Cell (Biology) - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Cell (Biology) - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Cell (Biology) - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
org/wiki/Cell_(biology)
Cell (biology)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The cell is the structural and functional unit of all living organisms, and is sometimes called the "building block of life."[1] Some
organisms, such as bacteria, are unicellular (consist of a single cell). Other organisms, such as humans, are multicellular. (Humans
have an estimated 100 trillion or 1014 cells; a typical cell size is 10 µm; a typical cell mass is 1 nanogram.) The largest known cell is
an ostrich egg.
The cell theory, first developed in 1839 by Matthias Jakob Schleiden and Theodor Schwann, states that all organisms are
composed of one or more cells. All cells come from preexisting cells. Vital functions of an organism occur within cells, and all cells
contain the hereditary information necessary for regulating cell functions and for transmitting information to the next generation of
cells.
The word cell comes from the Latin cellula, a small room. The name was chosen by Robert Hooke when he compared the cork cells
he saw to the small rooms monks lived in.[2]
Contents
1 Overview
1.1 Properties of cells
2 Anatomy of cells
2.1 Prokaryotic cells
2.2 Eukaryotic cells
3 Subcellular components
3.1 Cell membrane: A cell's defining boundary
Drawing of the structure of cork as it appeared
3.2 Cytoskeleton: A cell's scaffold under the microscope to Robert Hook from
3.3 Genetic material Micrographia which is the origin of the word "cell".
3.4 Organelles
4 Cell functions
4.1 Cell growth and metabolism
4.2 Creation of new cells
4.3 Protein synthesis
5 Origins of cells
5.1 Origin of the first cell
5.2 Origin of eukaryotic cells
6 History
7 See also
8 References
9 External links
9.1 Online textbooks
Each cell is at least somewhat self-contained and self-maintaining: it can take in nutrients, convert these nutrients into energy, carry out specialized functions, and reproduce as
necessary. Each cell stores its own set of instructions for carrying out each of these activities.
Some prokaryotic cells contain important internal membrane-bound compartments,[4] but eukaryotic cells have a highly specialized
Mouse cells grown in a culture dish. These cells endomembrane system characterized by regulated traffic and transport of vesicles.[5]
grow in large clumps, but each individual cell is
about 10 micrometres across.
Anatomy of cells
There are two types of cells: eukaryotic and prokaryotic. Prokaryotic cells are usually singletons, while eukaryotic cells are usually found in multicellular organisms.
Prokaryotic cells
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Prokaryotes are distinguished from eukaryotes on the basis of nuclear organization, specifically their lack of a
nuclear membrane. Prokaryotes also lack most of the intracellular organelles and structures that are characteristic of
eukaryotic cells (an important exception is the ribosomes, which are present in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic
cells). Most functions of organelles, such as mitochondria, chloroplasts, and the Golgi apparatus, are taken over by
the prokaryotic plasma membrane. Prokaryotic cells have three architectural regions: appendages called flagella and
pili — proteins attached to the cell surface; a cell envelope consisting of a capsule, a cell wall, and a plasma
membrane; and a cytoplasmic region that contains the cell genome (DNA) and ribosomes and various sorts of
inclusions. Other differences include:
The plasma membrane (a phospholipid bilayer) separates the interior of the cell from its environment and
serves as a filter and communications beacon.
Most prokaryotes have a cell wall (some exceptions are Mycoplasma (a bacterium) and Thermoplasma (an
archaeon)). It consists of peptidoglycan in bacteria, and acts as an additional barrier against exterior forces. It
also prevents the cell from "exploding" (cytolysis) from osmotic pressure against a hypotonic environment. A
cell wall is also present in some eukaryotes like plants (cellulose) and fungi, but has a different chemical
composition.
A prokaryotic chromosome is usually a circular molecule (an exception is that of the bacterium Borrelia
burgdorferi, which causes Lyme disease). Even without a real nucleus, the DNA is condensed in a nucleoid.
Prokaryotes can carry extrachromosomal DNA elements called plasmids, which are usually circular. Plasmids Diagram of a typical prokaryotic cell
can carry additional functions, such as antibiotic resistance.
Eukaryotic cells
Eukaryotic cells are about 10 times the size of a typical prokaryote and can be as much as 1000 times greater in
volume. The major difference between prokaryotes and eukaryotes is that eukaryotic cells contain membrane-bound
compartments in which specific metabolic activities take place. Most important among these is the presence of a cell
nucleus, a membrane-delineated compartment that houses the eukaryotic cell's DNA. It is this nucleus that gives the
eukaryote its name, which means "true nucleus". Other differences include:
The plasma membrane resembles that of prokaryotes in function, with minor differences in the setup. Cell
walls may or may not be present.
