FEDERAL UNUVERSITY BIRNIN KEBBI

DEPARTMENT OF BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

BCH 202: GENERAL BIOCHEMISTRY 2
BY S.S AHMAD

CELL – STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION

INTRODUCTION
All organisms are composed of structural and functional units of life called ‘cells’. The body of
some organisms like bacteria, protozoans and some algae is made up of a single cell whereas the
body of higher fungi, plants and animals are composed of many cells. Human body is built of
about one trillion cells.
Cells vary in size and structure as they are specialized to perform different functions. But the
basic components of the cell are common to all biological cells. This lesson deals with the
structure common to all types of the cells. You will also learn about the kinds of cell division and
the processes involved therein in this lesson.

THE CELL AND CELL THEORY

The cell theory
In 1838 M.J. Schleiden and Theodore Schwann formulated the “cell theory.” Which maintains
that:
1. All organisms are composed of cells.
2. Cell is the structural and functional unit of life, and
3. Cells arise from pre-existing cells.
The cells vary considerably, in shapes and sizes. Nerve cells of animals have long extensions.
They can be several centimeter in length. Muscle cells are elongated in shape. Egg of the ostrich
is the largest cell (75 mm). Some plant cells have thick walls. There is also wide variation in the
number of cells in different organisms.

The Cell
A cell may be defined as a unit of protoplasm bound by a plasma or cell membrane and
possessing a nucleus. Protoplasm is the life giving substance and includes the cytoplasm and the
nucleus. The cytoplasm has in it organelles such as ribosomes, mitochondria, golgi bodies,
plastids, lysosomes and endoplasmic reticulum. Plant cells have in their cytoplasm, large
vacuoles containing non-living inclusions like crystals, and pigments. The bacteria have neither
defined cell organelles nor a well formed nucleus. But every cell has three major components:
1. plasma membrane
2. cytoplasm
3. DNA (naked in bacteria) and enclosed by a nuclear membrane in all other organisms
COMPONENTS OF THE CELL
The major components of the cell are (1) cell membrane, (2) cytoplasm, and (3) nucleus.

Cell membrane (Plasma membrane)

Each cell has a limiting boundary, the cell membrane, plasma membrane or plasma lemma. It is a
living membrane, outermost in animal cells but internal to cell wall in plant cells. It is flexible
and can fold in (as in food vacuoles of Amoeba) or fold out (as in the formation of pseudopodia
of Amoeba)

Animal cell
1. No cell wall, outermost structure is cell membrane or plasma membrane
2. Generally vacuoles are absent and if present, are usually small.
3. Plastids absent.
4. Golgi body well developed having 2 cisternae
5. Centriole present.

STRUCTURE
The plasma membrane is made of proteins and lipids and several models were of Life proposed
regarding the arrangement of proteins and lipids. The fluid mosaic model proposed by Singer
and Nicholson (1972) is widely accepted. It is represented in

According to the fluid mosaic model,

(i) The plasma membrane is composed of a lipid bilayer of phospholipid molecules into
which a variety of globular proteins are embedded.
(ii) Each phospholipid molecule has two ends, an outer head hydrophilic i.e. water
attracting, and the inner tail pointing centrally hydrophobic, i.e. water repelling.
(iii) The protein molecules are arranged in two different ways: (a) Peripheral proteins or
extrinsic proteins: these proteins are present on the outer and inner surfaces of lipid
bilayer. (b) Integral proteins or intrinsic proteins: These proteins penetrate the lipid
bilayer partially or wholly.

Functions
(i) The plasma membrane encloses the cell contents.
(ii) It provides cell shape (in animal cells) e.g. the characteristic shape of red blood cells, nerve
cells, and bone cells.
(iii) It allows transport of certain substances into and out of the cell but not all substances so
much it is termed ‘selectively permeable’.

Transport of small molecules (such as glucose, amino acids, water, mineral ions etc.).
Small molecules can be transported across the plasma membrane by any one of the following
three methods:
(i) Diffusion: molecules of substances move from their region of higher concentration to the
regions of lower concentration. This does not require energy. Example: absorption of glucose in
a cell.
(ii) Osmosis: movement of water molecules from the region of their higher concentration to the
region of their lower concentration through a semipermeable membrane. There is no expenditure
of energy in osmosis. This kind of movement is along concentration gradient.
(iii)Active Transport: When the direction of movement of a certain molecule is opposite to that
of diffusion i.e. from region of their lower concentration towards the region of their higher
concentration, it would require an “active effort” by the cell for which energy is needed. This
energy is provided by ATP (adenosine triphosphate). The active transport may also be through a
carrier molecule.

