Biology

Prokaryotes

Before nucleus, cells in which DNA is localized in a region but is not

bounded by a membrane - bound nucleus. They are all independent, single
- celled organisms & include thousands of species of bacteria &
cyanobacteria. The DNA is mostly free of structural proteins (histons &
nonhistons). Have a fairly uniform internal structure.The mechanics of
protein synthesis is the same in all bacteria.

Eukaryotes

The genetic material is the nucleus & the DNA is organized into
chromosomes. The DNA is tightly associated with specific proteins
(histons & nonhistons) to form nucleoproteins (which are organized to form
chromosomes). Contains numerous types of particles such as
mitochondria, granules, chloroplasts (only in plants), a variety of
compartments (nucleus, vacuoles) & numerous membraneous structures.

By fundamental elements of structure

Types of cells

Classification

Self-feeders. Use light energy of chemical energy to manufacture their own sugars,
fats & proteins. A few types of bacteria are autotrophic, as are more than 400000
plant species on earth.

Autotrophs
By the way they obtain energy

Other-feeders. Derive their energy by taking foods in the form of whole

autotrophs, their parts, or their waste products. Many kind of bacteria and all the
millions of animal and fungal species are heterotrophs.

Heterotrophs

Cells are the basic units of life

All organisms are constructed of cell

Cell Theory

All cells arise from preexisting cells

Cells of multicellular organisms are sometimes interconnected
Cells of multicellular animals must stick to solid surfaces, to divide,
move, assume specialized shapes, and carry out necessary functions
Provides the basic structure of the membrane & serves as a relatively impermeable barrier to the flow of most water-soluble molecules. Proteins molecules are
"dissolved" in the lipid bilayer and mediate the various functions of the membrane. Lipid molecules are insoluble in water but dissolve readily in organic solvents.
Consists of three major types: Phospholipids, cholesterol & glycolipids. All 3 are amphipathic (hydrophilic end & hydrophobic end).

Lipid bilayer

Biological membranes specific functions are carried out largely by proteins. Some transport specific molecules into and out of the cell; Some are enzymes that
catalyze membrane-associated reactions; Some serve as structural links between the cell's cytoskeleton & extracellular matrix; Some as receptors for
receiving & transducing chemical signals from the cell's environment. The amount & types of proteins in a membrane reflect it's functions. Usual plasma
membrane carries around about 50% of the mass being protein. Many membrane proteins are inserted directly into the bilayer itself like their lipid neighbors
(usually amphipathic). They have hydrophobic regions that interact with the hydrophobic tails of the lipid molecules in the interior of the bilayer and hydrophilic
regions that are exposed to water on one or, more usually, both sides of the membrane. Peripheral proteins (released by gentle procedures, such as extraction
by salt solution); integral proteins (released after total disruption of the bilayer with detergents or organic solvents). Transmembrane proteins (many proteins
which extends across the bilayer and are exposed to an aqueous environment on both sides of the membrane).

Membrane proteins

Surface

Plasma membrane

Membranes are fluid structures. The fluidity is effected by temperatures that might be encountered by living cells phase changes can occur with the
membrane becoming a semisolid gel. Individual lipids separate from one another in critical temp. Living cells cannot tolerate these effects of temp, certain
features of natural membranes are responsible for maintaining constant fluidity & permeability of these membranes. Phospholipids (The two hydrocarbon
chains are different & one of them usually contain a double bond. These chains have quite different temp for phase transitions, but because they are both
covalently linked to glycerol, physical separation cannot occur. This has the effect of broadening any phase transition, which means, the transition would
occur gradually over a range of temp rather than sharply at a critical temp; The membranes contain several different phospholipids, which widens the
transition even more). Cholesterol (is present in large amounts. In addition of regulating fluidity, cholesterol is thought to enhance the mechanical stability of
the bilayer. It's ring system is quite rigid & very hydrophobic. The rigid ring system interacts significantly with the hydrocarbon chains & strengthen the
membrane structure). Glycolipids (unknown functions; they may participate in intercellular adhesion in some tissue).