The eukaryotic DNA is organized in one or more linear molecules, called chromosomes, which are associated
with histone proteins. All chromosomal DNA is stored in the cell nucleus, separated from the cytoplasm by a
membrane. Some eukaryotic organelles also contain some DNA.
Eukaryotes can move using cilia or flagella. The flagella are more complex than those of prokaryotes.
Additional structures
Plasma membrane Plasma membrane
Flagellum Flagellum (only in gametes)
Cilium Cell wall
Plasmodesmata
Subcellular components
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All cells, whether prokaryotic or eukaryotic, have a membrane that envelops the cell, separates its interior from its environment,
regulates what moves in and out (selectively permeable), and maintains the electric potential of the cell. Inside the membrane, a
salty cytoplasm takes up most of the cell volume. All cells possess DNA, the hereditary material of genes, and RNA, containing the
information necessary to build various proteins such as enzymes, the cell's primary machinery. There are also other kinds of
biomolecules in cells. This article will list these primary components of the cell, then briefly describe their function.
The cytoskeleton acts to organize and maintain the cell's shape; anchors organelles in place; helps during endocytosis, the uptake of external materials by a cell, and cytokinesis, the
separation of daughter cells after cell division; and moves parts of the cell in processes of growth and mobility. The eukaryotic cytoskeleton is composed of microfilaments,
intermediate filaments and microtubules. There is a great number of proteins associated with them, each controlling a cell's structure by directing, bundling, and aligning filaments.
The prokaryotic cytoskeleton is less well-studied but is involved in the maintenance of cell shape, polarity and cytokinesis.[6]
Genetic material
Two different kinds of genetic material exist: deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA). Most organisms use DNA for their long-term information storage, but some
viruses (e.g., retroviruses) have RNA as their genetic material. The biological information contained in an organism is encoded in its DNA or RNA sequence. RNA is also used for
information transport (e.g., mRNA) and enzymatic functions (e.g., ribosomal RNA) in organisms that use DNA for the genetic code itself.
Prokaryotic genetic material is organized in a simple circular DNA molecule (the bacterial chromosome) in the nucleoid region of the cytoplasm. Eukaryotic genetic material is divided
into different, linear molecules called chromosomes inside a discrete nucleus, usually with additional genetic material in some organelles like mitochondria and chloroplasts (see
endosymbiotic theory).
A human cell has genetic material in the nucleus (the nuclear genome) and in the mitochondria (the mitochondrial genome). In humans the nuclear genome is divided into 46 linear
DNA molecules called chromosomes. The mitochondrial genome is a circular DNA molecule separate from the nuclear DNA. Although the mitochondrial genome is very small, it
codes for some important proteins.
Foreign genetic material (most commonly DNA) can also be artificially introduced into the cell by a process called transfection. This can be transient, if the DNA is not inserted into
the cell's genome, or stable, if it is.
Organelles
The human body contains many different organs, such as the heart, lung, and kidney, with each organ performing a different function. Cells also have a set of "little organs," called
organelles, that are adapted and/or specialized for carrying out one or more vital functions. Membrane-bound organelles are found only in eukaryotes.
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Vacuoles
Vacuoles store food and waste. Some vacuoles store extra water. They are often described as liquid filled space and are surrounded by a membrane. Some cells, most notably
the cell if there is too much water.
Cell functions
Cell growth and metabolism
Between successive cell divisions, cells grow through the functioning of cellular metabolism.
Cell metabolism is the process by which individual cells process nutrient molecules. Metabolism has two distinct divisions: catabolism, in which the cell breaks down complex molecules to produce
cell uses energy and reducing power to construct complex molecules and perform other biological functions. Complex sugars consumed by the organism can be broken down into a less chemica
cell, glucose is broken down to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a form of energy, via two different pathways.
The first pathway, glycolysis, requires no oxygen and is referred to as anaerobic metabolism. Each reaction is designed to produce some hydrogen ions that can then be used to make energy pa
used for converting energy.
The second pathway, called the Krebs cycle, or citric acid cycle, occurs inside the mitochondria and is capable of generating enough ATP to run all the cell functions.
Cell division involves a single cell (called a mother cell) dividing into two daughter cells. This leads to growth in multicellular organisms (the growth of tissue) and to procreation (vegetative reprodu
unicellular organisms.
Prokaryotic cells divide by binary fission. Eukaryotic cells usually undergo a process of nuclear division, called mitosis, followed by division of the cell, called cytokinesis. A diploid cell may also un
produce haploid cells, usually four. Haploid cells serve as gametes in multicellular organisms, fusing to form new diploid cells.
DNA replication, or the process of duplicating a cell's genome, is required every time a cell divides. Replication, like all cellular activities, requires specialized proteins for carrying out the job.
