or signal receptors. While other are just attached at the edge
● Differnt types of lipids (cholesterol) may also be found in the cell membrane and affect its fluidity
● It also controls passage of various
molecules (including sugars, amino
acids, ions, water) into and out of the
cell. How easily these molecules can
cross the membrane depends on their
size and polarity.
● Larger and more polar, hydrophilic,
molecules (such as amino acids) must
instead cross the membrane by way
of protein channels. A process often
regulated by the cell.
● The surface area of the plasma
membrane limits the exchange of
materials between a cell and its
environment. Some of them are especialized in the exchange of wastes or nutrients and have modifications
to increase the area os the plasma membrane

** The membrane of some nutrient-absrobing cells are folded into fingerlike projections called microvilli(us). Cell
with microvilli cover the inside surface of the small intestine (it absorbs nutrients from digested food and help
intestinal cell meximaze their absorption of nutrients from food by increasing plasma membrane surface area)

The cytoplasm

Prokaryotes
- In prokaryotic cells (no
nucleus) → everything
found inside the
plasma membrane
Eukaryotes
- In eukaryotic cells (with nucleus) → everything between the plasma
membrane and the nuclear envelope
- Includes membrane-bound organelles, which are suspended in the cytosol
● Cytoskeleton → network of fibers that supports the cell and gives it
 shape, helps to organize cellular components

● It is made up of 3 parts: cytosol, organelles and inclusions

Cytosol → liquid outside the organelles 70% of cell volume. A mixture of water, salt, cytoskeleton and protein
filaments. Soluble proteins and vaults, among other organic molecules. Some ions are included (K, Na, Cl, Ca)

Inclusions → Non-living elements that lack membranes and metabolic functions. The most common are lipid
droplets, crystals, pigments and glycogen

● In both of them it is gel-like, water-based solution that contains ions, small molecules and macromolecules
● Even though it is mostly water, it has a semi-solid consistency because of the many protein suspended in it
● It contains a rich broth of macromlecules and smaleler organic molecules, including glucose and other
simple sugar, polysaccharides, amino acis, nucleic acids and fatty acids.
● Ions of sodium, potassium, calcium and other elements are also found there
● Many metabolic reactions, including protein synthesis, take place in this part of thh cell such as

Function of Cytoplasm
- Cell shape → because of its cytosol, the cytoplasm gives the cell volume. Without it, it would be a flat and
empty membrane and organelles might collide against each other. This is also due to its cytoskeleton (made
up of cytoplasmatic filaments that hold the cell’s shape together)
- Material transport → its liquid volume allows material inside the cell to transport between organelles more
easily. This is due to cytoplasmatic streaming: a process where the cytoplasm churns and creates a flow
through its cytosol for material such as nutrients, genetic information and metabolites (to pass through it from
organelle to organelle). This also allows the cell to actually move. Some cells have cilia (tiny hair-
likeappendages) outside the cell that allow them to move. e.g. an amoeba is able to move only thought the
process of cytoplasmatic streaming
- Storage → there are some cells that act as storage until these materials are actually needed. It also stores
metabolic waste like carbon cells, untilt he disposal process can be carried out

Nucleus

- It houses the cell’s genetic material or DNA. Also it it the site of synthesis for ribosomes (the cellular machines
that assemble proteins)
- Inside of it, chromatin (DNA wrapped around proteins) is stored in a gel-like substance called nucleoplasm
- Enclosing the nucleoplasm is the nuclear envelope

Nuclear envelope → made up of 2 layers of membranes: outer and inner. Each of these membranes contain 2
layers of phospholipids, arranged with their tails pointing inward. There is also a thin space between the layers of
the nuclear envelope, directly connected to the interior of a membranous organelle, the endoplasmic reticulum

- The nuclear pores are small channels that span the

nuclear envelope and let substances enter and exit the
nucleus. Each pore is lined by a set of preotins, called the
nuclear pore complex, that control what molecules can
go ir or out.
- Inside of the nucleus there is a darker spot (when looking
at a microscope), this region is called the nucleolus and
this is the site in which new ribosomes are assembled