Fluidity of membrane

Inside individual cells, intracellular fluids make up the fluid part of cytoplasm. Outside of cells are extracellular fluids that bathe the surface of each cell. Dissolved in extra&intracellular
fluids are several grams of salt ions, sugar, proteins, hormones & other substances. However, some of these molecules are maintained at higher concentrations outside the cell than
inside, while others have more heavily concentrated inside the cell than outside. The plasma membrane is slowing or preventing the passage of polar ions or proteins through the
uncharged, hydrophobic interior of the lipid bilayer. Nevertheless, some ions & molecules are permitted to enter the cell.

Info

Diffusion is the tendency of a substance to move from a place of high concentration to one of lower concentration. The mobility of the water molecules is reduced in the
immediate vicinity of dissolved ions because water molecules are attracted to dissolved polar substances, such as sugar & salts. The diffusion will continue until the
concentration on both sides are equal, at the same rate in both directions. The passage of molecules across plasma membrane is called lipid diffusion (while accounts for only
a small % of molecules passing across cellular membranes, certain steroid hormones & lipid soluble vitamins could not enter cells without it). That is why cell membranes are
said to be semipermeable. Lipids of the plasma membrane are in a dynamic, fluid state, they are continuously moving laterally to some degree. As this movement occurs,
channels open temporarily to permit small polar molecules such as water & oxygen to enter & leave the cell's interior. No energy is required for this process.

Simple diffusion

Some substances can cross the plasma membrane by linking up with so-called carrier proteins, much as a substrate combined with an enzyme. Carriers are
integral membrane proteins that function like pores, with special membrane proteins packed together to form an actual passageway through the plasma
membrane. Because the pore is formed by proteins, a polar molecule passing through the membrane doesn't interact with the hydrophobic tails of the
phospholipids. The proteins have an important feature: Specificity. Only one kind of polar molecule (or group of structurally related ones) may enter via a given
carrier protein pore. The molecules move into or out of the cell faster & more efficiently than could occur by simple diffusion. No energy is required for this process.
The direction is wholly governed by the relative concentrations of the cargo substance. Moving is along a concentration gradient. If enough of a cargo is present to
form complexes with all the available carrier molecules, the carrier becomes saturated & the rate of carrier-facilitated diffusion reaches a maximum. This imposes
limits on the speed with which cells can take in or extrude certain substances. Molecules called ionophores give another way that polar substances can cross a
membrane: Produced by fungi, ionophores are doughnut-shaped molecules with an uncharged exterior & a hole or slot to carry cargo-usually an ion. These fungal
ionophores act as antibiotics that drastically upset the balance of ions inside bacterial cells and thus kill the cells before they can infect the fungus.

Carrier-facilitated diffusion

Movements of material

Transporting certain ions through the plasma membrane requires energy, particularly when this movement occurs against concentration gradients. A carrier protein binds
it's cargo, changes shape, and releases the cargo. ATP is consumed during each cycle. Enzymes that catalyze these processes hydrolyze ATP and so are referred to as
ATPases. The cargo-pumping activity of such enzymes is the primary reason why most cells require food & oxygen - they need to replenish ATP supplies for active transport.
Uniport (an active transport which carry and move a single cargo in a single direction). Symport (move two cargoes simultaneously in the same direction. It allows sugars or
amino acids to enter cells. In this co-transport, both sodium ions & an amino acid or sugar molecule bind to the carrier port, which discharges them inside the cell. Neither the
sugar nor the amino acid can be transported alone. However co-transport causes the level of sodium ions in the cell to rise. The ATPase pump out the excess salt that has
entered with the sugar of amino acids. This process underlies the active uptake of sugars, amino acids & other nutrients by the cells of the human gut). Antiport (move two
cargoes simultaneously in opposite directions).

Active transport

The mechanisms by which the

cells do this are very different
from those that mediate small
solute and ion transport, for they
involve the sequential formation
and fusion of membrane-bounded
vesicles. In both mechanisms,
each vesicle fuses only with
specific membrane structures,
ensuring an orderly transfer of
macromolecules between
outside & inside of the cell.

