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TOPIC 1.1: CELLS
1.1 CELL THEORY
1.1 OUTLINE THE CELL THEORY.

All living organisms are composed of cells.
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Multicellular organisms (example: humans) are composed
of many cells while unicellular organisms (example:
bacteria) are composed of only one cell. Cells are the basic
unit of structure in all organisms.
Cells are the smallest unit of life. They are the
smallest structures capable of surviving on their own.
Cell structure is correlated to cellular function
Cells come from pre-exsisting cells and cannot
be created from non-living material.

For example, new cells arise from cell division and a zygote
(the very first cell formed when an organism is produced)
arises from the fusion of an egg cell and a sperm cell.
FIGURE 6.3
Light Microscopy (LM)
Electron Microscopy (EM)
Brightfield
(unstained specimen)
Confocal
Longitudinal section
of cilium
Cross section
of cilium
50 m
Cilia
50 m
Brightfield
(stained specimen)
2 m
2 m
Deconvolution
10 m
Phase-contrast
Differential-interferencecontrast (Nomarski)
Super-resolution
10 m
1 m
Fluorescence
Scanning electron
microscopy (SEM)
Transmission electron
microscopy (TEM)
FIGURE 6.3A
50 m
Brightfield
(unstained specimen)
FIGURE 6.3B
Brightfield
(stained specimen)
DISCUSS THE EVIDENCE FOR THE CELL
THEORY


Discuss: Give an account including, where possible, a range
of arguments for and against the relative importance of
various factors, or comparisons of alternative hypotheses.
a. All living things are made of cells:
When living things are observed under the microscope they
consistently appear to be composed of cells.


However, there are a number of examples that do not
conform to the standard notion of what a cell looks like at
the microscopic level.
[slides: skeletal muscle, Red Blood Cells (RBC’s),
epidermis}
EXCEPTIONS THAT TEST THE RULE OF
CELL THEORY:
Muscle cells: challenges the idea that a cell has one
nucleus.
Muscle cells have more than one nucleus per cell
Muscle Cells called fibres can be very long
(300mm).
 They are surrounded by
a single plasma membrane
but they are multi-nucleated.
(many nuclei).
 This does not conform to the
standard view of a small single
nuclei within a cell

9b Skeletal muscle, LS, H&E. High mag. Not all the nuclei are
muscle nuclei, some are likely to be in fibroblasts of the
endomysial LCT and one or two might be satellite cells, the
stem cells that allow muscle regeneration after traumatic
injury.[http://web.as.uky.edu/biology/faculty/bonner/HISTOLOGY/Muscle/muscle.htm]
FUNGAL CELLS: CHALLENGES THE IDEA
THAT A CELL IS A SINGLE UNIT.

Fungal Hyphae:
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again very large with many
nuclei and a continuous
cytoplasm
The tubular system of hyphae
form dense networks called
mycelium.
Like muscle cells they are
multi-nucleated
They have cell walls composed
of chitin
The cytoplasm is continuous
along the hyphae with no end
cell wall or membrane
PROTOCTISTA: CHALLENGES THE IDEA THAT A
CELL IS SPECIALISED TO A SINGLE FUNCTION.


Yet, the protoctista can carry out
all functions of life.
A cell capable of all necessary
functions Amoeba Single celled
organisms have one region of
cytoplasm surrounded by a cell
membrane.
The protoctista cell is unusual in
that it performs all functions.
Such cells are usually much
larger than other cells such that
some biologist consider them
'acellular', that is, non-cellular.
This is an image of an amoeba. A
single cell protoctista capable of
all essential functions. What cell
organelles can you see?
B. CELLS ARE THE SMALLEST UNIT OF
LIFE.
The cell is the smallest unit of organization that
can show all the characteristics of living
processes.
 Organelles often require the cooperation of other
organelles for their successful function.
 Interested students should research the concept
of endosymbiont theory.

C. CELLS COME ONLY FROM OTHER
CELLS.
Cells carry out a form of cell division to form new
cells. This process of cell replication in
eukaryotes is called mitosis and in prokaryotes
is called binary fission. The parental cell divides
to produce identical daughter cells.
 This aspect of cell theory suggests that all cells
therefore have a common ancestor, the original
ancestral cell form which all other cells have
arisen by descent. (origin of cellular life).
 This relationship of common ancestor suggest
therefore that all organisms are related.