Ribosome → some chromosomes have sections of DNA that encode

ribosomal RNA (a type of structural RNA that combines with proteins
to make the ribosome). In the nucleus, new ribosomal RNA combines
 with proteins to form the subunits of the ribosome. The newly made
subunits are transported out through the nuclear pores to the
cytoplasm

- Some cell types have more than one nucleolus inside the nucleus. For instance, some mouse cell have upt to
6 nuceloli.
- ** Prokaryotes, which do not have a nucleus, don’t have nucleoli and build their ribosmoes int he cytosol

Chromosomes and DNA

- Most of an organism’s DNA is organized into one or more chromosomes, each of which is a very long strip or
loop of DNA. A single chromosome can carry many different genes.

In prokaryotes → it is typically organized into a single circular chromosome (a loop)

In eukaryotes → chromosomes are linear structures (strings). Every species has a specific
number of chromosomes i the nuclei of its body’s cells. e.g. a typical human body cell would
have 46 and a fruit fly cell would have 8

- Chromosomes are only visible as distinct structures when the cell is getting ready to divide. When it is in the
growth and maintenance phases of its life cycle, the
chromosomes instead resemble an unwound,
jumbled bunch of threads. In this form, the DNA is
accessible to the enzymes that transcribe it into RNA,
allowing thegenetic information to be put to use
(expressed)
- In both their loose and compact forms, the DNA
strands of chromosomes are bound to structural
proteins, including a family of proteins called histones.
These DNA-associated proteins roganize the DNA and
help it fit into the nucleus, and also play a role in
determining which genes are active or inactive.
- The complex formed by DNA and its supporting structural proteins is known as chromatin.

Ribosomes

- These are the molecular machines responsible for protein

synthesis that is made out of RNA and proteins.
- Each ribosome consists of 2 separate RNA-protein complexes
(known as the small and large subunits)
● The large subunit sits on top of the small subunit, with
an RNA template sadwinched between the 2.
● A ribosome looks like a hamburger with a puffy bun
on top, an RNA “patty” threading through it
- In prokaryotes (they lack a nucleus), their mRNAs are
transcribed int he cytoplasm and can be translated by
ribosomes immediately

In eukaryotic cells
❏ They get their order for protein synthesis from the nucleus, where portions of DN (genes) are transcribed to
make messenger RNAs (mRNAs).
❏ An mRNA travels to the ribosome, which uses the information it contains to build a protein with a specific
amino acid sequence. This process is called translation.
❏ They may be either free, meaning that they are floating around in the cytoplasm or bound, meaning that
 they are attached to the endoplasmic reticulum (rough endoplasmic reticulum) or the outside of the nuclear
envelope

- Because protein synthesis is an essential function of all cells, ribosomes are found in practically every cell
type of multicellular organisms, as well as in prokaryotes such as bacteria. However, eukaryotic cells that
specialize in producing proteins have large numbers of ribosomes e.g. the pancreas in responsible for
producing and secreting large amounts of digestive enzymes, so the pancreatic cells that make these
enzymes have an unusually high number of ribosomes

Notes:
➔ Translation of mRNA and protein synthesis are the same thing
◆ It is the whole process by which the base sequence of an mRNA is used to order and to join the amino
acids in a protein. The three types or RNA participate un this essential protein-synthesizing pathway in all
cells.
➔ In the case of RNA…
◆ Messenger RNA (mRNA) → carries the genetic information copied from DNA in the form of a series of
three-base code “words”, each of which specifies a particular amino acid
◆ Transfer RNA (tRNA) → is the key to deciphering the code words in mRNA. Each type of amino acid has
its own type of tRNA, which binds it and carries it to the growing end of a polypeptide chain if the next
code word on mRNA call for it. The correct tRNA with its attached amino acid is selected at each step
because each specific tRNA molecules contains a tree-base sequence that can base-pair with its
complementary code word in the mRNA
◆ Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) → associates with a set of preotins to form ribosomes. These complex structures,
which physically move along an mRNA molecule, catalyze the assembly of amino acids into protein
chains. They also bind tRNAs and various accessory molecules necessary for protein synthesis.
Ribosomes are composed of a large and small subunit, each of which contain its own rRNA molecule(s)