Transport of macromolecules & particles

Exocytosis: in order to secrete insulin across their plasma

membranes, insulin-producing cells package insulin molecules in
intracellular vesicles, which fuse with the plasma membrane and open
to the extracellular space, thereby releasing the insulin to the exterior.
Endocytosis: cells ingest macromolecules and particles by a similar
mechanism, only with the sequence reversed. The substance to be
ingested is progressively enclosed by a small portion of the plasma
membrane, which first invaginate and then pinches off to form an
intracellular vesicle containing the ingested material. 2 types:

Pinocytosis (cell drinking), for

ingestion of fluid and\or solutes
via small vesicles.
Phagocytosis (cell eating), for
ingestion of large particles via
large vesicles.

In bacteria, specific channels enable DNA molecules to cross both the cell wall & the plasma membrane in order to mediate genetic exchange. In the process
of genetic transformation in eukaryotic cells, secreted proteins are directly transferred across the membrane of the RER as they are being synthesized. In
addition, some protein bacterial toxins are able to penetrate animal cell membranes and exert their effects within the cytosol.

Penetration of macromolecules
through the cell membrane directly

A major result of the transport of ions & molecules across the plasma membrane - a passive movement of water into & out of the cells. The diffusion of water through a
semipermeable membrane is called osmosis. It is a simple & central process because if it fails, the cell swells and burst or shrinks and dies. Usually, water moves from a
dilute solution to a more concentrated one. Thus, if the salt concentration inside a cells high in relation to that outside a cell, water tends to cross the cell membrane and
dilute the more concentrated solution inside. At the same time, the excess salt inside tends to move out of the cell. These processes continue until equilibrium is reached.
The influx of water causes the cell to swell and exerts pressure on the surface. The force exerted outward by this increased internal water is called osmotic pressure.

Osmosis & cell integrity

The rigid cell wall of plants, bacterial, and some fungal cells serves as protection and reinforcement for the plasma membrane. The cell walls of plants & some fungi are made largely
of Cellulose, a high-molecular-weight polysaccharide that is arranged in multiple layers over the cell's plasma membrane. Plants cell walls have three portions: middle lamella,
primary wall & secondary wall. Cellulose molecules form tiny ropelike microfibrils that are glued together with a hardening substance celled hemicellulose. Lignin, a complex
carboncontaining substance, acts like a further stiffening agent for the secondary wall. The cell walls that surrounds bacteria are composed of polysaccharides, lipids & short chains
of amino acids & sugars (which are called peptidoglycans, link the components of the entire wall so that it is quite rigid). The wall permits bacteria to invade other organisms and to
withstand environmental conditions that would kill a typical animal cell. It also imparts to bacterial species their characteristics shapes. Fungal cell walls are complex combinations of
cellulose, chitin and other glucose polymer polysaccharides.

Cell walls

Cell walls & The Glycocalyx

Animal cells lack a continuous wall or rigid coat and thus are always potentially mobile & plastic. On their outer surface, they have patches of large molecules that act as glue and
as molecular name tags. These molecules (glycoproteins & glycolipids) are referred to as the glycocalyx, or "sugar coat". These molecules promote the adhesion of cells to one
another and to external structures, such as the collagen fibers that twist like strong threads through the connective tissue of most organs. The complexly arranged & distinctively
shaped groups of sugar molecules acts like a molecular fingerprint for each cell type and are involved in cell recognition and in the coordinated responses of cells within both
tissues and the organism, as a whole. Contact & adhesion are essential if cells are to assemble an internal cytoskeletal scaffolding to form specialized shapes, divide, and move
about. This need to adhere to a solid surface is called anchorage dependence.

Glycocalyx

Zonulae adherens serve mainly to bind cells together. They are sites of firm physical contact between cells. They are bentlike bands that run around most epithelial cells. In addition to linking adjacent
cells, they help control cell shape and reserve as sites for insertion of important scaffolding filaments of the cytoskeleton.
Desmosomes serve mainly to bind cells together. Are analogous to bottons between cells. These small junctions are made up of unidentified molecules that apparently glue together adjacent plasma
membranes. They are particularly abundant in tissues subjected to mechanical stress, such as the outer layer of the human skin and the cervix of the uterus.

