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IMMS > Histology > Flashcards

Histology Flashcards

1
Q

What colour do nerve cells stain?

A

Brown

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2
Q

What colour dye is haematoxylin?

A

Blue

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3
Q

What colour dye is eosin?

A

Pink

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4
Q

How is tissue preserved?

A

First preserved by fixing it in formalin which is an aqueous solution of the gas formaldehyde, this prevents the tissue from rotting.
The samples of tissue to be examined are then embedded in paraffin, a process which involves the extraction of water and a number of other substances from the tissues

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5
Q

How thick are the tissue slices typically?

A

4 microns

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6
Q

What do you do to examine bone?

A

Demineralise it, so that you can produce thin sections
Or grind it down to produce a thick slice

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7
Q

What substances within tissues don’t stain?

A

Glycosaminoglycan extra-cellular jelly

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8
Q

What stain is used to highlight sugars?

A

Periodic Acid Schiff (PAS)

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9
Q

What colour is the stain of PAS?

A

Magenta

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10
Q

What stain is used to highlight elastic tissue?

A

Van Gieson

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11
Q

What colour does Van Gieson stain?

A

Brown

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12
Q

What stain is used to highlight mucins?

A

Alcian blue

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13
Q

What colour does Alcian blue stain?

A

Blue

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14
Q

What size are lymphocytes?

A

About 10 micrometers in diameter, with very little cytoplasm

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15
Q

What size are motor neurons?

A

About 100 micrometers wide, with axons up to 1 meter in length

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16
Q

Different shapes of cells …

A

Spherical/Rounded
Polygonal
Fusiform
Squamous (flattened)
Cuboidal
Columnar

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17
Q

Which cells are generally smaller, dormant/metabolically inactive cells or metabolically active cells and why?

A

A dormant cell, as they do not need to maintain an elaborate cellular mechanical machinery in order to exist, it only needs a small number of mitochondria, little endoplasmic reticulum.

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18
Q

What do metabolically active cells often contain?

A

Nucleoli, which are specialisations within the nucleus of the cell and are sites of DNA transcription into RNA

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19
Q

What is the lifespan of the cells that line your intestines?

A

Several days, probably around 4-5 days

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20
Q

What is the lifespan of red blood cells?

A

120 days before they are removed

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21
Q

What is the lifespan of cells of your skin and connective tissues?

A

About a few months

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22
Q

What is the lifespan of cells that make up bones and tendons?

A

Years

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23
Q

What is the lifespan of skeletal muscle cells?

A

They have limited regeneration, they last most of your adult life

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24
Q

Which cells have almost no capacity to regenerate?

A

Nerves
Brain
Cardiac muscle (heart)
Stem cells of germ cells

25
Q

How big is the nucleolus?

A

1-3 microns in diameter

26
Q

What is euchromatin?

A

Lighter areas

27
Q

What is heterochromatin?

A

Darker areas

28
Q

What is mitochondria?

A

Organelle which is the site of oxidative phosphorylation and other biochemical processes

Have their own DNA

Have a double membrane, outer membrane is smooth,
inner membrane is a complex series of folds called cristae

29
Q

Where is the mitochondrial matrix found?

A

Between the folds of the inner membrane

30
Q

What occurs in the outer mitochondrial membrane?

A

Lipid synthesis
Fatty acid metabolism

31
Q

What occurs in the inner mitochondrial membrane?

A

Respiratory chain
ATP production

32
Q

What occurs at the mitochondrial matrix?

A

Krebs cycle

33
Q

What occurs at the mitochondrial inter-membranous space?

A

Nucleotide phosphorylation (conversion of ADP to ATP)

34
Q

What does the rough endoplasmic reticulum do?

A

Assembles proteins
Site of protein synthesis
Highly folded flattened membrane sheets studded with ribosomes

35
Q

What does the smooth endoplasmic reticulum do?

