COURSE CODE: FAS-FC 104

COURSE TITLE: ZOOLOGY

Module 2: Structure and function of animal cell (Part 1)

Intended Learning Outcomes:

1. To be able the students to analyze the concepts on cell theory that “cells are the basic unit
of structure and function of life”.
2. To be able to the students to learn the three elements of cell structure common to all cells

Discussion:

Properties and Varieties of Cells

Common organization – The three components of cells are plasma membrane, nucleus, and
cytoplasm. Plasma membrane is the outer boundary of the cells that separates internal events
from the environment. The nucleus (or the nuclear region) is the genetic control center of the cell’s
cytoplasm. The cytoplasm consists of a semifluid cytosol and small structures called organelles.

Figure 1. A generalized animal cell. This

representation is based mainly on electron
microscopy.

Cells are microscopic in size and shares common genetic makeup. They must function by
exchanging nutrients, wastes, and other chemical components with the environment to sustain their
life. They must keep their size small because as the radius of a cell increases, cell volume increases
more rapidly than surface area. The surface of the cell is where all exchanges with the environment
occur. If the cell volume becomes too large, the surface area of the cell becomes too small to
support the required exchanges of nutrients and wastes. The small size of cells promotes the
concentration of reactants and enzymes, increasing the opportunities for cellular reactions and
reducing the distances that materials must traverse within a cell.

Cells comes vary in shapes and sizes and function from red blood cells that carry blood gases in
vertebrates to flagellated cells that create water currents and filter food within the bodies of
sponges. Cells can be similar in all living organisms. First, all cells share a common genetic
makeup. Genes are heritable units that comprise all organisms. They are made of
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), a double helix of nitrogenous bases that codes for a sequence of
amino acids that makes up the proteins of organisms. These bases and the genetic code, with a few
minor exceptions, are universal to all of life. Second, other chemical components of cells are also
universal. These include ribonucleic acid (RNA), which is a single-stranded chain of nitrogenous
bases that participates with DNA in the synthesis of proteins. Additionally, the energy-carrying
molecule, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), is universal to all life.

Evolutionarily, there are three types of cells. They thrive in the three largest subdivision of life on
earth. Cells present in Bacteria and Archaea lack membrane-bound nuclei and other membranous
organelles. These types of cells are referred to as prokaryotic. Bacteria are commonly
encountered organisms such as the gut inhabiting Escherichia coli and others. Archaea inhabit
extreme habitats. They are found in acidic hot springs and the acidic, oxygen-free environment of
a cow’s stomach where they help digest cellulose. The third type of cell is found in Eukarya and
referred to as eukaryotic cell. Eukarya include animals, plants, fungi, and protists (e.g., Amoeba
and Paramecium) It has a membrane-bound nucleus, mitochondria, chloroplasts (plant and some
protists), and other membranous organelles.

Cellular Membrane and Membrane Transport

The Plasma Membrane

The plasma membrane is a phospholipid bilayer with interspersed proteins and other
macromolecules. Each phospholipid consists of two hydrophobic “tail” and a hydrophilic
phosphate “head”. The tails are comprised of uncharged atoms that orient toward the interior of
the two lipid layers. The heads are charged molecules on one side of the bilayer attracted to the
watery medium on the outside of the cell, and the other side of the head of the bilayer is attracted
to the watery cytoplasm on the inside of the cell. The plasma membrane contains sterols-
principally cholesterol which modulates membranes fluidity.
Figure 2. Structure of the Plasma Membrane.

Figure 3. The arrangement of cholesterol between lipid molecules of a lipid bilayer.

The plasma membrane of eukaryotic cells has a carbohydrate layer on its outer surface.
Carbohydrate chains attach to proteins to form glycoproteins and to lipids to form glycolipids. In
many animal cells, these carbohydrate groups protrude from the cell surface to form a coat called
the glycocalyx. Surface carbohydrate coats protect the cell from mechanical and chemical damage
and have important roles in cell-to-cell recognition and adhesion.
Membrane transport

The property of membranes that allows some substances to move across the membrane while other
substances are prevented from crossing is called selective permeability.

Non-transporter Gradient Exchanges

The difference in concentration of a substance between two points of reference is called a
concentration gradient, and the movement of a substance along (down) a concentration gradient
(from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration) is called simple diffusion.
Blood is usually the medium in delivering oxygen to animal cells. Oxygen is in the higher
concentration in the blood, and cells typically have a lower concentration of oxygen. This sets up
a concentration (diffusion) gradient, and oxygen moves easily through the lipid bilayer into the
cell “down this gradient”.

Figure 4. Diffusion through Membrane Channels.

