Mitochondrion: Power Generator of Cell

A mitochondrion (plural mitochondria) is a membrane-enclosed organelle found in most eukaryotic cell. These organelles range from 0.5–10 micrometers (μm) in diameter. Mitochondria are also known as "cellular power plants" because they generate most of the cell's energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is used as chemical energy.

The word mitochondrion comes from the Greek μίτος or mitos, thread + χονδρίον or khondrion, granule. The number of mitochondria in a cell varies widely by organism and tissue type. Many cells have only a single mitochondrion, whereas others can contain several thousand mitochondria. The organelle is composed of compartments that carry out specialized functions. These compartments or regions include the outer membrane, the intermembrane space, the inner membrane, and the cristae and matrix.

Although most of a cell's DNA is contained in the cell nucleus, the mitochondrion has its own independent genome. Further, its DNA shows substantial similarity to bacterial genomes.

Structure

A mitochondrion contains outer and inner membranes composed of phospholipid bilayers and proteins. The two membranes, however, have different properties. Because of this double-membraned organization, there are five distinct compartments within the mitochondrion. There is the outer mitochondrial membrane, the intermembrane space (the space between the outer and inner membranes), the inner mitochondrial membrane, the cristae space (formed by infoldings of the inner membrane), and the matrix (space within the inner membrane).

Outer mitochondrial membrane

The outer mitochondrial membrane, which encloses the entire organelle, has a protein-to-phospholipid ratio similar to that of the eukaryotic plasma membrane (about 1:1 by weight). It contains large numbers of integral proteins called porins. These porins form channels that allow molecules 5000 Daltons or less in molecular weight to freely diffuse from one side of the membrane to the other. Larger proteins can also enter the mitochondrion if a signaling sequence at their N-terminus binds to a large multisubunit protein called translocase of the outer membrane, which then actively moves them across the membrane. Disruption of the outer membrane permits proteins in the intermembrane space to leak into the cytosol, leading to certain cell death.

Intermembrane space

The intermembrane space is basically the space between the outer membrane and the inner membrane. Because the outer membrane is freely permeable to small molecules, the concentrations of small molecules such as ions and sugars in the intermembrane space is the same as the cytosol. However, as large proteins must have a specific signaling sequence to be transported across the outer membrane, the protein composition of this space is different than the protein composition of the cytosol. One protein that is localized to the intermembrane space in this way is cytochrome c.

Inner mitochondrial membrane

The inner mitochondrial membrane contains proteins with four types of functions:

1. Those that perform the redox reactions of oxidative phosphorylation
2. ATP synthase, which generates ATP in the matrix
3. Specific transport proteins that regulate metabolite passage into and out of the matrix
4. Protein import machinery.

It contains more than 100 different polypeptides, and has a very high protein-to-phospholipid ratio (more than 3:1 by weight, which is about 1 protein for 15 phospholipids). The inner membrane is home to around 1/5 of the total protein in a mitochondrion. In addition, the inner membrane is rich in an unusual phospholipid, cardiolipin. Cardiolipin contains four fatty acids rather than two and may help to make the inner membrane impermeable. Unlike the outer membrane, the inner membrane does not contain porins and is highly impermeable to all molecules. Almost all ions and molecules require special membrane transporters to enter or exit the matrix. Proteins are ferried into the matrix via the translocase of the inner membrane (TIM) complex or via Oxa1. In addition, there is a membrane potential across the inner membrane formed by the action of the enzymes of the electron transport chain.

Cristae

The inner mitochondrial membrane is compartmentalized into numerous cristae, which expand the surface area of the inner mitochondrial membrane, enhancing its ability to produce ATP. These are not simple random folds but rather invaginations of the inner membrane, which can affect overall chemiosmotic function. In typical liver mitochondria, for example, the surface area, including cristae, is about five times that of the outer membrane. Mitochondria of cells that have greater demand for ATP, such as muscle cells, contain more cristae than typical liver mitochondria.

Matrix

The matrix is the space enclosed by the inner membrane. It contains about 2/3 of the total protein in a mitochondrion. The matrix is important in the production of ATP with the aid of the ATP synthase contained in the inner membrane. The matrix contains a highly-concentrated mixture of hundreds of enzymes, special mitochondrial ribosomes, tRNA, and several copies of the mitochondrial DNA genome. Of the enzymes, the major functions include oxidation of pyruvate and fatty acids, and the citric acid cycle.