A

Site of membrane lipid synthesis
Site where synthesised proteins are processed
Highly folded flattened membrane sheets, without ribosomes

36
Q

What is the Golgi apparatus?

A

Series of parallel stacks of membranes
Site at which macromolecules that have been synthesised in the ER are processed and stored
Frequently not visible on light microscopy, but plasma cells have a very visible Golgi apparatus

37
Q

What are plasma cells?

A

Activated b-lymphocytes

Produce antibodies

Nucleus is located towards the edge of the cell (eccentric nucleus)

Prominent pattern of enchomatin and heterochromatin

Pale area near the nucleus known as perinuclear hoff which is the Golgi apparatus of the plasma cell

38
Q

What does the cis-face of the Golgi apparatus do?

A

Receives transport vesicles from the SER and phosphorylates some proteins

39
Q

What does the medial Golgi do?

A

Forms complex oligosaccharides by adding sugars to lipids and peptides

40
Q

What does the trans Golgi network do?

A

Site of proteolysis

Site in which macromolecules are sorted into vesicles which bud from the surface

41
Q

What are vesicles?

A

Very small spherical membrane-bound organelles used by cells for transport of materials, storage and exchanging cell membrane between different compartments within the cell

42
Q

What are lysosomes?

A

Derived from the Golgi apparatus

Site at which proteins are degraded

Formed by the fusion of two vesicles, hydrolase vesicles which contain the enzymes that can degrade proteins at a low pH and endosomes which bear a hydrogen ATPase on their membrane, pumps hydrogen ions into the reside lowering its internal pH

Insion of these two vesicles produces an endolysosome, in which there is both the ability to lower the pH and
enzymes which can degrade proteins at low pH

43
Q

What occurs to protect the cell from lysosomes?

A

Spatial separation between enzymes which lower pH and enzymes which degrade proteins at a low pH

44
Q

What are peroxisomes?

A

Very small vesicles, generally 0.5 microns in diameter

They contain enzymes which oxidise long chain fatty acids

45
Q

What is the cytoskeleton?

A

Supports the cells shape

Contains microfilements (5mm in diameter) and made of actin

46
Q

What is actin?

A

Present in cells as a globular g-protein, polymerises into filamentous f-actin

Forms a bracing mesh underneath the cell membrane to maintain the cells shape

When cells divide a mesh work of microtubules formed from tubulin develops and is used to act as a scaffold for chromosomes during mitosis and meiosis

47
Q

In what cell can’t tubulin proteins be found in?

A

Erythrocytes, as they don’t divide

48
Q

What are intermediate filaments?

A

10nm diameter

Anchored to transmembrane proteins

Intermediate filaments spread tensile forces through the tissues

49
Q

Where are cytokeratins commonly found?

A

Epithelial cells

50
Q

Where is desmin commonly found?

A

Myocytes (muscles)

51
Q

Where are glial fibrillary acidic protein commonly said?

A

Astrocytic glial cells

52
Q

Where are neurofilament proteins commonly found?

A

Neurons

53
Q

Where are nuclear laminar commonly found?

A

Nuclei of all cells

54
Q

Where is vimentin commonly found?

A

Mesodermal cells

55
Q

What is lipofuscin?

A

Membrane bound orange-brown pigment

Formed as a result of peroxidation of lipids in older cells

Commonly fond in hearts and livers of older patients

56
Q

What are lipids?

A

Accumulates in cells with non-membrane-bound vacuoles

Appear as empty white spaces in cells

Normally found accumulating in adipocytes or fat cells, abnormally found in the liver

57
Q

What is interstitial fluid made of?

A

Water

Salts in solution

Range of different peptides and proteins

58
Q

What is extracellular solid material made of?

A

Fibrillar proteins (collagen or elastin)

Glycosaminoglycan jelly

Inorganic salts such as calcium accumulate

59
Q

What is a chromatin?

A

Nuclear DNA + Proteins

IMMS (32 decks)

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