THE ENDOMEMBRANE SYSTEM

What is it?
- Endo means within
- It is a group of membranes and organelles in eukaryotic cells that work together to modify, package and
transport lipids and proteins. It does not include mitochondria, chloroplasts or peroxisomes
- It includes the nuclear envelope and lysosomes, endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus
- Although it is not inside the cell (“technically”), the plasma membrane is also part of it. The plasma membrane
interacts with the other endomembrane organelles and it’s the site where secreted proteins (like the pancreatic
enzymes) are exported.

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER)

- Key role in the modification of proteins and the synthesis of lipids. It consists on a network of membranous
tubules and flattened sacs. The discs and tubules of the ER are hollow and the space inside is called the lumen

❏ Rough ER
- Bumpy ribosomes attached to its cytoplasmic surface. As the ribosomes make proteins, they feed the
newly forming protein chains into the lumen. Some are transferred fully into the ER and float inside,
while other are anchored in the membrane
- Inside the ER, the proteins fold and undergo modifications, such as the addition of carbohydrate side
chains. These modified proteins will be incorporated into cellular membranes (the membrane of the ER
or other organelles) or secreted from the cell
 - If the modifies proteins are not destined to stay in the ER, they will be packaged into vesicles, or small
spheres of membrane that are used for transport and shipped to the golgi apparatus. The rough ER also
makes phospholipids for other cellular membranes, which are transported when the vesicle forms.

Since the rough ER helps modify proteins that will be secreted from the cell, cells whose job is
to secrete large amount of enzymes or other proteins, such as liver cells, have lots of rough ER

❏ Smooth ER
- It is continuous with the rough ER, but has few or no ribosomes on its cytoplasmic surface. Its functions:
● Synthesis of carbohydrates, lipids and steroid hormones
● Detoxification of medications and poisons
● Storage of calcium ions
- Sarcoplasmic reticulum → special type of smooth ER in muscle cells, responsible for storage of calcium
ions which are needed to trigger the coordinated contractions of muscle fibers
- Transitional ER → there are also tiny “smooth”patches of ER found within the rough ER which serve as
exit sites for vesicles budding off from the rough ER

The Golgi apparatus

- When vesicles bud off from the ER and before reaching their final
destination, the lipids and proteins in the transport vesicles need to
be sorted, packaged and tagged, so that they wind up in the right
place. This sorted, tagging, packaging and distribution takes place
in the Golgi apparatus (Golgi body), an organelle made up of
flattened discs of membrane.
- The receiving side of Golgi apparatus is called the cis face and the
opposite side is called the trans face. Transport vesicles from the ER
travel to the cis face,fuse with it, and empty their contents into the
lumen of the Golgi apparatus
- As proteins and lipids travel through the Golgi, they undergo further
modifications. Short chains of sugar molecules might be added or
removed, or phosphate groups attached as tags. Carbohydrate
processing is shown in the diagram as the gain and loss of
branches on the purple carbohydrate group attached to the
protein.
- Finally, the modified proteins are sorted (based on markers such as
amino acid sequences and chemical tags) and packaged into
vesicles that bud from the trans face of the Golgi. Some of these
vesicles deliver their contents to other parts of the cell where they
will be used, such as the lysosome or vacoule. Others fuse with the plasma membranes, delivering membrane-
anchored proteins that function there are releasing secreted proteins outside the cell.
- Cells that secrete many proteins (such as salivary gland cells that secrete digestive enzymes, or cells of the
inmune system that secrete antibodies) have many Golgi stacks. In plant cells, the Golgi apparatus also makes
polysaccharides (long-chani carbohydrates), some of which are incorporated into the cell wall

Lysosomes

- Organelle that contains digestive enzymes and acts as the organelle-recycling facility of an animal cell. It
breaks down old and unnecessary structures so their molecules can be reused. Lysosomes are part of the
endomembrane system, and some vesicles that leave the Golgi are bound for the lysosome.
 Why don’t lysosomes digest themselves?
Most of proteins found in the membrane of a lysosome have an unusually large number of carbohydrate
(sugar) groups attached to them. These sugar protect the membrane proteins by preventing the digestive
enzymes in the interior of the lysosome from breaking them dow.

