SY20703 Molecular Cell Biology

(Prof. Madya Dr. Lee Ping Chin , Professor Room 69)

Practical Report 10%

Assignment 10%
Mid semester Exam 30%
Final Semester Exam 50%

(students are compulsory to present and take all the

exams required for the course registered )
Sick-apply to re-sit the paper within 48 hours
 Course Content
1) What is and what is not cell biology, properties and behaviors of
cells
2) Structure of biological membranes, lipids and lipid modification,
membrane proteins
3) Pumps, channels, transporters
4) Receptors, basics of signal transduction
5) Protein secretion, biogenesis of membrane proteins
6) Mitosis and regulation of mitosis
MID TERM BREAK
8) Regulation of the cell division cycle
9) The microtubule cytoskeleton
10) Meiosis
11) Cell cycle checkpoints
12) Cancer I
13) Cancer II
14) Summary and Q&A
The Discovery of Cells
I. Robert Hooke (1665), English microscopist (at age 27, became curator
of the Royal Society)
A. Described chambers in cork; called them cells (cellulae) since they reminded him
of cells occupied by monks living in a monastery
B. Found them while trying to explain why cork stoppers could hold air in a bottle so
effectively
C. Was looking at empty cell walls, the remains of dead cells; no internal structure

II. Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1665-1675), Dutch seller of clothes & buttons in spare
time, he was first to describe living single cells; results were checked and
confirmed by Hooke
A. Saw animalcules in pond water using the scopes of remarkable quality that he
made
B. Described various forms of bacteria from tooth scrapings & water in which pepper
was soaked
C. Eventually, became celebrity visited by Russia's Peter the Great &
the queen of England
III. 1830s - full & widespread importance of cells realized
A. Matthias Schleiden, botanist (1838) - all plant tissues composed of cells; plant
embryos arise from single cell
B. Theodor Schwann, zoologist (1839) - same conclusion about animals; plants &
animals similar
C. Schwann then proposed first two tenets of Cell Theory
1. All organisms are composed of one or more cells.
2. The cell is the structural unit of life for all organisms.

D. However, the Schleiden-Schwann view of the origin of cells was less insightful
since both agreed that cells could arise from noncellular materials ->
eventually disproved by others
E. Rudolf Virchow, German pathologist (1855) - added third tenet of Cell Theory
derived from his cell division observations; it ran counter to Schleiden-
Schwann view of cell origins
1. Cells can arise only by division from a preexisting cell.
Basic Properties of Cells
I. Life most basic property of cells; they are the smallest units to exhibit this
property; plant or animal cells can be removed from organism & cultured in
laboratory
A. Can grow and reproduce for a long time in culture, unlike their parts which
soon deteriorate
B. George Gey, Johns Hopkins Univ. (1951) - first human cell culture (HeLa
cells); donor was Henrietta Lacks (from her malignant tumor); still grown in
laboratories today
C. Cultured cells are simpler to study than cells in body; cells grown in vitro (in
culture, outside body) are essential tool of cell & molecular biologists
II. Cells are highly complex and organized

A. Each level of structure in cells is consistent from cell to cell each cell has
consistent appearance in EM; organelles have particular shape & location
in individuals of a species
B. Organelles have consistent macromolecular composition arranged in a
predictable pattern
C. Cell structure similar organism to organism despite differences in higher
anatomical features

III. Cells possess genetic program & the means to use it (a blueprint); encoded in
collection of genes

A. Blueprint for constructing cellular structures & ultimately organisms

B. Directions for running cell activities
C. Program for making more cells
IV. Cells are capable of producing more of themselves - mitosis and meiosis
A. Contents of mother cell distributed to 2 daughter cells
B. Before division, genetic material is faithfully copied; each daughter cell gets
complete & equal share of genetic information
C. Usually, daughter cells have roughly equal volume; during egg production,
one cell gets most of cytoplasm & half of genetic material

