Introduction to the Study of

Cell Biology

Objectives
A brief outline of the early history of cell
biology.
Principle of microscopy
Familiarize with the basic properties of all
cells.
Describe the differences between
prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.
Biology = science of life
 Characteristics, classification and behaviors
of organisms,
 how species and individuals come into
existence, and
 the interactions they have with each other
and with their environment.
Modern biology is divided into 2
categories based on primary level of
focus:
 Organismic biology ~ emphasize on
biodiversity, evolutionary
relationships,adaptations,and ecology of
plants & animals.
 Molecular & cellular biology
 MB – concerns with interactions between the various
systems of a cell, including the interrelationship of DNA,
RNA, and protein synthesis and how these interactions
are regulated.
 CB –studies the physiological properties of cells, as well
as their behaviors, interactions, and environment.
Cellularand molecularbiologyis reductionist; i.e.

The knowledge of the parts of the whole can

explain the character of the whole

Create the need to explain the mechanisms

of the living system cellular activity
Modern Cell Biology
Involve interweaving of 3 historically
distinct disciplines
1. Cytology (the study of cells)
 Microscopic study of cell structure organization
3. Biochemistry
 chemistry of biological structure &
function/cellular function
5. Genetics
 Information flow
The Cell Biology Time Line
The Discovery of Cells
- The cell theory
The term cell was first used by the English scientist
Robert Hooke (1635-1703), who, in the mid-
seventeenth century, used the term to describe the
structure of cork.
The Dutch scientist Anton van Leeuwenhoek
(1632-1723) made the first recorded observations of
bacterial cells (termed "animalcules") from pond water
& tooth scrapings.
1830s –importance of cells realised
 1838 - German botanist Matthias Schleiden (1804-1881)
observed that despite differences in tissue structure, all plants
tissues were made of cells.
 1839 - German zoologist Theodor Schwann
(1810-1882) realized animals were also composed
of fundamental cellular units or cells.
 Schwann proposed first 2 principles of Cell Theory:
 All organisms consist of 1 or more cells
 The cell is the structural unit of life

 Schleiden-Schwann view of cell origin was less

insightful – i.e. cells could arise from noncellular
materials
 German physician Rudolph Virchow (1821-1902)
demonstrated that living cells could arise only from
other living cells (biogenesis), and not from
inanimate matter (abiogenesis).
Principles of microscopy
Size – pose challenge to understand
cellular structure & organization
Most cells and their organelles cannot
be seen by the unaided eye
Size measured in micrometers (µm,
where 1000µm = 1mm ), nanometers
(nm, 10-9 m)
Cells are mostly microscopic in size
 Most eukaryotic cells have single nucleus
with only 2 copies of most genes
 As a cell ↑ in size, the surface area/vol.

ratio ↓
 Ability of a cell to exchange substances with its
environment is proportional to its surface.
 Cells depend to a large degree on random
movement of molecules (diffusion)
Resolving Power of the Human Eye, the Light Microscope, and the
Electron Microscope
Microscope
 Make small objects appear bigger
 Magnification is only better when more
details are revealed
Light microscope
 Has a series of lenses and uses light as its
source of illumination
 Condenser lenses
 Objective lens
 Projector lens/eyepiece

 Components and their function (refer

handout)
 Resolution: resolving power
 Ability to distinguish fine detail and structures
i.e: to distinguish between 2 points at a
specified distance
 Limit of resolution ↓, resolving power ↑

 Limit of resolution imposed by the wavelengths

of illumination source e.g. visible light (400-700
nm)
 Wavelength shorter, resolution ↑(resolution =

λ/2)
 Magnification
 Ability of the lens to enlarge or magnify the
object
 Total magnification = magnification of the
objective lens x magnification of the ocular
(eyepiece) lens
 To achieve high magnification with good
resolution – immersion oil between slide and
objective lens
 Reduce lost of light rays after passed through the
specimen
 Same refractive index as glass – same effect as
increasing the diameter of objective lens
 Visibility / contrast

 Features that allen a object actually to

….,larger determined by contrast

 Difference between adjacent parts of an object

or an object and its background
 Staining with dye (mostly is metaline blue)
 Stained object to appear coloured
 Disadvantage: cannot be used with living cells
because it will kill the cell and can’t see the cell
movement
 Different types of light microscopy
• Brightfield
• Phase contrast
• Differential interference contrast
• Fluorescense
• Confocal
Table 1-1 Different Types of Light
Microscopy: A Comparison
The paths taken by light rays that form the image of the
specimen & those that form the background light of the field
A comparison of cells seen
with different types of
light microscope:
brightfield, phase contrast,
diffrential interference
contrast (DIC)
The light paths in a fluorescence confocal scanning
light microscope
Confocal scanning micrographs of 3 optical sections
0.3 mm thick of a yeast nucleus stained with 2
different fluorescently labeled antibodies
Electron microscopy
 Types of electron microscopy:
~transmission electron microscopy (TEM)
~scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
 Has a limit of resolution of about 0.2 – 0.5nm.
 Looks at replicas of dead cells, after fixation and
heavy metal ion staining

 Transmission electron microscopes (TEMs)

 Electron are scattered as they pass through a thin
section of the specimen, and then detected and
projected
7. Scanning electron microscopes (SEMs)
A comparison of the lens systems of a light and
electron microscope
Streptococcus pyogenes