- Lysosomes can also digest foreign particles that are

bought into the cell from outside. E.g. a class of white
blood cells called macrophages, which are part of the
human inmune system. In a process known as
phagocytosis, a section of the macrophage’s plasma
membrane invaginates (folds inward) to engulf a
pathogen
- The invaginated section, with the pathogen inside,
pinches off the plasma membrane to form a structure
called a phagosome. The phagosome then fuses with a
lysosome, forming a combined compartment where
digestive enzymes destroy the pathogen

Vacuoles
- Plants cells are unique because they have a lysosome-like organelle called the vacoule. The large central
vacoule stores water and wastes, isolated hazardous materials, and has enzymes that can break down
macromlecules and cellular components, like those of a lysosome. Plant vacuoles also function in water
balance and may be used to store compounds such as toxins and pigments (colored particles)

*Additional Notes*
➔ Difference between vesicle and vacuole
◆ Vesicle’s function is to transport proteins
◆ Vacuole’s store water, salt and toxins

➔ Difference between lipid and phospholipid

◆ Lipid is composed of glycerol and 3 fatty acid chains
◆ Phospholipids has a phosphate group attached to it

➔ Difference between vacuole in plants and animal cells

Plant cells Animal cells

- The water pushes the cytoplasm outward against the cell wall that - While animal cells do
creates the hydrostatic pressure (turgor). The mechanism keeps NOT have a cell wall
the plant from wilting and pleys a key role in the water balance. (they can have a
- Generally this central vacuole has lower pH, which help digestive similar thing called cell
substances. cortex)
- It is also used as a storage room e.g. citruses have their juice in - Vacuoles play a
these vacuoles. subordinate role.
- Keeps the ceel wall rigid and thus keeps the plant in upright - They help with the
position an so on endo and exocytosis
- It pushes every other cell organelle against the wall and to the - Some cells have NO
surface of the cell e.g. pushing chloroplasts closer to light and vacuoles at all
“promote” photosynthesis

➔ Difference between lysosomes and peroximes

◆ Both are organelles involved in breaking down molecules and neutralizing hazards to the cell. They
usually show up as small, round blobs in diagrams
 ◆ In the case of peroximes
● It houses enzymes involved in oxidation reactions, which produce hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)
as a by-product
● The enzymes break down fatty acids and amino acids. They also detoxify some substances that
enter the body
● E.g. alcohol is detoxifies by peroxisomes found in liver cells
● They are NOT part of the endomembrane system. They don’t receive cells from the Golgi
apparatus

➔ Why is the inner membrane of the lysosome not affected by the enzymes inside it?
◆ Because it is made up of proteins with an “unusually” large number of carbohydrates groups attached
to them. This prevents the breaking down of the proteinaceous membrane, ergo protecting them from
the hydrolytic action of the enzymes.

Mitochondria and chloroplasts

Mitochondria → are found inside of your cells, along with the cells of plants. They convert the energy stored in molecules
from the broccoli (or other fuel molecules) into a form the cell can use.
Chloroplasts → are organelles found in the broccoli’s cells, along with those of other plants and algae. They capture
light energy and store it as fuel molecules int he plant’s tissues.

