Cell Biology and Tissue Culture: Biology of Cultured Cells and HeLa

This flashcard set covers the vocabulary and key concepts of cell morphology, types of mammalian cell cultures, and the history and biological characteristics of the HeLa cell line.

Morphology

A branch of bioscience dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features, such as the shape and appearance of cells in culture.

Phase contrast microscope

A type of light microscopy that enhances contrasts of transparent and colourless objects by influencing the optical path of light.

Suspension culture

A growth mode where cells exist as single cells or small free-floating clumps, typically derived from blood such as leukemia or lymphoma.

Adherent culture

A growth mode where cells form a monolayer attached to the tissue culture flask, typically derived from solid tissue like lungs or kidney.

Confluence

A measure of the number of cells attached to a substrate, referring to the coverage of the dish or flask by the cells.

Confluent

A state, also known as a confluent monolayer, reached when the substrate of the culture vessel is completely covered with cultured cells and there is no room for cells to grow as a monolayer.

Fibroblast

The principal active cell of connective tissue; these cells are irregularly shaped, adherent, appear bipolar or multipolar, and produce extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins like collagen.

Epithelial cells

Cells that line the inner surfaces of the body and grow in sheets or patches; they appear flattened and many-sided when attached to a substrate in tissue culture.

Endothelial cells

Cells that form the tunica intima lining the interior surface of blood vessels and typically grow in a single "cobblestone" monolayer pattern at stationary density.

Neuronal cells

Cells responsible for sending and receiving neurotransmitters; they are challenging to culture because mature neurons do not undergo cell division.

Lymphoblast cells

Cells of hematopoietic origin (blood cells) that are spherical in shape, do not attach to a substrate, and remain in suspension.

L-929

A cell line with a fibroblast morphology derived from mouse adipose/connective tissue that uses an adherent growth mode.

Passage number

An indicator of the number of times a cell line has been sub-cultured, passaged, or split.

HeLa

The first immortalized human cell line, established in $1951$ from a cervical carcinoma biopsy of a $31$-year-old patient named Henrietta Lacks.

Hayflick Limit

The limited number of cell divisions that most normal cells can undergo before becoming senescent.

Telomerase

An active version of an enzyme found in HeLa cells that prevents the incremental shortening of telomeres, allowing cells to circumvent the Hayflick Limit.