Protein synthesis
Cells are capable of synthesizing new proteins, which are essential for the modulation and maintenance of cellular activities. This process involves the formation of new protein molecules from
blocks based on information encoded in DNA/RNA. Protein synthesis generally consists of two major steps: transcription and translation.
Transcription is the process where genetic information in DNA is used to produce a complementary RNA strand. This RNA strand is then processed to give messenger RNA (mRNA), which is fre
through the cell. mRNA molecules bind to protein-RNA complexes called ribosomes located in the cytosol, where they are translated into polypeptide sequences. The ribosome mediates the form
polypeptide sequence based on the mRNA sequence. The mRNA sequence directly relates to the polypeptide sequence by binding to transfer RNA (tRNA) adapter molecules in binding pockets
ribosome. The new polypeptide then folds into a functional three-dimensional protein molecule.
Origins of cells
The origin of cells has to do with the origin of life, and was one of the most important steps in evolution of life as we know it. The birth of the cell marked the passage from prebiotic chemistry to b
If life is viewed from the point of view of replicators, that is DNA molecules in the organism, cells satisfy two fundamental conditions: protection from the outside environment and confinement of b
activity. The former condition is needed to maintain the fragile DNA chains stable in a varying and sometimes aggressive environment, and may have been the main reason for which cells evolve
fundamental for the evolution of biological complexity. If freely-floating DNA molecules that code for enzymes are not enclosed into cells, the enzymes that benefit a given DNA molecule (for exam
producing nucleotides) will automatically benefit the neighbouring DNA molecules. This might be viewed as "parasitism by default." Therefore the selection pressure on DNA molecules will be mu
there is not a definitive advantage for the "lucky" DNA molecule that produces the better enzyme over the others: All molecules in a given neighbourhood are almost equally advantaged.
If all the DNA molecule is enclosed in a cell, then the enzymes coded from the molecule will be kept close to the DNA molecule itself. The DNA molecule will directly enjoy the benefits of the enzym
not of others. This means other DNA molecules won't benefit from a positive mutation in a neighbouring molecule: this in turn means that positive mutations give immediate and selective advanta
replicator bearing it, and not on others. This is thought to have been the one of the main driving force of evolution of life as we know it. (Note. This is more a metaphor given for simplicity than co
since the earliest molecules of life, probably up to the stage of cellular life, were most likely RNA molecules that acted as both replicators and enzymes: see RNA world hypothesis. However, the c
reasoning is the same.)
Biochemically, cell-like spheroids formed by proteinoids are observed by heating amino acids with phosphoric acid as a catalyst. They bear much of the basic features provided by cell membrane
Proteinoid-based protocells enclosing RNA molecules could (but not necessarily should) have been the first cellular life forms on Earth.
Another theory holds that the turbulent shores of the ancient coastal waters may have served as a mammoth laboratory, aiding in the countless experiments necessary to bring about the first cell
composed of bubbles. Winds sweeping across the ocean have a tendency to drive things to shore, much like driftwood collecting on the beach. It is possible that organic molecules were concent
coastal waters also tend to be warmer, further concentrating the molecules through evaporation. While bubbles comprised of mostly water tend to burst quickly, oily bubbles happen to be much m
perform these crucial experiments. The Phospholipid is a good example of a common oily compound prevalent in the prebiotic seas. Phospholipids can be constructed in one's mind as a
Phospholipids also possess an important characteristic, that is having the function to link together to form a bilayer membrane. A lipid monolayer bubble can only contain oil, and is therefore not c
On the other hand, a lipid bilayer bubble [1] (http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/P/Phospholipids.html) can contain water, and was a likely precursor to the modern cell membr
its parent bubble, then that bubble had an advantage, and was placed at the top of the natural selection waiting list. Primitive reproduction can be envisioned when the bubbles burst, releasing th
Once enough of the 'right stuff' was released into the medium, the development of the first prokaryotes, eukaryotes, and multi-cellular organisms could be achieved. This theory is expanded upon
Joseph Panno Ph. D.
The eukaryotic cell seems to have evolved from a symbiotic community of prokaryotic cells. It is almost certain that DNA-bearing organelles like the mitochondria and the chloroplasts
cyanobacteria, respectively, where the rest of the cell seems to be derived from an ancestral archaean prokaryote cell – a theory termed the endosymbiotic theory.
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There is still considerable debate about whether organelles like the hydrogenosome predated the origin of mitochondria, or viceversa: see the hydrogen hypothesis for the origin of eukaryotic cell
Sex, as the stereotyped choreography of meiosis and syngamy that persists in nearly all extant eukaryotes, may have played a role in the transition from prokaryotes to eukaryotes. An 'origin of s
genome accreted from prokaryan parasite genomes in numerous rounds of lateral gene transfer. Sex-as-syngamy (fusion sex) arose when infected hosts began swapping nuclearized genomes c
conveyed protection against horizontal infection by more virulent symbionts.[7]
History
1632 – 1723: Anton van Leeuwenhoek teaches himself to grind lenses, builds a microscope and draws protozoa, such as Vorticella from rain water, and bacteria from his own mouth.