V. Cells acquire & utilize energy to develop & maintain complexity - photosynthesis
& respiration
A. Virtually all energy needed by life arrives from sun
B. This energy is trapped by light-absorbing pigments in photosynthetic cells
C. Light energy turned to chemical energy by photosynthesis; stored in energy-
rich carbohydrates
D. Animals get energy prepackaged usually in form of glucose
E. Once in cell, glucose disassembled; most energy is stored as ATP & used to
run cell activities
VI. Cells carry out many chemical reactions - sum total of chemical reactions in cells
(metabolism); to do this, cells require enzymes (molecules that greatly increase
rate of chemical reactions)

VII.Cells engage in numerous mechanical activities based on dynamic, mechanical

changes in cell:
A. Material moved from place to place
B. Structures assembled and disassembled
C. Cells move from place to place

VIII.Cells able to respond to stimuli whether cells are uni- or multicellular - have
receptors that sense environment & initiate responses
(move away from object in path or toward nutrient source)
A. Most cells covered with receptors that interact in specific
ways with substances in environment
1. Receptors bind to hormones, growth factors, extracellular
materials, surfaces of other cells
2. Allow ways for external agents to evoke specific responses
in target cells
B. Cells may respond to specific stimuli by:
1. Altering metabolic activities
2. Preparing for cell division
3. Moving from one place to another, or
4. Even committing suicide
IX. Cells are capable of self-regulation
A. Importance of regulatory mechanisms most evident when they break down

1. Failure of cell to correct error in DNA replication -> may lead to debilitating
mutation
2. Breakdown in growth control -> may lead to cancer cell & maybe death of
whole organism

B. Example: Hans Driesch, German embryologist (1891) - separate first 2 or 4 cells

in sea urchin embryo -> each produces normal embryo

Sea urchin embryo

Copy Cat

Dolly & surrogate mother

Kaguya-fatherless mouse (parthenogenesis)

Two Fundamentally Different Classes of Cells: Prokaryotes
and Eukaryotes
I. With advent of EM, 2 cell types were distinguished by size & types of internal structures (organelles);
exhibited a large fundamental evolutionary discontinuity (no known intermediates)

A. Prokaryotes (pro - before; karyon - nucleus) all bacteria, cyanobacteria (blue-

green algae); structurally simpler
1. Prokaryotes now living very similar to those fossilized in >3.5 billion year old
rocks (Australia, S. Africa); sole life on planet for nearly 2 billion years before
first eukaryote
B. Eukaryotes (eu true) - structurally more complex; protists, fungi, plants, animals

II. Similarities between prokaryotes and eukaryotes - reflect fact that eukaryotes
almost certainly evolved from prokaryotic ancestors
A. Both types of cells share an identical genetic language
B. Both types of cells share a common set of metabolic pathways
C. Both types of cells share common structural features - cell membrane, cell walls
(same function, different structure)
III. Characteristics that distinguish prokaryotic & eukaryotic cells - eukaryotic cells are internally much
more complex (structurally and functionally)

A. Eukaryotes have membrane-bound nucleus with complex nuclear envelope & other organelles
1. Prokaryotes have nucleoid (poorly demarcated cell region)[ no membrane-bound organelles

B. Prokaryotes - relatively little DNA (0.25 - ~3 mm) coding for several hundred to several thousand
proteins (1 mm of DNA = ~3 x 106 base pairs)
1. Simplest eukaryotes (4.6 mm in yeast encoding ~6200 proteins) have slightly more DNA
than prokaryotes; most eukaryotes have an order of magnitude more DNA

C. Eukaryotic chromosomes numerous; contain linear DNA tightly associated with protein;
prokaryotes have single, circular chromosome with DNA that is nearly naked

D. Cytoplasmic structures - eukaryotes have many; prokaryotes mostly devoid of such structures
(except for infolded bacterial mesosomes & cyanobacteria photosynthetic membranes)
1. Intracytoplasmic communication smaller issue in prokaryotes due to size (diffusion works); in
eukaryotes, interconnected channels/vesicles transport stuff around cell & out of cell
2. Eukaryotes have cytoskeletal elements generally lacking in prokaryotes cell contractility,
movement, support
3. Ribosomes of prokaryotes smaller than those of eukaryotes (essentially same function)
4. Both eukaryotes & prokaryotes may be surrounded by rigid, nonliving cell wall that protects,
but their chemical composition is very different
5. Eukaryotes have more complex locomotor mechanisms prokaryotes have rotating flagella;
eukaryotes have more complex flagella with different mechanism (also cilia & pseudopodia)
E. No mitosis or meiosis in prokaryotes (binary fission instead); prokaryotes proliferate faster
(double in 20 - 40 minutes; exchange genetic information via conjugation)