Chloroplasts Mitochondria

Found only in plants and photsynthetic algae
(humans and other animals do NOT have
chloroplasts)
The PHOTOSYNTHESIS, is a process where light energy
is collected and used to build sugars from carbon
dioxide.
- The sugars produced here may be used by
the plant cell,, or may be consumed by
animals that eat plants (such as humans)
- The energy contained in these sugars is
harvested through a process called cellular
respiration, which happens in the
mitochondria of both plant and animal cells
Characteristics:
- Disc-shaped found in the cytosol of a cell
- They have outer and inner membrane with
an intermembrane space between them
- In the center it contains membrane discs
known as thylakoids, arranged in
interconnected stacks called grana (pl.
granum)
- The membrane of a thylakoid disc contains
light-harvesting complexes that include
chlorophyll (a pigment that gives plants their
green color)
Known as the powerhouses or energy factories of the cell.
Their job is to make a steady supply of adenosine
triphosphate (ATP), the cell’s main energy-carrying
molecule.
- The process of making ATP ussing chemical energy
from fuels such as sugars is called cellular respiration,
and many of its steps happen inside the
mitochondria
Characteristics
● It is suspended in the jelly-like cytosol of the cell
● They are oval-sjaped and have 2 membranes:
○ an outer one, surrounding the whole
organelle
○ an inner one, with many inward protrusions
called cristae that increase surface area
Cristae → It was thought to be broad, wavy folds, but
now they are understood to be more like long caverns.

Thylakoid discs → are hollow, the space

inside the disc is called thylakoid space or
lumen. While the flfuid surrounding the
thylakoids is called stroma
 The space between the membrane is called the
intermembrane space and the compartment enclosed by
the inner membrane is called the mitochondrial matrix.

Matrix contains mitochondrial DNA and ribosomes.

Their number very depending on the role of the cell and its
energy needs e.g. muscle cells typically have high energy
needs, while blod cells have no mitochondria at all.

The multi-compartment structure is vert useful for cellular respiration, because it allows reactions to be kept separate
and different concentration of molecules to be maintenance in different “rooms”

1. Electrons from fuel molecules such as sugar glucose, are stripped off in reactions that take place in the cytosol
and in the mitochondrial matrix.
2. These electrons are captured by special molecules called electron carries and deposited into the electron
transport chain (a series of proteins embedded in the inner mitochondrial membrane)
3. As the electrons move down the transport chain, energy is released and used to pump protons (H+) out of the
matrix and into the intermembrane space
4. As protons flow back down their gradient and into the matrix, they pass through an enzyme called ATP
synthase, which harnesses the flow of protons to generate ATP
Oxidative phosphorylation → the process of generating ATP using the proton gradient generated by the electron
transport chain. The compartmentalization of the mitochondrion into matrix and intermembrane space is essential for
this process, as it allows a proton gradient to be established
Where did these organelles come from?
● Both of them contain their own DNA
and ribosomes.
Endosymbiosis → endo (within); symbiosis
(relationship in which organism from 2 separate
species live in a close, dependent relationship).
So it is a specific type of symbiosis where one
organism lives inside the other

Bacteria, mitochondria and chloroplasts are

similar in size.
- Bacteria also have DNA and ribosomes
similar to those of mitochondria and
chloroplast.

Host cells and bacteria formed endosymbiosis

relationship long ago, when individual host cells took in aerobic (oxygen-using)and photosynthetic bacteria but did not
destroy them. Through millions of years of evolution, the aerobic bacteria became mitochondria and the
photosynthetic bacteria became chloroplast.

Additional notes
➔ What’s the function of the matrix?
◆ It’s where the Krebs cycle takes place. Compartment for generating a different concentration of
Hyrogen ion (protons) therefore generating proton gradient and enabling substrate and oxidative
phosphorylation of ATP
Cytoskeleton
- In eukaryotes there are 3 types of protein in the cytoskeleton: microfilaments, intermediate filaments and
microtubules.
Microfilaments - They are the narrowest, with a diameter of 7 nm
- They are made up of many linked monomers of a protein called actin,
combines in a structure that resembles a double helix
- Because they are made up of actin filaments, they are also known as
actin filaments

Actin filaments
● They have directionality, meaning that they have 2 structurally
different ends
Important roles*
● They serve as tracks for the movement of a motor protein called
myosin which can also form filaments (bc of this it is involved in motion
events)
● In animal cell division, a ring made of actin and myosin pinches the
cell apart to generate two new daughter cells
● In muscle cells, actin and myosine, are plentiful. They form organized
structures of overlapping filaments called sarcomeres.