1665: Robert Hooke discovers cells in cork, then in living plant tissue using an early microscope.[2]
1839: Theodor Schwann and Matthias Jakob Schleiden elucidate the principle that plants and animals are made of cells, concluding that cells are a common unit of structure and developm
The belief that life forms are able to occur spontaneously (generatio spontanea) is contradicted by Louis Pasteur (1822 – 1895) (although Francesco Redi had performed an experiment in 1
Rudolph Virchow states that cells always emerge from cell divisions (omnis cellula ex cellula).
1931: Ernst Ruska builds first transmission electron microscope (TEM) at the University of Berlin. By 1935, he has built an EM with twice the resolution of a light microscope, revealing prev
1953: Watson and Crick made their first announcement on the double-helix structure for DNA on February 28.
1981: Lynn Margulis published Symbiosis in Cell Evolution detailing the endosymbiotic theory.
See also
Cell culture
Cell types
Cellular component
Cytorrhysis
Cytotoxicity
Plant cell
Plasmolysis
Stem cell
Syncytium
References
1. ^ Cell Movements and the Shaping of the Vertebrate Body
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Search&db=books&doptcmdl=GenBookHL&term=Cell+Movements+and+the+Shaping+of+the+Vertebrate+Body+AND+mboc4%5Bboo
in Chapter 21 of Molecular Biology of the Cell (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Search&db=books&doptcmdl=GenBookHL&term=cell+biology+AND+mboc4%5Bbook%5D
edited by Bruce Alberts (2002) published by Garland Science.
The Alberts text discusses how the "cellular building blocks" move to shape developing embryos. It is also common to describe small molecules such as amino acids as "molecular building
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Search&db=books&doptcmdl=GenBookHL&term=%22all+cells%22+AND+mboc4%5Bbook%5D+AND+372023%5Buid%5D&rid=mboc4
2. ^ a b "... I could exceedingly plainly perceive it to be all perforated and porous, much like a Honey-comb, but that the pores of it were not regular [..] these pores, or cells, [..] were indeed the
were ever seen, for I had not met with any Writer or Person, that had made any mention of them before this. . ." – Hooke describing his observations on a thin slice of cork. Robert Hooke
3. ^ The Universal Features of Cells on Earth (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Search&db=books&doptcmdl=GenBookHL&term=%22all+cells%22+AND+mboc4%5Bbook%
in Chapter 1 of the Alberts textbook (reference #1, above).
4. ^ L.M., Mashburn-Warren; Whiteley, M. (2006). "Special delivery: vesicle trafficking in prokaryotes. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2958.2006.05272.x) ". Mol Microbiol 61 (4): 839-46.
5. ^ A. Rose, S. J. Schraegle, E. A. Stahlberg and I. Meier (2005) "Coiled-coil protein composition of 22 proteomes--differences and common themes in subcellular infrastructure and traffic co
Entrez PubMed 16288662 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16288662)
Rose et al. suggest that coiled-coil alpha helical vesicle transport proteins are only found in eukaryotic organisms.
6. ^ Michie K, Löwe J (2006). "Dynamic filaments of the bacterial cytoskeleton". Annu Rev Biochem 75: 467-92. PMID 16756499.
7. ^ Sterrer W (2002). "On the origin of sex as vaccination". Journal of Theoretical Biology 216: 387-396.
This article contains material from the Science Primer (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/About/Primer) published by the NCBI, which, as a US government publication, is in the public domain
External links
The Inner Life of A Cell (http://www.studiodaily.com/main/searchlist/6850.html) , a flash video showing what happens inside of a cell
The Virtual Cell (http://www.ibiblio.org/virtualcell/tour/cell/cell.htm)
Cells Alive! (http://www.cellsalive.com/)
Journal of Cell Biology (http://www.jcb.org/)
A comparison of the generational and exponential growth of cell populations (http://members.optusnet.com.au/exponentialist/Cells.htm)
High-resolution images of brain cells (http://brainmaps.org/index.php?q=cell)
The Biology Project > Cell Biology (http://www.biology.arizona.edu/cell_bio/cell_bio.html)
The Image & Video Library (http://cellimages.ascb.org/) of The American Society for Cell Biology (http://www.ascb.org/) , a collection of peer-reviewed still images, video clips and digital bo
cell
Online textbooks
Acrosome - Cell wall - Cell membrane - Chloroplast - Cilium/Flagellum - Centrosome - Cytoplasm - Endoplasmic reticulum - Endosome - Golgi apparatus - Lysosome - Melanosome - Mitochondrion - Myofibril - Nucleus
Vesicle
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