3 - Integrating Cells into Tissues Flashcards
What holds cells together in general?
- Cell to cell adhesion
- Close proximity
- Extracellular matrix proteins
What is a tissue and an organ?
- Collection of cells woven together to perform a function
- More than one tissue working together to produce a function
What is the general structure of an organ, in regards to the tissues present?
Epithelia –> Connective Tissue –> Muscle –> Connective –> Epithelia
What is the main differenes between epithelial and connective tissue?
- Connective has large extracellular matrix but epithelial has thin basement membrane
- Cells sparsely spread in connective
- Cells rarely joined in connective but always in epithelia
- In epithelial most of the mechanical stress is on cell-to-cell adhesion but matrix bears most of this stress in connective
What is the progenitor cell for connective tissue?
MSC
What is the function of epithelia?
Sheets that line all the cavities and free-surfaces of the body. Specialised junctions make tissue barriers.
What are the different epithelial cell adherence systems?
Lateral:
- Tight junctions
- Adheren Junctions
- Desmosomes
- Gap Junctions
- Integrins
Basal:
- Hemi-desmosome
- Focal adhesions
- Integrins
- Proteoglycans
Tiny Animals Don’t Give In
What are tight junctions?
- Two tight junction proteins closest to apical surface
- Paracellular transport of large molecules by opening with ATP
- Provides tissue barrier
What are adhesion junctions and their function?
- 1/3 from apical
- Intracellular actin filaments linked to E-cadherin proteins
- Come in pairs, only in endothelial and epithelial
- Calcium ions needed to make these
What are desmosomes and their function?
- Strongest cell-to-cell adhesion
- 1/2 way down
- In cells that experience intense mechanical stress (e.g cardiac, bladder and only ones in skin)
- Cytokeratin intracellularly, E-cadherins intercellularly
What are gap junctions and their function?
- Close to basal surface laterally
- Two transport proteins forming a pore between two cells
- Throughout cardiac and smooth muscle
What are hemidesmosomes and their function?
- Basal layer joining cell to extracellular matrix fibres
- Cytokeratin intracellularly attaching to laminin through integrins
What are focal adhesions?
Same as hemidesmosomes but use actin instead of cytokeratin and attach to fibronectin rather than laminin
What are integrins?
What is the main function of adherance proteins?
- Prevent pathogens entering the internal environment
- Maintain structure and survival of cells