Linkage & communication

Biology

The Cell

Tight junctions are seals that encompass the lateral surfaces of cells in epithelia and act a bit like rubber seals, forming barriers to fluid leakage. Such as these of the bladder, which prevent urine from
seeping between the cells back into the body tissue space.
Gap junction is the primary communication junction between animal cells, it's a perforated channel that permits easy exchange of small molecules, ions & electric currents across cell membranes and
thus allows cells to communicate in the molecular, ionic & electrical language.
Plasmodesmata are bridges of cytoplasm which connects adjacent plant cells. These bridges normally arise as the plant cell divides. The two new cells fail to separate completely, leaving threads of
cytoplasm, the plasmodesmata, and with them, direct means of intercellular communication and integration via the exchange of molecules, ions & so on.

Cytoplasm

A semifluid substance bounded on the outside by the plasma membrane. The organelles are suspended, each located in an ultrafine, dynamic, 3D lattice of filamentous proteins called the
cytoskeleton or sometimes the cytomatrix. Dissolved in the cytoplasmic fluid are nutrients, ions and other raw materials needed for the work of the cellular factory. It can move, absorb and use
nutrients & oxygen, synthesize proteins, excrete waste products.
Serves as the control compartment for most operations of the eukaryotic cell. It is the largest organelle, which is often a rounded structure housing chromosomes (long strands
of coiled DNA & proteins that contain genes, the basic blueprints for proteins). The nucleus contains one or more organelles known as nucleoli. where the synthesis of rRNA take
place. The membrane of the nuclear envelope is similar to the plasma membrane and the membranes of other organelles in that it is a lipid bilayer with associated proteins. Small
molecules & ions can be transported through the double membrane but large molecules (such as mRNA & proteins) can leave or enter the nucleus only through the nuclear
pores. Precisely ordered globular and filamentous proteins make up the nuclear pore granules, some of which serve to seal off the pore and govern transport of large molecules
into and out of the nucleus.

Nucleus

Components of eukaryotic cells

Are perhaps the most numerous organelles within the cell., either free inside the cell or attached to various membranes. They are the sites at which amino acids are
assembles into proteins, and their abundance is related to the importance of their function in the cell and the speed with which the cell can produce proteins. A ribosome is
composed of two globular subunits that differ in size and function. Each subunit contains large structural RNA molecules and many structural proteins. When an mRNA
molecule leaves the cell nucleus, a large & a small ribosomal subunit join it at one of it's ends. Once the subunits combine, the single functioning ribosome moves along the
length of the mRNA, as though reading the sequence of RNA instructions sent from the nucleus and translating them into a protein. In accordance with each instruction of the
mRNA molecule, a specific amino acid is linked to the elongated protein chain by means of peptide bond. This lengthening chain appears to protrude through a hole in the large
ribosomal subunit. When the ribosome has finished reading the entire mRNA molecule and the protein copy is complete, the ribosomal subunits are released from the mRNA
into the cytoplasm, ready to associate with another mRNA molecule and to participate in the next round of protein synthesis. A number of ribosomes may move along a single
mRNA molecule at the same time. One mRNA molecule plus several ribosomes is called a polysome. Most cellular proteins - those released into the cytoplasm - are made on
polysomes located free in the cytoplasm. Cellular proteins include common enzymes, some structural proteins and certain membrane proteins.

Ribosomes

RER

The cytoplasmic surface of the RER is dotted with thousands of polysomes. As protein is synthesized on these polysomes, the elongating peptide
chains pass into channels, or cisternae, between the RER membranes. Once inside, the proteins move to other organelles for packaging, storage,
export or modification. Compartmentalization of the RER within the cytoplasm separates the proteins tagged by signal peptides for export or for
insertion in membranes from the cellular proteins dissolved in the cytoplasm. Exportable proteins then move through the cell toward the outside of
the organism's tissue spaces, blood or secretions.