Mitochondria have their own genetic material, and the machinery to manufacture their own RNAs and proteins. A published human mitochondrial DNA sequence revealed 16,569 base pairs encoding 37 total genes: 22 tRNA, 2 rRNA, and 13 peptide genes. The 13 mitochondrial peptides in humans are integrated into the inner mitochondrial membrane, along with proteins encoded by genes that reside in the host cell's nucleus.

Organization and distribution

Mitochondria are found in nearly all eukaryotes. They vary in number and location according to cell type. Substantial numbers of mitochondria are in the liver, with about 1000–2000 mitochondria per cell making up 1/5th of the cell volume. The mitochondria can be found nestled between myofibrils of muscle or wrapped around the sperm flagellum. Often they form a complex 3D branching network inside the cell with the cytoskeleton. The association with the cytoskeleton determines mitochondrial shape, which can affect the function as well.

Function

The most prominent roles of the mitochondrion are its production of ATP and regulation of cellular metabolism. The central set of reactions involved in ATP production are collectively known as the citric acid cycle, or the Krebs Cycle. However, the mitochondrion has many other functions in addition to the production of ATP. Glucose and Oxygen are used to produce ATP, carbon dioxide and water. Collectively these reactions are called aerobic respiration.

Useful website to read: http://www.johnkyrk.com/mitochondrion.html

Cell Membrane

Structure of cell membrane

The cell membrane (also called the plasma membrane, plasmalemma, or phospholipid bilayer) is the interface between the cellular machinery inside the cell and the fluid outside. It surrounds all living cells. It is a semipermeable lipid bilayer found in all cells. It controls how substances can move in and out of the cell and is responsible for many other properties of the cell as well. The membranes that surround the nucleus and other organelles are almost identical to the cell membrane. Membranes are composed of phospholipids, proteins and carbohydrates arranged in a fluid mosaic structure, as shown in this diagram. The plasma membrane also serves as the attachment point for both the intracellular cytoskeleton and, if present, the extracellular cell wall.

The phospholipids form a thin, flexible sheet, while the proteins "float" in the phospholipid sheet like icebergs, and the carbohydrates extend out from the proteins.

The phospholipids are arranged in a bilayer, with their polar, hydrophilic phosphate heads facing outwards, and their non-polar, hydrophobic fatty acid tails facing each other in the middle of the bilayer. This hydrophobic layer acts as a barrier to all but the smallest molecules, effectively isolating the two sides of the membrane. Different kinds of membranes can contain phospholipids with different fatty acids, affecting the strength and flexibility of the membrane, and animal cell membranes also contain cholesterol linking the fatty acids together and so stabilising and strengthening the membrane.

The proteins usually span from one side of the phospholipid bilayer to the other (integral proteins), but can also sit on one of the surfaces (peripheral proteins). They can slide around the membrane very quickly and collide with each other, but can never flip from one side to the other. The proteins have hydrophilic amino acids in contact with the water on the outside of membranes, and hydrophobic amino acids in contact with the fatty chains inside the membrane. Proteins comprise about 50% of the mass of membranes, and are responsible for most of the membrane's properties.

• Proteins that span the membrane are usually involved in transporting substances across the membrane.
• Proteins on the inside surface of cell membranes are often attached to the cytoskeleton and are involved in maintaining the cell's shape, or in cell motility. They may also be enzymes, catalysing reactions in the cytoplasm.
• Proteins on the outside surface of cell membranes can act as receptors by having a specific binding site where hormones or other chemicals can bind. This binding then triggers other events in the cell. They may also be involved in cell signalling and cell recognition, or they may be enzymes, such as maltase in the small intestine.

The carbohydrates are found on the outer surface of all eukaryotic cell membranes, and are attached to the membrane proteins or sometimes to the phospholipids. Proteins with carbohydrates attached are called glycoproteins, while phospholipids with carbohydrates attached are called glycolipids. The carbohydrates are short polysaccharides composed of a variety of different monosaccharides, and form a cell coat or glycocalyx outside the cell membrane. The glycocalyx is involved in protection and cell recognition, and antigens such as the ABO antigens on blood cells are usually cell-surface glycoproteins.

Remember that a membrane is not just a lipid bilayer, but comprises the lipid, protein and carbohydrate parts.