TOK: CELL THEORY REPLACES THE
FORMER IDEAS
spontaneous generation or abiogenesis in which
inanimate matter assembles itself into living
forms. This was particularly believed to be the
case in out breaks of diseases. Germ Theory
 These ideas are then replaced by the work of
Francesco Redi, Agostino Bassi, John Snow and
Louis Pasteur.
 There still remains the necessary idea however
that at some point cellular life developed from
non-cellular form.


How does the multinucleated cytoplasm of fungal hyphae
and skeletal muscles bring the cell theory into question?
The cell theory states that cells are the smallest unit of life and that organisms are
made of cells. Both skeletal muscle cells and fungal hyphae are made from elongated
cytoplasm with more than one nucleus. These structures are a problem for cell theory
because they are not strictly made of cells.

How does Acetabularium, the giant algal cell that can grow
up to 10 cm in length and has three distinct body parts,
disturb the cell theory?
Cell theory states that organisms are made of cells. Acetabularium is a whole
organism and it is larger than a cell. This disturbs the cell theory because it seems to
break the rule that all organisms are made of cells by not itself being made of cells

"Omnis cellula e cellula" (Cells originate from cells) is what
R Virchow stated. But where did the first cells come from?
There is some evidence that organic molecules could form in the 'primordial soup' of
the early Earth's atmosphere. Some of these molecules, like RNA or enzymes are
thought to be capable of reproducing themselves. Other molecules have properties
similar to parts of a membrane. They could form the main parts of a cell.
This is a question which cannot be answered fully by science. It is not possible to
observe the process happening, nor to recreate accurately the conditions of the early
earth's atmosphere.
COMPARE THE RELATIVE SIZES CELLS
USING THE APPROPRIATE SI UNIT

Compare: means to Give an account of
similarities and differences between two (or
more) items, referring to both (all) of them
throughout.



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
Molecules
cell membrane thickness
Viruses
Bacteria
organelles and cells,
10 m
Human height
1m
0.1 m
Length of some
nerve and
muscle cells
Chicken egg
1 cm
Unaided eye
Frog egg
1 mm
Human egg
Most plant and
animal cells
10 m
1 m
100 nm
Nucleus
Most bacteria
Mitochondrion
Smallest bacteria
Viruses
Ribosomes
10 nm
Proteins
Lipids
1 nm
0.1 nm
Small molecules
Atoms
Superresolution
microscopy
Electron microscopy
100 m
Light microscopy
FIGURE 6.2
FIGURE 6.2A
10 m
1m
0.1 m
Length of some
nerve and
muscle cells
Chicken egg
1 cm
Frog egg
1 mm
100 m
Human egg
Unaided eye
Human height
1 cm
Frog egg
100 m
10 m
1 m
100 nm
Human egg
Most plant and
animal cells
Nucleus
Most bacteria
Mitochondrion
Smallest bacteria
Viruses
Ribosomes
10 nm
Proteins
Lipids
1 nm
0.1 nm
Small molecules
Atoms
Superresolution
microscopy
Electron microscopy
1 mm
Light microscopy
FIGURE 6.2B
1. Molecules of Biological significance are around 1 nm in size
where as the cell membrane is about ten times thicker at
10nm.
2. Where as a virus is ten times larger again at around 100nm.
3. Where as a bacteria is ten times larger again at around 1
um.
4. Where as a eukaryotic animal cell is ten time larger again
at around 10 um.
5. Where as a eukaryotic plant cell is ten times larger again at
around 100 um.
FIGURE 6.6A
Outside of cell
Inside of cell
0.1 m
(a) TEM of a plasma membrane
FIGURE 6.7
Surface area increases while
total volume remains constant
5
1
1
Total surface area
[sum of the surface areas
(height  width) of all box
sides  number of boxes]
6
150
750
Total volume
[height  width  length
 number of boxes]
1
125
125
Surface-to-volume
(S-to-V) ratio
[surface area  volume]
6
1.2
6
As the size of a structure increases the surface
area to volume ratio decreases.
 The rate of exchange of substances therefore
depends on the organism's surface area that is in
contact with the surroundings.
 Reason: as organisms get bigger their volume
and surface area both get bigger, but not by the
same amount. The volume increases as the cube
but the area of the surface only increases by the
square.

