STRUCTURE, ORGANIZATION,

AND FUNCTIONS OF THE

HUMAN CELL
a presentation by Innocent Muhereza
The structural organization of the human
body
• Learning outcomes
• Define the term ‘ level of organisation’
• Explain the 6 levels of structure organisations.
• List the various systems of the human body and their
functions.
• Explain the body cavities and organs contained there in.
• Describe the various types of membranes.
LEVEL OF ORGANIZATION
• The level of organisation refers to the way in which the elements or
structures that make up the human body are arranged.
• These levels range from the chemical (most fundamental level) up to
the organism level (most complex level).
• The chemical level integrates atoms and molecules.
• Your exploration of the human body will extend from atoms and
molecules to the whole person. From the smallest to the largest, six
levels of organization will help you to understand anatomy and
physiology: the chemical, cellular, tissue, organ, system, and
organismal levels of organization.
Chemical level.
• This level includes atoms and molecules
 Atoms are the smallest units of matter that participate in chemical
reactions, Certain atoms, such as carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen
(O), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), calcium (Ca), and sulfur (S), are
essential for maintaining life.
 Atoms combine to form molecules.
 Molecules are the chemical building blocks of all the structures of the
body. Examples are Oxygen, water, Proteins and sugars
• Two familiar molecules found in the body are deoxyribonucleic acid
(DNA), the genetic material passed from one generation to the next,
and glucose, commonly known as blood sugar.
Chemical level.
Cellular level.
Molecules combine to form cells, the basic structural
and functional units of an organism.
Cells are the smallest, independently functioning unit of
a living organism.
 All the functions of the human physiology are
performed in or initiated by cells.
The human cell is made up of a flexible membrane
enclosing the cytoplasm in which a number of
organelles are suspended.
Tissue level.
• Tissues are group of many similar cells working together to perform a
specific function.
• There are just four basic types of tissue in your body
- Connective tissues
- Nervous tissues
- Epithelial tissues
- Muscle tissues
 Tissues group themselves to form the organ level.
Organ level.
• At this level different types of tissues are joined together. organs are
structures that are composed of two or more different types of tissues; they
have specific functions and usually have recognizable shapes.
• Organs are anatomically distinct structures of the body made up of two or
more tissue types and performing one or more specific function
• Examples of organs are:
- The stomach
- Kidneys
- Ear
- Eye
- Nose
• These organs work together to form systemic level.
System level
• A system consists of related organs with a common function.
• An example of the system level, also called the organ-system
level, is the digestive system, which breaks down and absorbs
food. Its organs include the mouth, salivary glands, pharynx
(throat), esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine,
liver, gallbladder, an pancreas.
• Sometimes an organ is part of more than one system. The
pancreas, for example, is part of both the digestive system
and the hormone producing endocrine system.
Examples of systems in the body include
- Nervous system
- Urinogenital
- Respiratory
- Digestive
- Cardiovascular
- Integumentary
- Reproductive
- Musculoskeletal
- Endocrine
- Lymphatic system
Organismal level.
• An organism, any living individual, All the parts of
the human body functioning together constitute the
total organism.
• All the systems combine to form the organism. The
organism is the highest level of organization and
consists of all the structures that all the physiological
functions necessary for life
Content summary:
• We have just seen that life processes in the
human body are maintained at different levels of
organization:
• These levels include the chemical, cellular,
tissue, organ, organ systems and the organism
level.
• This kind of high level arrangement ensures that
body processes go on smoothly.
The Eleven Systems of the Human Body
• INTEGUMENTARY SYSTEM
Components: Skin and structures associated with it, such as hair, nails,
sweat glands, and oil glands.
Functions
• Protects the body
• Helps regulate body temperature;
• Eliminates some wastes;
• Helps make vitamin D; and
• Detects sensations such as touch, pain, warmth, and cold.
SKELETAL SYSTEM
Components: Bones and joints of the body and their
associated cartilages.
Functions:
• Supports and protects the body;
• Provides a surface area for muscle attachments
• Aids body movements;
• Houses cells that produce blood cells;
• Stores minerals and lipids (fats).
MUSCULAR SYSTEM
Components: Muscles composed of skeletal muscle tissue, so-
named because it is usually attached to bones.
Functions
• Produces body movements, such as walking;
• Stabilizes body position (posture);
• Generates heat.
NERVOUS SYSTEM
Components: Brain, spinal cord, nerves, and special sense
organs, such as the eyes and ears.
Functions
• Generates action potentials (nerve impulses) to regulate body
activities
• Detects changes in the body’s internal and external
environments,
• Interprets the changes, and responds by causing muscular
contractions or glandular secretions.
ENDOCRINE SYSTEM
Components: Hormone-producing glands (pineal gland,
hypothalamus, pituitary gland, thymus, thyroid gland,
parathyroid glands, adrenal glands, pancreas, ovaries, and
testes) and hormone-producing cells in several other organs.
Functions
• Regulates body activities by releasing hormones, which are
chemical messengers transported in blood from an endocrine
gland or tissue to a target organ.
CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM
Components: Blood, heart, and blood vessels.
Functions:
• Heart pumps blood through blood vessels;
• Blood carries oxygen and nutrients to cells and carbon dioxide and
wastes away from cells and
• Helps regulate acid–base balance, temperature, and water content of
body fluids;
• blood components help defend against disease and repair damaged
blood vessels.
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
• Components: Organs of gastrointestinal tract, a long tube that
includes the mouth, pharynx (throat), esophagus, stomach,
small and large intestines, and anus;
• also includes accessory organs that assist in digestive
processes, such as the salivary glands, liver, gallbladder, and
pancreas.
• Functions: Achieves physical and chemical breakdown of
food; absorbs nutrients; eliminates solid wastes.
URINARY SYSTEM
• Components: Kidneys, ureters, urinary bladder, and urethra.
• Functions
• Produces, stores, and eliminates urine;
• Eliminates wastes and regulates volume and chemical
composition of blood;
• Helps maintain the acid–base balance of body fluids;
• Maintains body’s mineral balance;
• Helps regulate production of red blood cells.
LYMPHATIC SYSTEM AND
IMMUNITY
• Components: Lymphatic fluid (lymph) and vessels; also
includes spleen, thymus, lymph nodes, and tonsils.
• Functions:
• Returns proteins and fluid to blood
• Carries lipids from gastrointestinal tract to blood;
• It includes lymphocytes that protect against disease-causing
microbes mature and proliferate.
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
• Components: Lungs and air passageways such as the pharynx
(throat), larynx (voice box), trachea (windpipe), and
bronchial tubes leading into and out of the lungs.
• Functions
• Transfers oxygen from inhaled air to blood and carbon
dioxide from blood to exhaled air;
• Helps regulate acid–base balance of body fluids
• Air flowing out of lungs through vocal cords produces
sounds.
REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEMS
• Components: Gonads (testes in males and ovaries in females)
and associated organs (uterine tubes, uterus, and vagina in
females and epididymis, ductus deferens, and penis in males).
• Functions
• Gonads produce gametes (sperm or oocytes) that unite to
form a new organism;
• gonads also release hormones that regulate reproduction and
other body processes; associated organs transport and store
gametes.
Body cavities:
 Cavities are spaces in the body that help to protect,
separate and support internal organs
 They are hollow spaces in which other structures or
organs are embedded.
 The major ones include:
- The cranial cavity - Abdomenal
- Thoracic cavity - pelvic cavity
1. The cranial cavity:
 This is formed by the bones of the skull
and accommodates the brain.
 The bones which form the cranial cavity
are
- The frontal bone on the anterior aspect
- 2 temporal bones laterally
- 1 occipital bone posteriorly
- 2 parietal bones superiorly.
- 1 sphenoid and 1 ethmoid bone inferiorly
2. The thoracic cavity
 Is found in the upper part of the trunk and
contains the following :
- Trachea, 2 bronchi and 2 lungs
- The heart
- The esophagus
- Lymph vessels and lymph nodes
- The diaphram separates it from the
abdominal cavity.
3. The abdominal cavity
 This is the largest cavity of the body located
in the main trunk of the body.
 It is divided into 9 regions and four
quadrants.
 Regions include:
- The epigastric region, umbilical region, hypo
gastric region, left and right hypochondriac
regions, left and right lumbar regions, left
and right iliac fossa.
45
The quadrants include:
- Right upper quadrant
- Right lower quadrant
- Left upper quadrant
- Left lower quadrant
Class discussion:
1. Outline the contents in each of the regions identified
above.
2. Explain the clinical significance of the abdomenal
divisions.
4. The pelvic region:
 It extends from the lower end of the
abdominal cavity and contains:
- The sigmoid colon
- Prostate gland, semen vesicles and the
ducts
- Urinary bladder and urethra.
- Non pregnant uterus
- Rectum and anus
THE HUMAN CELL
 Learning outcomes:
- Define a cell.
- Describe the components of the human cell.
- Explain the functions of different organelles of the cell.
- List the different disorders of the cell.
 A cellis the smallest basic unit of a living
organism capable of independent existance.
 A human body is made up of trillions of cells
performing different functions.
 Examples of cells are bone cells, blood cells and
nerve cells.
 A human cell is a typical example of eukaryotic
cell.
 Plasma membrane:
- It is also known as cell membrane and is
made up of 2 layers of phospholipids.
- The major function of the cell membrane
is to control movement of materials in
and outside the cell.
- It also encloses all the organelles found
inside the cell.
- Maintains the shape of the cell
- Qn: using an illustration, describe the
structure of the cell membrane.
 2. cytoplasm:

 Consists of all the cellular contents between the plasma membrane and
the nucleus.
 This compartment has two components: cytosol and organelles.
 Cytosol : means the fluid portion of cytoplasm.
Contains: water, dissolved solutes, and suspended particles.
Surrounded by cytosol are several different types of organelles(little
organs).
 Each type of organelle has a characteristic shape and specific
functions.
 Examples include: the cytoskeleton, ribosomes, endoplasmic reticulum
, Golgi complex, lysosomes, peroxisomes and mitochondria.
3. The organelles:
- Organelles are small organs within the
cell.
They include:
 The nucleus:
- The nucleus is the control centre of the
cell. It contains the body's genetic
material in the form of DNA.
- Within the nucleus is a rough spherical
structure called the nucleolus.
 The mitochondria
- This is also referred to as the power house of the cell.
- They are responsible for synthesis of energy in form of ATP.
- The most active cells have the greatest number of mitochondria
for example liver cells,sperm cells and skeletal muscle cells
 Lysosomes:
- These contain a variety of enzymes involved in breaking down
worn out organelles and digesting foreign materials/ microbes
that could have invaded the body.
 Endoplasmic reticulum:
- It is an extensive series of interconnecting
membranes canals in the cytoplasm.
- It is of two types i.e the rough and smooth
- The rough ER is a site for manufacturing of
proteins.
- The smooth ER synthesizes lipids and steroid
hormones. Also detoxifies some drugs.
 The ribosomes:
- They are tiny granules within the cell responsible for
synthesizing proteins from amino acids.
 Golgi apparatus
- Are stacked folded and flattened membrane sacs with vesicles. It
is for storage of proteins.