Movement across Cell Membranes

Cell membranes are a barrier to most substances, and this property allows materials to be concentrated inside cells, or simply separated from the outside environment. This compartmentalisation is essential for life, as it enables reactions to take place that would otherwise be impossible. Eukaryotic cells can also compartmentalise materials inside organelles. Obviously materials need to be able to enter and leave cells, and there are five main methods by which substances can move across a cell membrane:

1. Lipid Diffusion
2. Osmosis
3. Passive Transport
4. Active Transport
5. Vesicles
   

1. Lipid Diffusion (or simple diffusion)

A few substances can diffuse directly through the lipid bilayer part of the membrane. The only substances that can do this are lipid-soluble molecules such as steroids, or very small molecules, such as H2O, O2 and CO2. For these molecules the membrane is no barrier at all. Since lipid diffusion is (obviously) a passive diffusion process, no energy is involved and substances can only move down their concentration gradient. Lipid diffusion cannot be controlled by the cell, in the sense of being switched on or off.

2. Osmosis

Osmosis is the diffusion of water across a membrane. It is in fact just normal lipid diffusion, but since water is so important and so abundant in cells (its concentration is about 50 M), the diffusion of water has its own name - osmosis. The contents of cells are essentially solutions of numerous different solutes, and the more concentrated the solution, the more solute molecules there are in a given volume, so the fewer water molecules there are. Water molecules can diffuse freely across a membrane, but always down their concentration gradient, so water therefore diffuses from a dilute to a concentrated solution.

Osmotic Pressure (OP). This is an older term used to describe osmosis. The more concentrated a solution, the higher the osmotic pressure. It; therefore, means the opposite to water potential, and so water move from a low to a high OP.
Cells and Osmosis. The concentration (or OP) of the solution that surrounds a cell will affect the state of the cell, due to osmosis. There are three possible concentrations of solution to consider:

• Isotonic solution a solution of equal OP (or concentration) to a cell
• Hypertonic solution a solution of higher OP (or concentration) than a cell
• Hypotonic solution a solution of lower OP (or concentration) than a cell

The effects of these solutions on cells are shown in following diagram:

These are problems that living cells face all the time. For example:

• Simple animal cells (protozoans) in fresh water habitats are surrounded by a hypotonic solution and constantly need to expel water using contractile vacuoles to prevent swelling and lysis.
• Cells in marine environments are surrounded by a hypertonic solution, and must actively pump ions into their cells to reduce their water potential and so reduce water loss by osmosis.
• Young non-woody plants rely on cell turgor for their support, and without enough water they wilt. Plants take up water through their root hair cells by osmosis, and must actively pump ions into their cells to keep them hypertonic compared to the soil. This is particularly difficult for plants rooted in salt water.

3. Passive Transport (or facilitated diffusion)

Passive transport is the transport of substances across a membrane by a trans-membrane protein molecule. The transport proteins tend to be specific for one molecule (a bit like enzymes), so substances can only cross a membrane if it contains the appropriate protein. As the name suggests, this is a passive diffusion process, so no energy is involved and substances can only move down their concentration gradient. There are two kinds of transport protein:

• Channel Proteins form a water-filled pore or channel in the membrane. This allows charged substances (usually ions) to diffuse across membranes. Most channels can be gated (opened or closed), allowing the cell to control the entry and exit of ions.


• Carrier Proteins have a binding site for a specific solute and constantly flip between two states so that the site is alternately open to opposite sides of the membrane. The substance will bind on the side where it at a high concentration and be released where it is at a low concentration.

4. Active Transport (or Pumping)

Active transport is the pumping of substances across a membrane by a trans-membrane protein pump molecule. The protein binds a molecule of the substance to be transported on one side of the membrane, changes shape, and releases it on the other side. The proteins are highly specific, so there is a different protein pump for each molecule to be transported. The protein pumps are also ATPase enzymes, since they catalyse the splitting of ATP to ADP + phosphate (Pi), and use the energy released to change shape and pump the molecule. Pumping is therefore an active process, and is the only transport mechanism that can transport substances up their concentration gradient.

The Na+K+ Pump. This transport protein is present in the cell membranes of all animal cells and is the most abundant and important of all membrane pumps.

The Na+K+ pump is a complex pump, simultaneously pumping three sodium ions out of the cell and two potassium ions into the cell for each molecule of ATP split. This means that, apart from moving ions around, it also generates a potential difference across the cell membrane. This is called the membrane potential, and all animal cells have it.