EXAMPLE: GAS EXCHANGE OF OXYGEN FOR
RESPIRATION.
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A cell which respires aerobically demands oxygen for
the process.
Oxygen is obtained form the surrounding
environment such as water or blood (depends on the
cell).
Oxygen diffuses across the cell membrane.
More membrane more diffusion (Surface area=
increases by the 2).
Bigger cell (Volume = increases by the 3).
However the ratio of surface area2 : volume 3 is
decreasing
Therefore the volume of oxygen obtained for each
unit of cell volume is actually decreasing
Cells must not get too big because they cannot obtain
sufficient oxygen to satisfy the demands of the cell.
WHY CELLS ARE SMALL (REASONING):
Size is a limiting Factors for cell because:
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A big cell needs more oxygen than a little cell
Big cells need to have more oxygen diffusion across the cell
membrane.
But the big cell has relatively small surface area compared
to its volume i.e. the surface area: volume ratio is small.
What ever other benefits a cell might gain from being big,
it cannot become larger than is limited by the rate of gas
exchange.
This reasoning can be applied to nutrients and to waste,
anything that is exchanged across the cell surface.
Try preparing a reason why size is a limiting factor for:


Obtaining nutrient (glucose)
Excretion of waste molecules ( urea, ammonia, carbon dioxide).
CONCLUSIONS:
As the organism gets bigger its surface area :
volume ratio decreases
 This rule is a limiting factor for cell size.
 As the cell gets bigger the ratio decreases
 If the ratio decreases the rate of exchange
decreases

EXPLAIN THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SURFACE
AREA TO VOLUME RATIO AS A FACTOR
LIMITING CELL SIZE

Explain means to give a detailed account of
causes, reasons or mechanisms.
 Metabolic
requirements set upper limits on
the size of cells
 The surface area to volume ratio of a cell is
critical
 As the surface area increases by a factor of n2,
the volume increases by a factor of n3
 Small cells have a greater surface area
relative to volume
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
STATE THAT MULTICELLULAR ORGANISMS
SHOW EMERGENT PROPERTIES

State: means to give a specific name, value or
other brief answer without explanation or
calculation.
EMERGENT PROPERTIES: “THE WHOLE IS
GREATER THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS.”
 Emergent
properties result from the
arrangement and interaction of parts
within a system
 Emergent properties characterize nonbiological entities as well

For example, a functioning bicycle
emerges only when all of the necessary
parts connect in the correct way
Emergence is the occurrence of unexpected
characteristics or properties in a complex system.
 These properties emerge from the interaction of
the ‘parts’ of the system.



cells form tissues, tissues form organs, organs form
organ systems and organ systems form multicellular
organisms.
The idea is that the whole is greater than the
composition of its parts.

For example your lungs are made of many cells.
However, the cells by themselves aren’t much use. It
is the many cells working as a unit that allow the
lungs to perform their function.

As a model consider the electric light bulb. The
bulb is the system and is composed of a filament
made of tungsten, a metal cup, and a glass
container. We can study the parts individually
how they function and the properties they posses.
These would be the properties of :
Tungsten
 Metal cup
 Glass container.

CELL DIFFERENTIATION

Key Points:

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
Cells become different and specialize their function
Cells in multicellular organisms undergo reproduce
themselves by mitosis.
Each cell contains all 23 pairs of chromosomes
Most of the genes will be turned off if the cell does not require for
their function (i.e. a liver cell would not have genes turned on for
eye function.
 Genes switched on are associated with ‘house-keeping’ i.e.
respiration to keep the cell alive


Differentiation of groups of cells produce specialized
tissues
Epithelial
 Neurons
 Cartilage

Skeletal muscle
Smooth muscle
adipose
Bone
EXPLAIN THAT CELLS IN MULTICELLULAR
ORGANISMS DIFFERENTIATE TO CARRY OUT
SPECIALIZED FUNCTIONS BY EXPRESSING SOME OF
THEIR GENES BUT NOT OTHERS

As a general principle

the larger a multicellular organisms become the
more diversity and differentiated specialisms there
are within the organism.
Rather than all cells carrying out all functions,
tissues and organs specialize to particular
functions.
 These organs and systems are then integrated to
give the whole organism (with its emergent
properties).