Diffusion is the movement of a substance from an
area of higher concentration to an area of lower
concentration (along or down a concentration
gradients). Small polar molecules and various ions
diffuse through membrane channels. Nonpolar
molecules, like steroid hormones, do not require
membrane channels but can diffuse through the
phospolipid bilayer.

Osmosis is the diffusion of water across a selectively permeable membrane. Water movements
across animal plasma membranes are usually through osmosis. Osmosis occurs when water is
absorbed from the gut of an animal into the bloodstream or reabsorbed in the kidney during urine
processing.

Tonicity refers to the relative concentration of solutes in the water inside and outside of the cell.
The three types of tonicity are the following:
(a). Isotonic solution – the solute concentration is the same inside and outside a red blood cell.
Thus water molecules move across the plasma membrane at the same rate in both direction.
(b). Hypertonic solution – the solute concentration is higher outside the red blood cell than inside.
Water moves out of the cell, which shrivels (crenates).
(c). Hypotonic solution – the solute concentration is lower outside the red blood cell than inside.
Water moves into the cell, which swells and may burst (undergo lysis).
Filtration is a process that forces small molecules and ions across selectively permeable
membranes with the aid of hydrostatic (water) pressure (or some other externally applied force,
such as blood pressure).

Figure 5. Tonicity. In this example, red blood cells are placed in varying concentrations of a salt
solution. Red blood cell membranes are permeable to water but not ro salt. (A) Isotonic solution
have solute concentrations that are the same as the solutes concentrations inside cells. Red blood
cells placed in an isotonic solution exchange water across their membranes equally in both
directions. Blood cell volume does not change. (B) Hypertonic solutions have solute
concentrations that are higher than the solute concentrations inside cell. Red blood cells placed in
a hypertonic solution have a higher concentration of water inside the cells than outside the cells.
Water diffuses from the cells, and cell volume decreases. The red blood cells shrivel in a process
called crenation. (C) Hypotonic solutions have solute concentration that are lower than the solute
concentrations inside cells. Red blood cells placed in a hypotonic solution have a lower
concentration of water inside the cells than outside the cells. Water diffuses into the cells and cell
volume increases. The red blood cells swell and may undergo lysis.
Figure 6. Filtration occurs when hydrostatic pressure forces water and dissolved molecules and
ions through the permeable walls of a membrane. In this example, the high blood pressure in the
capillary forces small molecules through pores or between cell junctions of the capillary
membrane. Larger molecules cannot pass through the small openings in the capillary membrane
and remain in the capillary. Arrows indicate the direction of small molecule movement.

Carrier-Mediated Transport
Facilitated diffusion occurs when large or polar molecules are in high concentration on one side
of the plasma membrane, and the concentration gradient provides the energy required for the
molecules to move to the other side of the membrane. A transport protein is required to “facilitate”
the molecules through the membrane.

Figure 7. Facilitated Diffusion. In this illustration, a

transport protein is shown changing configuration,
which allows the protein to pick up a molecule on one
side of the membrane and, using the concentration
gradient that exists for the transported molecule, deposit
the molecule on the other side of the membrane. The
concentration gradient provides the energy for
facilitated diffusion. No cellular energy is required.
Active transport moves molecules across a selectively permeable membrane against a
concentration gradient – that is, from an area of lower concentration to one of higher concentration.
This movement against a concentration gradient requires ATP energy. These carrier proteins are
called uniporters if they transport a single type of molecule or ion, symporters if they transport two
molecules or ions in the same direction, and antiporters if they transport two molecules or ions in
the opposite direction. One antiporter mechanism, the sodium-potassium pump, helps maintain the
high concentrations of potassium ions and low concentrations of sodium ions inside nerve cells
that are necessary for the transmission of electrical impulses. The calcium pump is a uniporter that
keeps the calcium concentration hundreds of times lower within the cytosol of the cell as compared
to the outside of the cell or within a membranous structure called smooth endoplasmic reticulum.
Muscle contraction depends on this very steep calcium gradient.

Figure 8. Active Transport. In this illustration,

a transport protein is shown combining with the
transported molecule on one side of the
membrane, changing configuration with the
inputs of cellular energy (in the form of ATP),
and depositing the molecule on the opposite side
of the membrane where the molecule is
accumulating.

Evaluation
1. Cells come in many sizes and shapes, and they perform many diverse functions. In spite of
these observation, cell theory is a concept that unifies all of biology. Why is the later
statement true?
2. How do animal cells transport materials against concentration gradients? What functions
can you think of that could not occur if animal cells lacked this ability?

Watch this video for an overview of cell structure: https://youtu.be/URUJD5NEXC8

Reference
Miller, S.A. & Tupper, T.A. (2019). Zoology 11th ed. McGrawHill Education. New York, 616 pp.