The rate of diffusion of a substance across a membrane increases as its concentration gradient increases. Active transport stops if cellular respiration stops, since there is no energy.

5. Vesicles

The processes described so far only apply to small molecules. Large molecules (such as proteins, polysaccharides and nucleotides) and even whole cells are moved in and out of cells by using membrane vesicles.

• Endocytosis is the transport of materials into a cell. Materials are enclosed by a fold of the cell membrane, which then pinches shut to form a closed vesicle. Strictly speaking the material has not yet crossed the membrane, so it is usually digested and the small product molecules are absorbed by the methods above. When the materials and the vesicles are small (such as a protein molecule) the process is known as pinocytosis (cell drinking), and if the materials are large (such as a white blood cell ingesting a bacterial cell) the process is known as phagocytosis (cell eating).

• Exocytosis is the transport of materials out of a cell. It is the exact reverse of endocytosis. Materials to be exported must first be enclosed in a membrane vesicle, usually from the RER and Golgi Body. Hormones and digestive enzymes are secreted by exocytosis from the secretory cells of the intestine and endocrine glands.

Sometimes materials can pass straight through cells without ever making contact with the cytoplasm by being taken in by endocytosis at one end of a cell and passing out by exocytosis at the other end.

For further reading, please go to:

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/HBASE/biology/celmem.html

http://www.wisc-online.com/objects/index_tj.asp?objID=AP1101

Cell Size and Shape

Shape

There exist cells which have a variable shape, such as the leukocytes, and some connective tissue cells and cells with a stable shape, such as the erythrocytes, epithelial cells, muscle cells and nerve cells. These stable cells always have a typical more or less fixed shape which is a specific characteristic of each cell type. Some cells are encased in a rigid wall, which constrains their shape, while others have a flexible cell membrane (and no rigid cell wall).
The shape of the cell depends partly on the surface tension and viscosity of the cytoplasm, the mechanical action which the adjoining cells exert, the rigidity of the membrane and the functional adaptation.

Many cells when isolated in a liquid medium tend to take a spherical form, obeying the laws of surface tension. This is the case with the leukocyte which in the circulating blood are spherical, but by the influence of adequate stimuli can emit pseudopodia (ameboid movement) and become completely irregular in shape.
The cells of many plant and animal tissues have a polyhedral shape, statistically more or less constant, determined principally by pressure from adjacent cells.

Figure 1: Cell shapes

Volume

The volume of the cell is variable and oscillates within broad limits. In plants and in animals, cells are found which are visible to the naked eye and which possess a very great volume. Thus, the eggs of certain birds may have a diameter of several centimeters and are composed, at least at first, of a single cell.

This is nevertheless the exception, the great majority of cells being visible only with the microscope since their diameter is only a few thousandths of a millimeter (micron). The smallest cells have a diameter of 4 microns (4 one-thousandth of a millimeter). In the tissues of the human body, with exception of the nerve cells, the volume varies between 200 cubic microns and 15,000 cubic microns. In general, the volume of the cell is fairly constant for any one cell type and independent of the size of the individual. For example, the renal or hepatic cells of a bull, of a horse, or of a mouse have an almost equal size. The differences in the total mass of the organ are due to the number and not to the volume of the cells.

Size
The size of cells is also related to their functions. Eggs (or to use the latin word, ova) are very large, often being the largest cells an organism produces. The large size of many eggs is related to the process of development that occurs after the egg is fertilized, when the contents of the egg (now termed a zygote) are used in a rapid series of cellular divisions, each requiring tremendous amounts of energy that is available in the zygote cells. Later in life the energy must be acquired, but at first a sort of inheritance/trust fund of energy is used.

Cells range in size from small bacteria to large, unfertilized eggs laid by birds and dinosaurs. The relative size ranges of biological things is shown in Figure 2. In science we use the metric system for measuring. Here are some measurements and convesrions that will aid your understanding of biology.
1 meter = 100 cm = 1,000 mm = 1,000,000 µm = 1,000,000,000 nm
1 centimenter (cm) = 1/100 meter = 10 mm
1 millimeter (mm) = 1/1000 meter = 1/10 cm
1 micrometer (µm) = 1/1,000,000 meter = 1/10,000 cm
1 nanometer (nm) = 1/1,000,000,000 meter = 1/10,000,000 cm

Figure 2: Size of cells