Transport of large molecules (bulk transport)

During bulk transport the membrane changes its form and shape. It occurs in two ways:
(i) Endocytosis (taking the substance in)
(ii) Exocytosis (passing the substance out)
Cell membrane regulates movement of substance into and out of the cell. If the cell membrane
fails to function normally, the cell dies.

Cell wall
In bacteria and plant cells the outermost cell cover, present outside the plasma membrane is the
cell wall about which we shall study now. Bacterial cell wall is made up of peptidoglycan. Given
below is the structure and function of the plant cell wall.

STRUCTURE
– Outermost non-living layer present in all plant cells.
– Secreted by the cell itself.
– In most plants, it is chiefly made up of cellulose but may also contain other chemical
substances such as pectin and lignin.
– The substance constituting the cell wall is not simply homogeneous but it consists of fine
threads or fibres called microfibrils.
– It may be thin (1 micron) and transparent as in the cells of onion peel. In some cases it is very
thick as in the cells of wood.

FUNCTIONS
– The cell wall protects the delicate inner parts of the cell.
– Being rigid, it gives shape to the cell.
– As it is rigid, it does not allow distension of the cell, thus leading to turgidity of the cell that is
useful in many ways
– It freely allows the passage of water and other chemicals into and out of the cells
– There are breaks in the primary wall of the adjacent cells through which cytoplasm of one cell
remains connected with the other. These cytoplasmic strands which connect one cell to the other
one are known as plasmodesmata.
– Walls of two adjacent cells are firmly joined by a cementing material called middle lamella
made of calcium pectinate.

THE CYTOPLASM AND THE CELL ORGANELLES

The cytoplasm contains many cell organelles of which we shall learn about:
1. Those that trap and release energy e.g. mitochondria and chloroplasts;
2. Those that are secretory or involved in synthesis and transport e.g. Golgi, ribosomes and
endoplasmic reticulum
3. The organelles for motility - cilia and flagella
4. The suicidal bags i.e. lysosomes
5. The nucleus which controls all activities of the cell, and carries the hereditary material

Mitochondria
Mitochondria (found in plant and animal cells) are the energy releasers.
Mitochondria (Singular = mitochondrion)
Appear as tiny thread like structures under light microscope. Approximately 0.5 - 1.00μm
(micrometer)
Number usually a few hundred to a few thousand per cell (smallest number is just one as in an
alga, Micromonas.

STRUCTURE
– Wall made up of double membrane
– The inner membrane is folded inside to form projections called ‘cristae’ which project into the
inner compartment called the ‘matrix’.

FUNCTION
Oxidizes pyruvic acid (breakdown product of glucose) to release energy which gets stored in the
form of ATP for ready use. This process is also called cellular respiration. That is why
mitochondria are called the ‘power house’ of a cell.

ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM (ER), GOLGI BODY AND RIBOSOMES

The Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and Golgi body are single membrane bound structures. The
membrane has the same structure (lipid-protein) as the plasma membrane but ribosomes do not
have membranes. Ribosomes are involved in synthesis of proteins in the cell, Golgi bodies in
secreting and the ER in transporting and storing the products. These three organelles operate
together.
 Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Golgi body Ribosomes
Structure Is a stack of membranous sacs of Spherical about 150 - 250 Å in
A network of membranes with the same thickness as ER. Exhibit diameter, made up of large
thickness between 50 - 60A°. It is great diversity in size and shape. molecules of RNA and proteins
of two types– rough endoplasmic (ribonucleo proteins).
reticulum (RER) i.e. when
ribosomes are attached to it and In animal cells present around the Present either as free particles in
Smooth endoplasmic reticulum nucleus, 3 to 7 in number. In plant cytoplasm or attached to ER. Also
(SER) when no ribosomes are cells, many in number of and found stored in nucleolus inside the
present. Distributed throughout the present scattered throughout the cell nucleus. 80S types found in
cytoplasm and is in contact with the called dictyosomes. eukaryotes and 70S in prokaryotes
cell membrane as well as the (S-svedberg unit of measuring
nuclear membrane. ribosomes).