SER

It consists of a set of tubules or sacs that lack ribosomes and therefor is smooth. The SER and the enzymes associated with it carry out a variety of
tasks, including the transportation, synthesis, and chemical modification of small molecules. The newly synthesized proteins may be transported
from the RER to the SER and route to still another transport and packaging system, the Golgi complex. Besides being a cytoplasmic passageway, the
SER is abundant in cells that synthesize fats & steroids. The SER is involved in the oxidation of toxic substances. If an animal swallows a toxic
chemical, the SER in the liver cells becomes very prominent and active, functioning at maximum capacity until the toxic compound is broken down
and excreted from the body. It also performs specialized functions in certain cell types: In liver cells, the SER contains a large quantity of an enzyme
that helps modify glucose so that it can pass through the membrane and into the SER. Once inside the membranous channels of the SER, the sugar
can be transported to the cell surface and out to needy cells throughout the body. Another specialized function occurs in skeletal muscle cells, where
a special type of SER triggers muscle cell contraction in response to nerve impulses.

Endoplasmic Reticulum

Transport vesicles, which are tiny membranous sacs, pinch off from the RER or SER and carry exportable molecules to the Golgi complex, a stack of baglike membranes
surrounded by vesicles. The molecules are modified by golgi enzymes. Sugars, lipids, phosphate groups or sulfate groups may be added or removed, or the basic structure
of the molecule may be altered. In animals, the molecule that undergoes such modification is usually a proteins, a fat, or a steroid. In plants, it is a protein or a complex
carbohydrate, such as cellulose, destined to be incorporated into the cell wall. New transport vesicles may pinch off from the side of one golgi sac carry the contents to
another golgi sac for further modification. Then the cargo can be packaged in vesicles and transported from the golgi sac. Three groups of proteins pass through and are
modified by the golgi complex: The first are proteins of the nuclear envelope, the plasma membrane, and the membranes of other organelles. The second group pass to
secretory granules such as those in a pancreas cell. The third group are enzymes of the lysosomes. Through the presence of amino acid sequences called sorting or
targeting domains, these proteins get sorted out in the specialized last sac of the golgi complex, from which transport vesicles pinch off. The amino acids followed a cellular
trade route that goes: RER-->SER-->Golgi-->secretory granules-->cell exterior.

Golgi complex

Although vacuoles appear to be empty sacs, they are actually filled with fluids and soluble molecules, and they play a variety of roles. Vacuoles are critically important to
single-celled organisms such as amoebae. The most prominent vacuoles appear in plant cells: many plant cells seem to contain little more than a huge central vacuole
surrounded by a thin halo of cytoplasm. The vacuole serves as a water reservoir and as a storage site for sugars, proteins and the pigments responsible for the bright color of
many fruits & flowers. The fluid inside plant cell vacuoles also contributes to the turgor that keeps the cell stiff.

Organelles
Vacuoles

An important type of endocytosis that occurs with relatively large molecules. These molecules bind to receptor sites on the cell surface that are mobile in the semifluid
membrane. These receptors can move laterally to specific regions called coated pits - indentations in the cell surface that are coated, or lined, with a protein called
clathrin. These pits pinch off tiny sacs called coated vesicles, which are moved through the cytoplasm toward the GC, the ER or lysosomes. There the incoming cargo
can be modified or degraded. The import route for large materials to be: molecule-->mobile receptor site-->coated pit-->coated vesicle-->GC-->ER or lysosomes. This is
roughly the reverse of the export route and appears to involve simply a more complex passage through the membrane. Clathrin may also coat vesicles that transport
materials from the ER to the GC, or from the GC to secretory vesicles or lysosomes. Receptor -mediated endocytosis has the great advantage of specificity: Only
substances that bind to the membrane receptors will trigger importation.

