Cells and Tissues of the Body Flashcards
What is glycocalyx?
a covering made of glycoprotein and glycolipid that surrounds the cell membrane of the epithelial cell
What are functions of glycocalyx?
- cell recognition
- cell signalling
- cell adhesion
- protection
- permeability barrier
What are functions of the cell membrane?
- maintaining structure and functional integrity of the cell
- separating the intracellular space from the extracellular space
- allowing diffusion of some substances
- controlling passage of substates into and out of the cell
How does cholesterol maintain fluidity of the cell membrane when the body temperature is high and low respectively?
- high - reduces the fluidity of the cell membrane
- low - increases the fluidity of the cell membrane
What does TTX do?
prevent muscle contraction by blocking sodium channels in nerve cell membranes
What are the functions of the cytoplasm?
- cellular respiration, energy production
- synthesis of proteins
- waste handling
- growth and repair
- cell division (mitosis and meiosis)
What are the 4 levels of organisation within the cytosol?
- ion concentration gradients
- protein complexes
- protein compartments e.g. proteasome
- cytoskeleton
What do proteasomes do?
regulate the concentration of particular proteins and degrade misfolded proteins
What does ubiquitin do?
tag proteins for degradation catalysed by ubiquitin ligases
In an H&E stain, what does the H and E stain respectively?
- H - nucleus of the cell blue/purple
- E - cytoplasmic proteins red/pink
What are cytoplasmic inclusions?
metabolic products stored in the cytoplasm, typically in long-lived cells e.g. hepatocytes, neurons, and cardiac muscle cells
What are functions of the cytosol?
- protein synthesis
- metabolic pathways
- metabolite transport
- signal tranmission
- cell division
What are the 3 cytoskeletal fibres?
- MTs
- IFs
- microfilaments
What are microfilaments made up of?
G-actin monomers which form F-actin polymers which in turn form double helix microfilaments
What are functions of microfilaments?
- cell migration
- cell division
- cellular extensions
- cell junctions
- muscle contraction
- membrane transport
What are the 5 types of IF and where are they found?
- lamin found in the nucleus
- keratin found in epithelial cells
- vimentin found in fibroblasts
- desmin found in muscle cells
- neurofilaments found in neuronal cells
What do desmosomes do?
tether intermediate filaments to the plasma membrane in cardiac tissue and the epithelium
What do hemidesmosomes do?
anchor cells to the underlying basement membrane
What are MTs made up of?
alpha and beta tubulin
Where are MTs found?
centrioles, cilia and flagella
Where are the + and - ends of the MT respectively?
- plus - towards the periphery
- minus - towards the nucleus