02.

cell structure and function

▪︎ Cell organelles and their functions
Prokaryotic cells are simple in nature. Eg: bacteria
Eukaryotic cells contain membrane-bound organelles and are much more complex than prokaryotic cells. Animals, plants, fungi, and protists are all composed of eukaryotic cells.
All cells contain genetic material, ribosomes, cytosol, and a plasma membrane.
In prokaryotes, the genetic material (DNA) is a circular chromosome located in the center of the cell in the nucleoid region.
Bacteria may also contain extra genetic material outside of the chromosome, which is contained in small circular pieces of DNA called plasmids.
In eukaryotes, DNA is packaged into linear chromosomes that are contained in a membrane-bound nucleus.

Ribosomes are non-membrane subcellular structures that function in protein synthesis and are found in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.
They are made of proteins and ribosomal RNA (rRNA).
 Both prokaryotic and eukaryotic ribosomes have a large subunit and a small subunit, but the sizes of these subunits differ slightly.
During translation, they assemble amino acids into polypeptide chains according to the mRNA sequence.
Free ribosomes are found in the cytosol in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes.
In eukaryotes, bound ribosomes are found on the membrane of the rough endoplasmic reticulum.

The endoplasmic reticulum is a series of membrane bound channels in eukaryotic cells.

Rough endoplasmic reticulum has ribosomes bound to its membranes and functions in protein synthesis.
Smooth endoplasmic reticulum does not contain ribosomes and functions in the synthesis of lipids and the detoxification of harmful substances in the cell.

The Golgi complex is a stack of flattened membrane sacs (called cisternae).

The interior of each cisternae is called lumen and contains essential enzymes for the complex to function.
It controls the modification and packaging of proteins for transport.
Proteins made on the free ribosomes or the rough endoplasmic reticulum are sent to the Golgi, which modifies the proteins into their final conformation and packages the finished proteins into vesicles for
transport throughout the cell.
It is often found near the rough endoplasmic reticulum.
Lysosomes are membrane-bound sacs, containing hydrolytic enzymes.
They can help digest macromolecules, breakdown worn-out cell parts, function in apoptosis, or destroy bacteria and viruses in the cell.

Vacuoles function in food or water storage, water regulation in a cell, or waste storage until the waste can be eliminated from the cell.
In well-hydrated plant cells, they occupy most of the volume of the cell.
By filling up space within the cell, vacuoles provide the plant cell with turgor pressure and support.

Mitochondria produce energy for the cell.

They have double membranes, with a smooth outer membrane and a folded inner membrane.
These folds increase the surface area available for energy production during cellular respiration.
The double membrane structure of the mitochondria allow them to create proton gradients that are necessary for ATP production.
The center of the mitochondria is an enzyme-containing fluid called the matrix.
The reactions of the Krebs cycle (the citric acid cycle) occur in the matrix of the mitochondria. Mitochondria also contain their own mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA).
It contains its own ribosomes.
Chloroplasts are found in plants and algae that carry out photosynthesis.
They also have a double membrane structure; smooth outer membrane and pancake-shapes membranous sacs called thylakoids that are stacked into structures called grana.
The liquid inside the chloroplast that surrounds the grana is called stroma.
The membranes of the thylakoids function in the light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis, and the enzymes in the stroma function in the light-independent reactions of photosynthesis.
They contain their own chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) and their own ribosomes.

The centrosome is found in animal cells and helps the microtubules assemble into the spindle fibres needed in cell division.
Defects in centrosome function have been associated with dysregulation of the cell cycle in some cancers.

Plant cells may contain amyloplasts.

Excess glucose produced by photosynthesis is stored as starch molecules in it.
They are found in the root and tubers of starchy vegetables, such as potatoes.
 The peroxisome helps oxidize molecules and break down toxins in the cell.
The nucleolus is not a membrane-bound organelle; that term refers to the region in the nucleus where ribosomes are assembled.
Cytoskeleton fibers help give cells their shape and can be used to move items in the cell.
Together, the nuclear envelope (a.k.a. the nuclear membrane), endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi, lysosomes, vacuoles, transport vesicles, and plasma membrane are considered part of the endomembrane system.
It helps to modify, package, and transport polysaccharides, lipids, and proteins to their final destinations within the cell, or to prepare them for transport out of the cell.