When actin and myosine filaments of a sarcomere slide past

each other in concert, your muscles contract

● They also may serve as highways inside the cell for the transport of cargoes, including
protein-containing vesicles and even organelles.

These cargoes are carried by individual myosin motors, which “walk” along actin
filament bundles.

● Actin filaments can assemble and disassemble quickly, and this property allows them to
play an important role in cell motility (movement), such as the crawling of a white blood
cell in your inmune system
● In most animal cells, a network of actin filament is found in the region of cytoplasm at the
very edge of the cell. This network, which is linked to the plasma membrane by special
connector proteins, gives the cell shape and structure

Intermediate - Made of multiple strands of fibrous proteins wound together

filaments - They have an average diameter of 8 to 10 nm
- They also come in a number of different varieties, each one made
up of a different type of protein.
- Keratin → a fibrous protein found in hair, nails and skin.

Shampoo ads claim to smooth the keratin in hair

- Unlike actin filaments, which can grow and disassemble quickly,

intermediate filaments are more permanent and play an
essentially structural role in the cell
- They are specialized to bear tension, maintain the shape of the
cell and anchoring the nucleus and other organelles in place.

Microtubules - Despite having “micro” in their name → they are the largest of
the 3 types of fibers with a diameter of about 25 nm
- It is made up of tubulin proteins arranged to form a hollow,
straw-like tube

Each tubulin protein consists of 2

subunits: a-tubulin and ß-tubulin

- They are dynamic structures: they can

grow and shrink quickly by the addition
or removal or tubulin proteins.
- Also have directionality, the 2 ends are
structurally different from one another
Funtions*
 - They are important because they help the cell resist compression forces
- They provide tracks for motor proteins called kinesis and dyneins, which transport vesicles
and other cargoes around th interior of the cell.
- During cell division, microtubules assemble into a structure called the simple, which plus the
chromosomes apart

Flagella, cilia and centrosomes

- Microtubules are also key components of 3 more specialized eukaryotic cell structures

Prokaryotes → also have flagella (used to move) BUT they have different structure from the eukaryotic one

Flagella Cilia

- Long, hair-like structures that
extend from the cell surface and
are used to move an entire cell
e.g. a sperm
- A cell has usually one or just a
few
- Motile cilia (singular, cillium) are similar to flagella BUT shorter
- Usually appear in large numbers on the cell surface
- When cells with motile cilia form tissues, the beating helps move
materials across the surface of the tissue
e.g. the cilia od cell in your upper respiratory system help
move dust and particles out towards your nostrils

Despite their difference in length and number, flagella and motile cilia share a common structural pattern.
- There are 9 pairs of microtubules arranged in circle, along with an additional 2 microtubules in the center of
the ring.
- This arrangement is called a 9 + 2 array. We can se the 9 + 2 array in the electron microscopy image at left,
which shows 2 flagella in cross-section

❏ Motor proteins called dyneins move along the microtubules, generating force that causes the flagellum or
cillium to beat.
❏ The structural connections between the microtubule pairs and the coordination of dynein movement allow
the activity of the motors to produce a pattern of regular beating.

❖ They also have a basal body located at its base.

➢ It is made of microtubules, it is actually just a MODIFIED CENTRIOLE
➢ Importance: Assembly of the cillium or flagellum. Once the structure has been assembled, it also
regulates which proteins can enter or exit.

Centriole
- Is a cylinder of nine triplets of microtubules
- They are held together by supporting proteins
- They are best known for their role in centrosomes

Centrosomes
- Structures that act as microtuble organizing at right angles to each
other, surrounded by a mass of “pericentriolar material”, which
provides anchoring sites for microtubules.
- It is duplicated before the cell divides and the paired centrosomes
seem to play a role in organizing the microtubules that separate
chromosomes during cell division. (The exact function of the centriole
in this process still isn’t clear)

Cells with their centrosome removed can still divide, and plant
cells (which lack centrosomes) divide just fine.