Coated vesicles

Inside the cell

Lysosomes

Some 50 kinds of digestive or hydrolytic enzymes can be formed in ER, then packaged by GC into spherical membrane-bound bags called lysosomes which shuttle the
enzymes to the vacuole. A lysosome fuses with a phagocytic vacuole and incorporates it into it's structure, mingling the lysosomal digestive enzymes with the food morsels
from the vacuole. The food contents in the lysosome can then be digested. The lysosomal membrane separates the rest of the cytoplasm from these powerful enzymes.
Beside helping to "feed" the cell, lysosomes play an important custodial role when cell components wear out. Lysosomal enzymes can degrade membranes, ribosomes,
proteins, and a variety of other components and the subunits can then be returned to the cytoplasm for reuse. Sometimes, within injured or old cells, lysosomes also break
open and free their enzymes, literally digesting the cell from the inside out. Most animals, plants and fungal cells possess additional small membranous vesicles called
microbodies (AKA peroxisomes & glyoxysomes). Like lysosomes, microbodies break down cellular waste products. About 1000 microbodies are present in a typical
mammalian liver cell. They contain a number of different enzymes that carry out chemical processes called oxidation (one of them is catalase, which splits hydrogen peroxide
into water and oxygen and oxidizes an organic compound as it does so).

Mitochondria

Mitochondria & Plastids

Plastids

Info

Are sites of chemical reactions that harvest the energy from food molecules and generate high-energy compounds that can be used directly
to meet the cells energy needs. They are the power factories of all eukaryotic cells. They vary in shape from small spheres to long sausageshaped bodies. They have a smooth, continuous outer membrane and an inner membrane thrown into folds called cristae. The outer
mitochondrial membrane is quite permeable, even to fairly large polypeptides. The cristae provide a large surface area on which many of the
enzymes involved in generating ATP molecules are positioned. The arrangement of these enzymes are critical to the cell's energy
transformation. The number & size of them, as well as number of cristae in each. depend on the cell's energy requirements. The cristae
protrude into a semifluid matrix with high protein content. The matrix contain ribosomes constructed of rRNAs & proteins that differ from
those in the cytoplasm. Mitochondrial ribosomes have their own genetic material in the form of DNA. In mitochondrial of all eukaryotes, the
genetic code is probably unique and differs from that of either eukaryotic or prokaryotic chromosomes. Mitochondrial DNA codes for various
mitochondrial proteins, including some of the subunits of the ATP-generating enzymes. Other subunits of those enzymes are encoded in the
cell's nuclear DNA; The latter subunits are made on cytoplasmic polysomes and somehow enter the mitochondria, where they link up to the
mitochondrial subunits to form the final enzyme molecules. They can do so because they have their own genetic material.
Every plant cell have at least one form of plastid in it's cytoplasm. They turn plant cells into photosynthetic, carbohydrate-producing factories. They
are responsible for capturing light energy to produce sugar and for storing sugar in the form of starch. Their presence allow the cell to produce it's
own food molecules from simple raw materials- CO2, H20 and minerals. There are two types of plastids: Leucoplasts lack pigments, is colorless
and serves as storage bins for starch, proteins and oils that can be tapped by the plant as needed. Chromoplasts contain various pigments. The
most important chromoplasts are the chloroplasts, the green chlorophyll-containing organelles where photosynthesis takes place. Two lipid bilayer
membranes enclose each chloroplast, and much of the organelle's interior is filled with flattened membraneous sacs, the grana, which is arranged
much like stacks of coins. The grana are surrounded by a matrix called stroma. Enzymes required for photosynthesis are situated on granum
membranes, and their architectural arrangement is crucial to the photosynthetic process. Like mitochondria, chloroplasts are self-replicating
organelles that contains circular strands of DNA but do require some proteins encoded by the cell's nuclear DNA and synthesized in the cytoplasm.

