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Cellular Functions: Cell Motility

Cellular functions involve cell motility and cell adhesion. There are three main types of cell motility: motile elements that move material relative to the cell, cell gliding where the cell moves relative to a substrate through exocytosis and endocytosis, and amoeboid motion where the cell pulls itself forward through pseudopod formation and changes in cell shape. Cell adhesion involves cell-cell junctions that connect cells through occludens, adherens, and gap junctions, as well as adhesion plaques that connect cells to extracellular matrices through integrins and actin.

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Allen Burdowski
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54 views3 pages

Cellular Functions: Cell Motility

Cellular functions involve cell motility and cell adhesion. There are three main types of cell motility: motile elements that move material relative to the cell, cell gliding where the cell moves relative to a substrate through exocytosis and endocytosis, and amoeboid motion where the cell pulls itself forward through pseudopod formation and changes in cell shape. Cell adhesion involves cell-cell junctions that connect cells through occludens, adherens, and gap junctions, as well as adhesion plaques that connect cells to extracellular matrices through integrins and actin.

Uploaded by

Allen Burdowski
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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CELLULAR FUNCTIONS

I. Cell Motility:

A. Motile elements
1. Move material relative to the cell
2. Cilia and Flagella
B. Cell Gliding
1. Movement of cells not considered as motile
cells
2. Systematic exocytosis at leading edge and
endocytosis at trailing edge
3. Overall - rate of exocytosis and endocytosis
must be equal
4. Cell moves relative to a substrate by means of
adhesion plaques (actin mediated)
5. Always a random movement pattern -
Brownian movement
C. Amoeboid Motion
1. Movement of cells generally considered as
motile cells
2. Movement by means of growth (formation) of a
pseudopod at the leading edge of the cell
3. Cell moves forward by pulling itself towards the
pseudopod via adhesion plaques
4. Shift in the axis of cell occurs and a change in
cell shape
5. May be a random movement pattern -
Brownian movement
6. Often a unidirectional movement (non-random)
a. Initiated by a chemical trigger -
attractant = chemotactic agent
b. Requires specific receptors on the
cell surface
c. Cells follow a increasing chemical
gradient of chemotactic agent to the target

II. Cell Adhesion

A. Cell:Cell Junctions
1. Junction Types:
a. Occludens junctions (tight
junctions)
1) Form a physical barrier

Cellular Functions - Page 1 o


between cells, preventing intercellular leakage
2) Junction mediated by
Cadhedrins (transmembrane glycoproteins) -
identical molecules in both cell membranes
3) Junction is calcium
dependent
4) Binding is homophilic -
one molecular type only
5) Cytosolic support -
actin microfilaments
b. Adherens junctions (anchoring
junctions, including desmosomes)
1) couples cells together
or to extracellular structures (fibers) via
interactions mediated by the cytoskeleton and
integrins (transmembrane proteins)
2) Junctions mediated by
integrins in the cell membranes
(transmembrane proteins)
3) Binding (extracellular)
is via an intermediate molecule (extracellular
plaque)
4) Binding is therefore
heterophilic - two different molecular species
involved
5) Binding is not calcium
dependent
6) Cytoskeletal element -
tonofilaments
a)
Intermediate filaments
b)
Intracellular plaques of
desmoplakins and plakoglobulins
c. Gap junctions (communicating
junctions)
1) Tight junctions that
allow transfer of molecules or ions directly from
one cell to another cell
2) Mediated by
connexons in the membrane of both cells
a) Tripartite
transmembrane proteins
b) Clusters of

Cellular Functions - Page 2 o


connexin subunits
c) Binding is
homophilic
3) Functions both as a
cell-cell junction and as an ion channel
(calcium-gated, pH-gated, or neuromediator-
gated)
2. Junctional Shapes:
a. Zonula (occludens or adherens) -
belt-like junctions encircling entire cell.
b. Fascia (occludens or adherens) -
patches of cell surface; adhesion plaques
c. Macula (adherens only) - small
spots = desmosome (cell/cell junction) or
hemidesmosome (cell/matrix junctions)
3. Adhesion Plaques
a. Structurally similar to adherens
junctions - integrins adhering to extracellular
material such as collagen
b. Differs in intracellular structure
1) Lacks intracellular
plaques and intermediate filaments
2) Supported by actin
microfilaments
c. May be larger plaques (fascia) or
desmosome-like spots called puncta adherens

Cellular Functions - Page 3 o

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