▪︎ Endosymbiosis Hypothesis
The endosymbiosis hypothesis states that the membrane bound organelles, such as the mitochondria and chloroplasts were once free-living prokaryotes that were absorbed into s, which became interdependent
on each other.
The smaller prokaryotes that were engulfed by the larger prokaryotes evolved to become membrane-bound organelles.
Evidence:
Mitochondria and chloroplasts have their own DNA. Mitochondrial and chloroplast DNA is circular, similar to that of prokaryotic DNA.
Mitochondria and chloroplasts have their own ribosomes, which are similar in structure to prokaryotic ribosomes.
Mitochondria and chloroplasts reproduce by binary fission, similar to how bacteria reproduce.
The paramecium Paramecium bursaria is a eukaryote that swallows photosynthetic green algae but does not digest their chloroplasts.
Instead, these chloroplasts remain active for months.
When P. bursaria swims into the light, the chloroplasts it swallowed perform photosynthesis, supplying food to the paramecium.
This process is called kleptoplasty (klepto- means “to steal”).
▪︎ Advantages of Compartmentalization
Membrane-bound organelles in eukaryotic cells allow different parts of the cells to specialize their functions, which allows for greater efficiency within the cell.
These membrane-bound organelles form specialized compartments.
This compartmentalization allows the cell to separate the enzymes involved in different metabolic processes.
By separating these metabolic processes, cells minimize the risk of enzymes and molecules from different processes cross-reacting, which would make these processes less efficient and more difficult to
regulate.
Some eukaryotic organelles have internal membranes that are folded (for example, the inner membrane of the mitochondria), which provides greater surface area on which reactions can occur in the organelle.
While prokaryotic cells do not have membrane-bound organelles, prokaryotes can fold their plasma membranes to get more surface area to perform metabolic processes.

▪︎ Surface area to volume ratio

Living systems need to efficiently eliminate waste products, absorb nutrients, and exchange chemicals and energy with their environment.
The ratio of a cell’s surface area to its volume is a key factor in determining the cell’s ability to accomplish these tasks.
The larger a cell’s surface area to volume ratio, the more efficiently the cell can accomplish these tasks.
All materials that are exchanged between a cell and its environment must pass through the surface area of the cell.
As the radius of a cell increases, the amount of surface area available per unit volume for exchange of materials gets smaller and smaller.
Eventually, this will limit the cell’s ability to efficiently exchange materials with its environment and ultimately impact how big the cell can grow.
Larger cells have a lower surface area to volume ratio and a less efficient exchange of materials with the cell’s environment.
One way the surface area to volume ratio can be increased is by folding membranes, as seen in the cristae of the inner mitochondrial membrane.
The membrane folds on the inner mitochondrial membrane allow for greater surface area for the electron transport chains that are required for cellular respiration.
The lining of the human intestine has many folds called villi that increase the surface area available for nutrient absorption.

▪︎ Structure of the plasma membrane

Plasma membranes allow cells to maintain and internal environment that is favourable to life.
They are selectively permeable; some materials can cross while others can not.
It is made of a bilayer of phospholipids, which have a hydrophilic (polar) phosphate head and two hydrophobic (non-polar) tails.
When the bilayer of phospholipids is formed in an aqueous environment, the hydrophobic lipid tails orient themselves away from the water toward the interior of the membrane, while the hydrophilic
phosphate heads are oriented facing the aqueous environment on the exterior of the membrane.
Membrane proteins, modified proteins (called glycoproteins), modified lipids (called glycolipids) and steroids are embedded in it.
 These components of the membrane are mobile and can flow throughout the surface of the plasma membrane, allowing the cell to adapt to changing environmental conditions.
The proteins have many functions, including transporting materials, participating in cell signaling processes, anchoring the cell to its surroundings, and catalyzing chemical reactions.
Hydrophobic parts of membrane proteins are embedded in the lipid bilayer portion of the cell membrane, while hydrophilic portions of proteins are found on the inner or outer surface of the cell
membrane.
Glycoproteins and glycolipids function in cell recognition.
Steroids can adjust membrane fluidity in response to changing environmental conditions and the needs of the cell.
Individual phospholipids may also move across the surface of the plasma membrane.
Because the components of the plasma membrane have mobility, the structure of the membrane is often referred to as a fluid mosaic model.