Cytoskeleton is the dynamic 3D, weblike structure in the cytoplasm of all eukaryotic cells. This intracellular scaffolding acts as both muscle & skeleton for the cell. It allows the cell
and it's organelles to move and gives the cell it's normal shape and keeps it's parts in proper spatial relationship to each other. It enables the cells to carry out activities impossible for
prokaryotic cells. It is actually a convoluted latticework of microscopic filaments and tubules that seem to occupy most available space in the cell. The most abundant filaments are
the microfilaments, extremely fine, threadlike protein fibers. They are composed predominantly of a structure protein called actin microfilaments, which are involved in many types
of intracellular movements in plant & animal cells. Microtubules are long cylindrical tubes, which are wider than microfilament. They are composed of subunits of the globular protein
tubulin that are stacked in a spiral to form the long microtubules. Tubulin is a dimer about 100000 daltons, each dimer being composed of two polypeptides, -tubulin & -tubulin,
which have closely related amino acid sequences. When tubulin molecules assemble into microtubules, they form protofilaments of tubulin polypeptides aligned in raws - with the tubulin of one dimer joined to the -tubulin of the next. Microtubules act as a scaffold that helps stabilize the shape of the cell. Microtubules are also the main components of the
spindle, that apparatus that moves chromosomes when cell divide. Microtubules are arranged in geometric patterns inside the whiplike flagella & hairlike cilia that are used in certain
kinds of cell locomotion. The rapid depolymerization of tubulin leads to shortening of microtubules and may cause them to pull on organelles. Cytoplasmic microtubules are highly
dynamic structures and main remain stable only if the ends are capped by special proteins or organelles. Mechanoenzyme (an enzyme that exerts mechanical forces, as does
myosin) are attached to the microtubules surfaces. Intermediate filaments show up on electron micrographs as numerous wavy lines crisscrossing the interior of most kinds of
animal cells. These filament are made of a family of proteins called vimentins. These intermediate filaments impart tensile strength to the cytoplasm.

Cytoskeleton

Ciliary movement

Cilia are tiny hairlike appendages that contain a number of parallel microtubules at their core. Their primary function is to move fluid over the surface of a cell or to
propel single cells through a fluid. In the human body, huge number of cilia on the epithelial cells lining the respiratory tracts sweep layers of mucus, together with trapped
particles of dust & dead cells, up toward the mouth, where they are swallowed and eliminated. Cilia also help to sweep ova along the oviduct. The simple flagella of sperm
are very much like large cilia in their internal structure, but they are usually very much longer and, instead of whiplike movements, they usually propagate quasisinusoidal waves. The basis of this movement is almost certainly the same as that in cilia. Aside from length, motion & number per cell, flagella & cilia of eukaryotes are
physically identical. Both protrude from the cell surface and are covered by the plasma membrane. Both have the same intricate internal structure. The axoneme by
which the movement is produced consist of nine pairs of microtubules calls doublets, which are arranged in a ring and extend the length of the cilium or flagellum. Two
more microtubules run down the center of the doublet ring, and protein strands interconnects the doublets and central singlets. Finally, each cilium or flagellum grows
only from the cell surface at a site where a basal body is located. Basal bodies are one of a number of types of microtubule-organizing centers in animal and plant cells.
Basal body has a distinctive internal arrangement. Movement is based on tiny side arms that extend from one of the microtubules of each doublet. Each side arm is
actually dynein, an ATP-cleaving mechanoenzyme. The outer, unattached end of each dynein side arm interacts with the surface of adjacent microtubular doublet. when
dynein binds and splits ATP, energy is released, and the dynein side are apparently changes shape. The change in shape exerts a pushing force against the adjacent
microtubular doublet and causes it to slide. The movements result in a slight bending of the cilium or flagellum. If thousands of dynein arms are splitting ATP and moving
in sequence, the entire cilium or flagellum bends. The central microtubules act like a spring that resists the bending and controls the actual shape of the beating cilia of
flagella. While flagella are virtually always involved in cellular swimming, cilia can play two distinct rules: swimming & sweeping fluids past stationary cells.

Internal cell movements

-1-

All eukaryotic cells, whether mobile or not, need an internal transport system. Most animal cells can move vesicles and other organelles outward toward the cell
surface and inward toward the nucleus. Outward movements along microtubule tracks are due to the mechanoenzyme tau proteins help to regulate microtubule
assembly in cells. The dividing of animal cells into two daughter cells also depends on actin microfilamentsm myosin & microtubules. Actin & myosin actually
pinch the dividing cell in two. Microtubules of the spindle move the chromosomes. These microtubules are assembled from tubulin subunits near organelles called
centrioles, which occur in pairs near the nuclear envelope. Most animal cells have centrioles, basal bodies and spindles and many can form cilia.