Additional notes
 ➔ Is cytoskeleton present in prokaryotes?
◆ MreB → homologue of actin
◆ FtsZ → homologue of actin
◆ Crescentin → homologue of intermediate filaments

➔ Importance of cytoskeleton
◆ Pull chromosomes apart at anaphase
◆ Form a contractile ring to split the cell in two during mitosis
◆ Transport materials from one part of the cell to another
◆ Can form structures as villi and microvilli
◆ Responsible for cellular polarity
◆ Gives shape an suppor to the cell

➔ What would happen to a cell without a cytoskeleton?

◆ A cell would lost it’s shape and structure
◆ Be unable to mitoticaly divide
◆ Be unable to support transport within molecules inside of a cell
◆ Lose it’s polarity
◆ Probably trigger apoptosis very soon

Extracellular matrix of animal cells

- Most animals cells release materials into the extracellular space,
creating a complex meshwork of proteins and carbohydrates
called the extracellular matrix (ECM)
- A major component of the EMC is the protein collagen. Which
are modified with carbohydrates, and once they’re released from
the cell, they assemble into long fibers called collagen fibrils

Collagen → gives tissues strength and structural integrity.

Human genetic disorders that affect collage e.g. Ehlers-Danlos
syndrome, result in fraile tissues that stretch and tear too easily

- Colagen fibers are interwoven with a class of carbohydrates-

bearing proteoglycans, which may be attached to a long
polysaccharide backbone.

Proteoglycans → a special class of glycoproteins. They are

heavily glycosylated, meaning that they have a lot of
carbohydrate relative to their protein content. In addition, the
carbohydrate chains of proteoglycans contain specific types
of sugars with sulfate modification, linked together to form
linear chains.

- ECM is directly connected to the cells it surrounds. Some key connectors are:
● Integrins → which are embedded in the plasma membrane.
○ On the inner side of the membrane they are linked to the cytoskeleton.
○ They also anchor the cell to the ECM
○ They help it sense its environment
○ Also they detect both chemical and mechanical cues from the ECM
○ They trigger signaling pathways in response
● Fibronectin → (shown in green), can act as bridges between integrins and other ECM proteins such as
collagen.
 Blod clotting → an example of communication between cells and ECM
1. When the cells lining a blood vessel are damaged, they display a protein receptor called tissue factor.
2. The tissue factor binds to a molecule present in ECM and it triggers a range of response that reduces blood
loss
3. For instance, it causes platelets to stick to the well of the damaged blood vessel and stimulates them to
produce clotting factors

The cell wall

- Though plants don’t make collagen, they have their own type
of supportive extracellular structure
- It is a rigid covering that surrounds the cell, protecting it and
giving it support and shape

Fungi also have cell walls, as do some protists (a group of

mostly unicellular eukaryotes) and most prokaryotes

- Plant cell wall is made up of molecules secreted by the cell.

● Cellulose → major organic molecule, polysaccharide
composed of glucose units. It assembles into fibers called microfibrils
- Most plant cells contain a variety of different polysaccharides and proteins:
● Hemicellulose and pectin

The middle lamella is a sticky layer that helps the cell walls od adjacent plant cells together.

Additional notes
➔ Does the ECM act as receptor?
◆ The integrins (which connect the ECM to the cytoskeleton) act as receptors in the sense that they
receive signals from the ECM and modulate the cell signlaing pathways.

➔ Where is collagen synthesized and how does it reach its destination?

◆ Proteins that get exported are (typically) synthesized by ribosomes bound to the ER e.g. rough ER
◆ The collagen precursor polypeptide then gets processed in the ER and Golgi before being exported
via exocytosis (vesicles bud off from the Golgi and then fuse with plasma membrane)
◆ Once outside the cell, collagen undergoes further modification by enzymes that are also secreted by
cells

➔ What makes a molecule sticky?

◆ It depends on the type of molecule. In the case of polarity:
● Polar wise molecules e.g. water, will attract same affinity molecules
● Non polar molecules e.g. fats, the same

➔ What is the difference between Proteoglycan and Glucocalyx

◆ Glycocalyx → it surrounds a bacteria cell
◆ Proteoglycan → surrounds animal cells

➔ Do plants have ECM?