DIFFERENTIATION: CELLS WITHIN A MULTI
CELLULAR ORGANISM SPECIALIZE THEIR FUNCTION.
Specialized cells have switched on particular
genes (expressed) that correlate to these
specialist functions.
 These specific gene expressions produce
particular shapes, functions and adaptations
within a cell.
 Therefore a muscle cell will express muscle genes
but not those genes which are for nerve cells.
 What is the benefit of differentiation and
specialization of tissues rather than all tissues
carrying out all functions?

QUIZ 3
1.
2.
3.
4.
How many pairs of chromosomes does a liver
cell have?
Does every cell utilize all of the genes in their
nucleus.
What does the term differentiate mean?
What is a stem cell?
5. HOW DOES THE SURFACE AREA TO VOLUME
RATIO CHANGE WITH AN INCREASE IN CELL SIZE?
IN A MULTI CELLULAR ORGANISM SPECIALIZATION IS
MORE EFFICIENT THAN THE GENERALIZED PLAN WHEN
COMPETING FOR A SPECIFIC RESOURCE. CONSIDER THE
ROLE OF WATER TRANSPORT THROUGH THE PLANT:

In higher plants we have specialization to for a
tubular system called the xylem.
This is more efficient way of water transport than
simply been passed by the mass movement of water
from cell to cell.
 In the xylem water can be moved very efficiently
from underground to the canopy of the highest trees
at very little cost to the plant.


If there is no specialized tissue for carrying water
then the plant would rely on the movement of
water by mass flow of diffusion which is very
slow. The plant is therefore limited in size and
therefore cannot compete with larger species.
STATE THAT UNICELLULAR ORGANISMS
CARRY OUT ALL THE FUNCTIONS OF LIFE
State: to give a specific name, value or other brief
answer without explanation or calculation.
 The 7 Properties of life include:
Order—the highly ordered structure that typifies
life,
2. Reproduction—the ability of organisms to
reproduce their own kind,
3. Growth and development—consistent growth
and development controlled by inherited DNA,
4. Energy processing—the use of chemical energy to
power an organism’s activities and chemical
reactions,
1.
Response to the environment—an ability to
respond to environmental stimuli,
6. Regulation—an ability to control an organism’s
internal environment within limits that sustain
life, and
7. Evolutionary adaptation—adaptations evolve
over many generations as individuals with traits
best suited to their environments have greater
reproductive success and pass their traits to
offspring.
5.
FIGURE 1.1
(3) Growth and
development
(1) Order
(4) Energy
processing
(2) Reproduction
(6) Regulation
(5) Response to the
environment
(7) Evolutionary adaptation
Differentiation depends on gene expression which
is regulated mostly during transcription.
 It is an advantage for multicellular organisms as
cells can differentiate to be more efficient unlike
unicellular organisms who have to carry out all of
the functions within that one cell.

STATE THAT STEM CELLS RETAIN THE CAPACITY
TO DIVIDE AND HAVE THE ABILITY TO
DIFFERENTIATE ALONG DIFFERENT PATHWAYS
A stem cell retains the capacity to divide and has
the ability to differentiate along different
pathways.
 A stem cell is able to divide but has not yet
expressed genes to specialize to a particular
function. Under the right conditions stem cells
can be induced to express particular genes and
differentiate into a particular type of cell.
 Stem cells can be obtained from a variety of
different places including the blastocyst.
 Adults still posses stem cells in some organs but
much less so than a child. Even the placenta can
be a useful source of stem cells.

