cytology vocabulary terms

Eukaryotic cells

Contain a nucleus and organelles

Active transport

Requires a protein to help the solute travel against a concentration gradient with the use of ATP

Peptidoglycan

A polymer that is composed of polysaccharide and peptide chains and is found especially in bacterial cell walls

Hypotonic solution

When a solution contains very few solutes compared to the inside of a cell, and as a result, water rushes into the cell causing it to burst

Henriette lacks

The African American woman whose cancer cells were the source of the HeLa cell line, the first immortalized cell line and one of the most important cell lines in medical research

Osmosis

The movement of water through semipermeable membrane from an area of low solute concentration to an area of high solute concentration

Isotonic

When the solute concentration is equal inside and outside the cell

Prokaryotic cells

Do not contain a nucleus or any organelle other than ribosomes

HeLa cells

Human epithelial cells of a strain maintained in tissue culture since 1951 and used in research, especially in virology

Peripheral proteins

These proteins are found on the exterior of the phospholipid bilayer

Pinocytosis

When a cell engulfs an amount of fluid and stores it in vesicles

Equilibrium

When there is not net change or when all acting influences are canceled by opposing forces, resulting in a stable system

Diffusion

Molecules moving from a higher concentration to a lower concentration

Hypertonic solution

When a solution contains lots of solutes in comparison to the inside of a cell, and as a result, water moves out of the cell and causes the cell to shrink

Cell line

A cell culture developed from a single cell and therefore consisting of cells with a uniform genetic makeup

Passive transport

Solute travel through pores in a lipid bilateral and down a concentration gradient with no energy input required

Phagocytosis

When a cell engulfs a solid particle

Cellulose

A complex carbohydrate that forms the main constituent of the cell wall in most plants

Integral proteins

Proteins that span the phospholipid bilayer

Glycoproteins

These proteins have sugars attached to them

Browian motion

Is the random motion of particles suspended in a fluid resulting from the collision of molecules in the gas or liquid

Facilitated diffusion

Requires a protein to help the solute travel down a concentration gradient. No energy input is required