Function
Provides internal framework, Synthesis and secretion as enzymes, Site for protein synthesis.
compartment and reaction surfaces, participates in transformation of
transports enzymes and other membranes to give rise to other
materials throughout the cell. RER membrane structure such as
is the site for protein synthesis and lysosome, acrosome, and
SER for steroid synthesis, stores dictyosomes, synthesize wall
carbohydrates. element like pectin, mucilage

LYSOSOMES (lysis = breaking down; soma = body)

Lysosomes are present in almost all animal cells and some non-green plant cells

The main features of lysosomes are as follows:

(i) Membranous sacs budded off from Golgi body.
(ii) May be in hundreds in a single cell.
(iii) Contain several enzymes (about 40 in number)
(iv)Materials to be acted upon by enzymes enter the lysosomes.
(v)Lysosomes are called “suicidal bags” as enzymes contained in them can digest the cell’s own
material when damaged or dead.

Importance of intracellular digestion by the lysosomes

(i) Help in nutrition of the cell by digesting food, as they are rich in various hydrolyzing enzymes
which enable them to digest almost all major chemical constituents of the living cell.
(ii) Help in defense by digesting germs, as in white blood cells.
(iii) Help in cleaning up the cell by digesting damaged material of the cell.
(iv) Provide energy during cell starvation by digestion of the own parts of the cells (autophagy,
auto: self; phagos: eat up).
(v) Help sperm cells in entering the egg by breaking through (digesting) the egg membrane.
(vi) In plant cells, mature xylem cells lose all cellular contents by lysosome activity.
(vii) When cells are old, diseased or injured, lysosomes attack their cell organelles and digest
them. In other words lysosomes are autophagic, i.e. self-devouring.

PEROXISOMES
Found both in plant and animal cells. Found in the green leaves of higher plants.
They participate in oxidation of substrates resulting in the formation of hydrogen peroxide.

􀁺They often contain a central core of crystalline material called nucleoid composed of urate
oxidase crystals.
􀁺These bodies are mostly spherical or ovoid and about the size of mitochondria and lysosomes.
􀁺They are usually closely associated with ER.
􀁺They are involved in photorespiration in plant cells.
􀁺They bring about fat metabolism in cells.

NUCLEUS (THE HEREDITARY ORGANELLE)

General structure of the nucleus:
(i) It is the largest organelle seen clearly when the cell is not dividing.
(ii) It stains deeply, is mostly spherical, WBC have lobed nuclei.
(iii) It is mostly one in each cell (uninucleate, some cells have many nuclei; (multinucleate).
(v) Double layered nuclear membrane having fine nuclear pores encloses nucleoplasm which
contains chromatin network and a nucleolus.

Functions
􀁺 Maintains the cell in a working order.
􀁺 Co-ordinates the activities of other cell organelles.
􀁺 Takes care of repair work.
􀁺 Participates directly in cell division to produce genetically identical daughter cells. This
division is called mitotic cell division.
􀁺 Participates in production of meio-gametes and meiospores through another type of cell
division called meiotic cell division.
The parts of a nucleus are given here:

Nuclear membrane
􀁺 Double layered membrane is interrupted by large number of nuclear pores.
􀁺 Membrane is made up of lipids and proteins (like plasma membrane) and has ribosomes
attached on the outer membrane which make the outer membrane rough.
􀁺 The pores allow the transport of large molecules in and out of nucleus, and the membranes
keep the hereditary material in contact with the rest of the cell.

Chromatin
􀁺 Within the nuclear membrane there is jelly like substance (karyolymph or nucleoplasm) rich in
proteins.
􀁺 In the karyolymph, fibrillar structures form a network called chromatin fibrils, which gets
condensed to form distinct bodies called chromosomes during cell division. On staining the
chromosomes, two regions can be identified in the chromatin material heterochromatin, dark and
euchromatin (light). Heterochromatin has highly coiled DNA and genetically less active than
euchromatin which has highly uncoiled DNA and genetically more active.
􀁺 The number of chromosomes is fixed in an organism. During mitotic cell division
chromosomes divide in a manner that the daughter cells receive identical amounts of hereditary
matter.

Nucleolus
􀁺 Membraneless, spheroidal bodies present in all eukaryotic cells except in sperms and in some
algae.
􀁺 Their number varies from one to few, they stain uniformly and deeply.
􀁺 It has DNA, RNA and proteins.
􀁺 Store house for RNA and proteins; it disappears during early phase of cell cycle and reappears
after telophase in the newly formed daughter nuclei.
􀁺 Regulates the synthetic activity of the nucleus.
􀁺 Thus nucleus and cytoplasm are interdependent, and this process is equal to nucleo–
cytoplasmic interaction.