◆ No, ECM is foun outside animal cells only

➔ What does carbohydrate-bearing mean?

◆ It means that the original molecule (protein in this case) has had one or more carbohydrate
molecules covalently bonded to it. → This is in reference to proteoglycan
 ➔ Is cell wall also known as the phospholipid bilayer?
◆ Cell wall → it is outside of the phospholipid bilayer. JUST IN PLANT CELLS
◆ Phospholipid bilayer → also known as the cell membrane. Both animal and plant cells have a cell
membrane.

Cell - cell junctions

- Junctions serving all funtions can be found in cells of different types

Plasmodesmata - Plant cells, surrounded as they are by cell walls, don’t contact one another through wide
stretches of plasma membrane the way animal cells can.
- (singular, plasmodesma) → places where a hole is punched in the cell wall to allow direct
cytoplasmic exchange between 2 cells
- They are lined with plasma membrane that is continuous with the membrane of 2 cells
- Each plasmodesma has a thread of cytoplasm extending through it, containing an even
thinner thread of endoplasmic reticulum
- Molecules below a certain size move freely through the plasmodesmal chanel by passive
diffusion.

The size exclusion limit varies among plants, and even amog ell types within a plant.

- Plasmodesmata may selectively dilate (expand) to allow the passage of certain large
molecules, such as proteins.

Gap Junctions - The ones in animal cells are a lot like plasmodesmata in plant cells BUT structurally they are
different
- They are channels between neighboring cells that allow for the transport of ion, water and
other substances
- In vertebrates, gap junctions develop when a
set of 6 membrane proteins called connexins
form an elongated, donut-like structure called
connexon.
- Whenthe pores or doughnut holes of
connexons in adjacent animal cells align, a
channel forms between the cells.
- Invertebrates also form gap junctions in a
similar way, but use a different set of proteins
called innexins

IMPORTANCE in cardiac muscle:

The electrical signal to contract spreads rapidly between heart mcuscle cells as ions
pass through gap junctions, allowing the cells to contract in tandem

Tight Junctions - Not all junctions between cells produce

cytoplasmic connections. Instead, they
create a watertight seal between 2
adjacent animal cells
- Cells are help tightly against each other by
many individual groups of tight junction
proteins called claudins, each of which
interacts with a partner group on the
opposite cell membrane
- The groups are arranged into strands that
form a branching network, with larger
numbers of strands making for a tighter seal.
IMPORTANCE*
 ● To keep liquid from escaping between cells, allowing a layer of cells e.g. those lining an
organ, to act as an permeable barrier

E.g. tight junctions between the epithelial cells lining your blader prevent urine from leaking out
into extracellular space

Desmosomes - Also known as macula adherens

- They act like spots welds between
adjacent epithelial cells.
- It involves a complex o proteins. Some
of them extend across the membrane,
while other anchor the junction within
the cell
- Cadherins → are found on the
membranes of both cells and interact
in the space between them, holding
the membranes together.
● Inside of the cell, the
cadherines attach to a
structure call the cytoplasmic plaque which connects to the intermediate
filaments and helps anchor the junction

Desmosomes pin adjacent cells together, ensuring that cells in organs and tissues that
stretch, such as skin and cardiac muscle, remain connected in an unbroken sheet

Additional notes
➔ Are desmosomes and plasmodesmata similar?
◆ Desmosomes resemble plasmodesmata because they also provide a little space through BUT in this
case, intermediate filament of cytoskeleton are connected
◆ Desmosomes → have its connecting proteins called cadherins, theta re attached to both cells and
they protrude the ceel interior and anchor on intermediate filaments (cytoskelekton). Precisely, they
attach to cytoplasmic plaque, which connects to intermediate filaments.
◆ Desmosones and cadherines depend on each other, the last one is a big part of the desmosomes

➔ Can bateria form junctions with each other in order to exchange genetic material?
◆ This is known as conjugation where genetic material is exchanged through conjugation tubes or sex
pillus. One bacteria donates its DNA while the other receives it