▫︎ What can (and cannot) cross the Plasma membrane

Small hydrophobic molecules like oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen, can easily pass between the phospholipids into and out of the cell.
Large polar molecules and ions cannot cross easily; they must use embedded membrane channels or transport proteins.
Small polar molecules like H2O, can pass through the membrane in small amounts with the help of specialized proteins called aquaporins.
Plants, fungi, and prokaryotic cells are surrounded by a cell wall outside of the cell membrane.
They are composed of large carbohydrates (cellulose in plants, glucans in fungi, and peptidoglycan in prokaryotes).
They provide rigidity to the cell and are an additional barrier to substances entering or exiting the cell.

▫︎ Passive transport
It is the movement of molecules from areas of higher concentration to lower concentration.
does not require the input of energy.
 This movement of molecules down their concentration gradient is also called diffusion.
The diffusion of water down its concentration gradient across a membrane is called osmosis.
Molecules that are polar or charged may require a membrane protein in order to diffuse across the cell membrane.
The process of passive transport that uses a membrane protein is called facilitated diffusion.
Eg: specialized membrane proteins called aquaporins allow large quantities of water to move down their concentration gradient.
Specialized channel proteins can allow the passive transport of ions, such as Ca+2 or Cl–1, down their concentration gradients.
Because molecules that use facilitated diffusion require a membrane protein in order to cross the membrane, the rate of facilitated diffusion is limited by the number of membrane proteins available and is said
to be saturable.

▫︎ Active transport
It moves molecules from areas of low concentration to areas of high concentration.
requires input of energy
One example of this is the Na+/K+ pump.
This membrane protein requires the input of ATP to pump Na+ ions from their lower concentrations in the cell to an area of higher Na+ concentration outside the cell.
This membrane protein also pumps K+ ions from their lower concentrations outside of the cell to an area with higher concentrations of K+ ions inside the cell.
For every three Na+ ions pumped out of the cell, two K+ ions are pumped into the cell.
This results in a higher concentration of positive ions outside of the cell and helps the cell maintain a membrane potential.
 Endocytosis and exocytosis also require an input of energy and are forms of active transport.
Endocytosis is used by the cell to take in water and macromolecules by enfolding them into vesicles formed from the plasma membrane.
This process is reversed in exocytosis.

▪︎ Movement of water in cells

▫︎ Water Potential
It can be defined as the potential energy of water in a solution.
Water flows from areas of higher water potential to areas of lower water potential.
Hypotonic solution: lower concentration of solute; higher water potential
Hypertonic solution: higher concentration of solute; lower water potential
Isotonic solution: same concentration of solute as that of another solution.
The water potential of a solution has two components: a component that depends on the amount of solute and a component that depends on pressure, as shown in the following equation:

Ψs is the water potential due to the solute concentration (solute potential). Ψp is the water potential due to the pressure on the system (pressure potential).
Most systems are in a pressure equilibrium with their environment; Ψp is 0
 The solute potential depends on the concentration of the solute, how many particles the solute forms when in solution, and the temperature of the solution.
It is calculated with this formula:

The ionization constant (i) is a function of how many particles or ions a solute will form in solution.
i = 1 for covalent compounds
C refers to the concentration of solute in the solution.
As the concentration of solute increases, the solute potential decreases.
Solutions with more solute (higher solute concentrations) will have lower water potentials if all other conditions are equal.
R is the pressure constant; R = 0.0831
T is the temperature of the solution; in Kelvin

▫︎ Osmolarity and its Regulation

It is the total concentration of solutes in a solution
Living organisms must regulate their internal solute concentration and water potential to survive.
Too little water causes dehydration, while too much water can cause cells to burst due to pressure.
Paramecium in Freshwater:
It has a higher solute concentration and lower water potential than freshwater.
Water continuously enters the cell by osmosis.
To prevent bursting, it uses a contractile vacuole to collect and pump out excess water.
This helps maintain internal balance.
Saltwater Fish:
Its cells have a lower solute concentration and higher water potential than seawater.
Water constantly moves out of the fish into the saltwater.
The fish drinks large amounts of seawater.
Specialized organs remove excess salt while retaining water.
This maintains proper internal solute concentration and water balance.
학습정리

개요
▪︎ Cell organelles and their functions
▪︎ Endosymbiosis Hypothesis
▪︎ Advantages of Compartmentalization
▪︎ Surface area to volume ratio
▪︎ Structure of the plasma membrane
▫︎ What can (and cannot) cross the Plasma membrane
▫︎ Passive transport
▫︎ Active transport
▪︎ Movement of water in cells
▫︎ Water Potential
▫︎ Osmolarity and its Regulation