3 PLACES WE CAN OBTAIN STEM CELLS
1.
2.
3.
Embryonic stem cells
Umbilical cord
Adult stem cells
1.
Bone marrow
STEM CELLS AND THE REPLACEMENT OF CELLULAR
ELEMENTS
 The
cellular elements of blood wear out and are
being replaced constantly
 Erythrocytes, leukocytes, and platelets all
develop from a common source of stem cells in
the red marrow of bones (pluripotent), especially
ribs, vertebrae, sternum, and pelvis
 The hormone erythropoietin (EPO) stimulates
erythrocyte production when O2 delivery is low
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
FIGURE 42.19
Stem cells
(in bone marrow)
Myeloid
stem cells
Lymphoid
stem cells
B cells T cells
Erythrocytes
Neutrophils
Basophils
Lymphocytes
Monocytes
Platelets
Eosinophils
THERAPEUTIC USE OF STEM CELLS
Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma is a cancerous disease of
the lymphatic system. Outline of the disease.
1. patient requires heavy does of radiation and or
chemotherapy. This will destroy health blood tissue as
well as the diseased tissue.
2. Blood is filtered for the presence of peripheral stem
cells. Cells in the general circulation that can still
differentiate into different types of blood cell otherwise
known as stem cells.
3. Bone marrow can be removed before treatment.
4. Chemotherapy supplies toxic drugs to kill the
cancerous cells.
5. Radiation can be used to kill the cancerous cells. In
time however the cancerous cells adapt to this
treatment so that radiation and chemotherapy are
often used together.
6. Post radiation/ chemotherapy means that the
patients health blood tissues is also destroyed by the
treatment.
7. Health stem cells or marrow cells can be
transplanted back to produce blood cells again
EMBRYONIC STEM CELL

This animation is an introduction to the use of
embryonic stem cell for therapies.
THERAPEUTIC CLONING .
This is a method of obtaining ES (embryonic
stem) cells from someone who has already been
born. These stem cells can be used to treat the
individual without generating an immune
response.
 The human body recognizes and attacks foreign
cells, including stem cells. This is a serious
barrier to stem cell therapy.

The process of therapeutic cloning is shown in the
following diagram. (next slide)
 It begins by taking a somatic (body) cell from the
individual.
 The nucleus of the somatic cell is fused with an egg
that has had its nucleus removed.
 The resulting cell is genetically identical to the
individual because it contains the DNA from the
individual’s somatic cell.
 The new cell behaves like a fertilized egg and
develops into a blastocyst.
 ES cells can be harvested from the blastocyst and
grown in culture.
 These ES cells could be used to treat the individual
without encountering resistance from his or her
immune system.

1. The patient requires the replacement of some
diseased tissue. First we obtain a healthy cell from the
same patient.
2. At the same time we require a human egg cell. This is
mainly as the cell retains the tendency to divide unlike
the sample tissue from the patient.
3. The nucleus is removed from the egg and discarded.
The cell body itself is retained.
4. The nucleus of the patients cell is removed and
retained. The cell body of the patients cell is discarded.
5. The nucleus from the patients cell is transferred to
the enucleated cell body.
6. The cells then stimulated to divide forming a clone.
7. The cell mass forms a blastocyst.
8. The inner cell mass becomes a source of totipotent
stem cells. Totipotent means they are capable of being
stimulated to become one of any type of cell.
9. Cells are stimulated using differentiation factors to
become the type of cell required for therapy.
10. Therapy would require the transfer of the new
healthy cell to the patient. In therapeutic cloning these
cells have the same immune system identity as the
patient therefore there is not immune rejection problem.
It is important that this technique is not confused with
embryonic stem cell cultures or with reproductive cloning.

Notice that we do not refer to this type of
blastocyst as an embryo. This is because,
technically speaking, an embryo is the result of
the union of an egg and a sperm, which has not
happened in this case.
STARGARDT’S DISEASE

Inherited (genetic)
Recessive allele
 Destroys retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)

If RPE cells do not function the photoreceptors will
degenerate.
 Gradual loss of central vision


Stem Cells Use
Aims to replace RPE cells with healthy RPE cells
derived from embryonic stem cells
 These healthy cells are injected into the affected area
of the eye
 Results from trial show cells have survived &
multiplied leading to improved vision.

POTENTIAL QUESTIONS
Questions to answer:
 What is differentiation?
 What is the difference between
differentiation and specialization?
 What are stem cells?
 Where are stem cells found?
 What can stem cells be used for?