1. In eukaryotes, chromosomes are compacted & separated by mitotic spindle which allows each
daughter cell to get equal genetic material
2. In prokaryotes, no chromosome compaction & no spindle; DNA copies separated by growth of
intervening cell membrane
3. In conjugation, recipient almost never gets whole chromosome from donor; cell soon reverts to
single chromosome

F. Examples of some eukaryotic organelles and their functions divide the cytoplasm into
compartments within which specialized activities take place

1. Mitochondria (plants & animals) make chemical energy available to fuel cell activities
2. Endoplasmic reticulum (plants & animals) where many cell lipids & proteins are made
3. Golgi complexes (plants & animals) sorts, modifies, transports stuff to specific locations
4. Variety of simple membrane-bound vesicles of varying dimensions plants & animals)
5. Chloroplasts (plants) sites of photosynthesis
6. Single large vacuole (plants) occupies most of cell volume
IV. Prokaryotes not inferior - metabolically very sophisticated & highly evolved
A. Have remained on Earth more than 3 billion years
B. They live on and in eukaryotic organisms, including humans
C. Make almost everything they need; need only simple carbon (only 1 or 2 low MW organic
compounds), nitrogen source(s) & some inorganic ions; some live on only inorganic
substances
1. One species found in wells >1000 m below Earth's surface; live on basalt rock & H 2 made by
inorganic reactions
2. Even most versatile cells in human require a variety of organic compounds (vitamins, etc.)

D. Bacteria in our large intestine even make some essential dietary ingredients for us
The Sizes of Cells and Their Components

I. Units of linear measure most often used to describe cell structures

A. Micrometers (m; 10-6 m), nanometers (nm; 10-9 m)
B. ngstroms (; 10-10 m) often used by molecular biologists for atomic dimensions
although no longer formally accepted in metric nomenclature); ~1 = diameter of H atom

II. Examples of dimensions of cells and cell components

A. Typical globular protein (myoglobin) - ~ 4.5 nm x 3.5 nm x 2.5 nm
B. Highly elongated proteins (collagen, myosin) - over 100 nm in length
C. DNA - ~2 nm in width
D. Large molecular complexes (ribosomes, microtubules, microfilaments); 5 - 25 nm dia.
E. Nuclei - about 10 m diameter; mitochondria - about 2 m in length
F. Bacteria - 1 to 5 m in length; eukaryotic cells - 10 to 30 m in length
III. Why are most cells so small?
A. Most eukaryotic cells have single nucleus with only 2 copies of most genes
1. Thus, cells can only produce limited number of mRNAs in a given amount of time
2. The larger a cell's volume, the longer it takes to make the number of mRNAs the cell
needs
B. As a cell increases in size, the surface area/volume ratio decreases
1. If surface area/volume ratio gets too small, surface area not sufficient to take up
substances needed to support metabolism (oxygen, nutrients, etc.) or get rid of wastes

C. As cell gets larger, takes too long for diffusion to move substances in and out of active cell
1. Time required for diffusion is proportional to the square of the distance traversed
2. O2 required 100 sec to diffuse 1 m, but 106 times as long to diffuse 1 mm
3. As cell becomes larger, distance from surface to interior gets larger; diffusion time to
move things in & out of metabolically active cell becomes prohibitively long

IV. How do large cells get around the surface area/volume problems? - examples
A. Ostrich egg & others - little living protoplasm spread over top of lots of inert yolk nutrient
B. Giraffe (and other large animal) nerve cells - very long but very small diameter
C. Plant cell interior filled with large fluid-filled vacuole; needs no support, unlike
cytoplasm
D. Intestinal epithelium specialized for absorption with microvilli to increase surface area