SEM

TEM
Scanning Electron Microscopy
Basic properties of cells
Life – most basic property of
cells
• Smallest unit to exhibit this
properties
• Can be removed from
organism and cultured in lab
1. Cells are highly complex
and organized
Each level of structure in cells has a great
level of consistency from cell to cell
 Organelles have a particular shape & location in
all individuals of species → consistent appearance
in the electron microscope
Organelles have consistent macromolecules
composition arranged in a predictable pattern
Cell structure is similar from organism to
organism despite differences in higher
anatomical features
1. The information to build a cell
is encoded in its genes
Genes - blueprints for constructing
cellular structures
• Give direction for running cellular
activities program for cell reproduction
Changes in genetic information from
generation to generation lead variation
• Cells capable of producing
more of themselves – mitosis
& meiosis
Cell reproduce by division
 The content of a ‘mother’ cell are
distributed into 2 ‘daughter’ cells.
Before division, genetic material is
copied →each daughter cell get
complete and equal share of genetic
information. (preexisting theory)
• Cells acquire & use energy to
develop & maintain complexity –
photosynthesis, respiration
Virtually all energy needed by life on Earth
comes from sun
Light energy is turned to chemical energy by
photosynthesis; stored in energy-rich CHO
i.e. sucrose, starch
Most animal cells get energy prepackaged,
often as glucose
Once in cell, glucose disassembled; energy
is stored as ATP & use to run cell activities
1. Cells carry out a variety of
chemical reactions
Sum total of the chemical reaction in a
cell represents that cell’s metabolism
Chemical changes that take place in
cells require enzymes (increase rate of
chemical reactions)
1. Cells engage in numerous
mechanical activities
Based on dynamic, mechanical changed in
cell
Mostly initiated in the shape of ‘motor’
proteins (require constant energy to keep
working)
 Materials are transported from place to place
 Structures are assembled and then rapidly
disassembled
 The entire cell moves itself from one site to
another
1. Cells able to respond to
stimuli
Most cells have receptors that sense
environment & initiate responses
Cells posses receptors to bind
• Hormones
• growth factors
• extracellular materials
• surfaces of others cells
Cells respond to specific stimuli
• Altering metabolic activities
• Preparing for cell division
• Moving from 1 place to another
• Committing suicide
1. Cells are capable of self-
regulation
Cell processes are a series of ordered steps
The importance of a cell’s regulatory
mechanisms becomes most evident when
they break down
Examples
 Failure of a cell to correct error in DNA replication
→ mutation
 Breakdown in growth control → may lead to
cancer cell (unable to control)
Classification of cells
Cells are classified by fundamental units of
structure and by the way they obtain energy.
• Cells are either
 Prokaryotic~archaebacteria and
eubacteria
 Eukaryotic~protists, fungi, plants and
animals
Distinguish by their size and the types of
internal structures (organelles)
1. Cells are also defined according the
need for energy.
 Autotrophs are ‘self feeders’ that use
light or chemical energy to make food,
e.g : plant
 In contrast, heterotrophs ("other feeders")
obtain energy from other autotrophs or
heterotrophs
e.g : many bacteria and animals
Prokaryotic
 prokaryotes are surrounded by a membrane and
cell wall.
 cells lack characteristic eukaryotic subcellular
membrane enclosed "organelles," but may
contain membrane systems inside a cell wall.
 Prokaryotic cells may have photosynthetic
pigments, such as is found in cyanobacteria
("blue bacteria").
 Some prokaryotic cells have external whip-like
flagella for locomotion or hair like pili for adhesion.
 Prokaryotic cells come in multiple shapes:
cocci (round), baccilli (roots) and spirilla or
spirochetes (helical shapes).
baccillus
Structure of animals cell
P
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Differences between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells
Prokaryotes Eukaryotes
Size Usually 1-2 µm 5-100 µm

Nucleus Absent Presence, bounded by nuclear

envelope
DNA Usually a single, circular Multiple molecules, linear,
molecule (chromosome) associated with protein
Cell division Simple fission Mitosis & meiosis
Internal Rare Complex (nuclear envelope,
membranes Golgi apparatus, endoplasmic
reticulum, etc)
Ribosome 70S 80S (70S in mitochondria &
chloroplasts)
Cytoskeleton Absent Microtubules, microfilaments,
intermediate filaments
Motility Rotary motor (drives Dynein (drives cilia &
bacterial flagelum) eukaryote flagellum), kinesin,
myosin
Types of prokaryotic cells
Divided into 2 major taxonomic
groups/domains
A. The Archaea/archaebacteria
 Live in extremely inhospitable environment/extremophiles
 Methanogens, convert CO2 and H2 into CH3 methane gas
 Halophiles, extreme salty environment
 Acidophiles, acid loving
 Thermophiles, extreme high temperature
B. The bacteria/eubacteria
 Present in every conceivable habitat on Earth
Types of eukaryotic cells
Protists (single-cell) – do everything an
organism must do to survive in single
cell
Multicellular organisms (fungi, plants,
animals) exhibit differentiation –
different activities conducted by
different types of specialized cells
Differentiation – process by which a
relatively unspecialized cell become highly
specialized
Cells specialized for varied functions,
have distinctive appearance, carry
unique materials
 E.g. skeletal muscle, cartilage cells, red blood
cells
 Cells have similar organelles but their no.,
appearance & location may differ and
correlate with cell activities
Viruses
Common virus properties – not considered
living since need host to reproduce and
metabolize, etc

All are obligatory intracellular parasites

Outside the living cell, it exists as particle or
virion
Genetic material is surrounded by protein
capsule or coat (capsid)
Tobacco mosaic virus

Bacteriophage
Have surface proteins that bind to
particular host cell surface component
In the viral life cycle, a virus infects a
cell, allowing the viral genetic
information to direct the synthesis of
new virus particles by the cell.
 Conclusion
“Long ago it became evident that the
key to every biological problem must be
finally sought in the cell; for every living
organism is, or at some time, has been
a cell”
(Wilson, E.B)