Microscopy Notes

Flashcards about Microscopy, including types of microscopes, cell structures, and techniques for visualizing cells.

Microscopes

Instruments used to produce a magnified image of objects too small to be seen by the naked eye.

Magnification

How much larger an object appears compared to its actual size.

Resolution

The smallest interval distinguishable by the microscope; the degree of detail visible in an image.

Compound light microscopes

Microscopes that use multiple lenses to bend light and magnify objects; can observe dead or living cells in color.

Electron microscopes

Microscopes that use beams of electrons to magnify and resolve images.

Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM)

An electron microscope that can see internal structures.

Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)

An electron microscope that can see the surface of a specimen.

Using Fluorescent Stains

A technique that uses fluorescent stains that bind to specific molecules, emitting light when excited by a particular wavelength; enhances contrast and visualization of specific cellular structures.

Immunofluorescence

Technology to visualize specific proteins using antibodies stained with fluorescence.

Freeze-Fracture Electron Microscopy

A technique to visualize cell surfaces by quickly freezing the specimen, fracturing it, and creating a metal replica for viewing under a scanning electron microscope.

Cryogenic Electron Microscopy

A technique to visualize specific proteins by quickly freezing the sample and producing thousands of 2D images to construct a high-resolution 3D image, revealing atomic-level details of protein and macromolecular complexes.

Micrograph

A photograph taken through a microscope.

Prokaryotic Cells

Cells without membrane bound organelles, typically <5μm.

Plant Cells

Cells with membrane bound organelles, typically >5μm, with flat sides with visible cell wall and plastids.

Animal Cells

Cells with membrane bound organelles, typically >5μm, variable in shape, without a cell wall.

Nucleus

The location where DNA is replicated and transcribed; usually stains darker and is surrounded by endoplasmic reticulum.

Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum (RER)

A structure that plays a central role in the synthesis and transport of polypeptides; lined with ribosomes, near the nucleus.

Smooth ER

A structure that plays a central role in the synthesis of phospholipids and cholesterol for the formation and repair of membranes; found further from the nucleus than the rough ER.

Golgi Apparatus

A structure that modifies polypeptides into their functional state and sorts, concentrates, and packs proteins into vesicles.

Lysosome

Organelles that contain digestive enzymes to degrade and recycle the cell's old and damaged organelles or pathogens.

Mitochondria

Organelles adapted for production of ATP by aerobic cellular respiration, bound by a double membrane.

Free Ribosomes

Structures that synthesize polypeptides during translation; these polypeptides will become proteins that function within the cell.

Chloroplast

Organelles adapted for photosynthesis, which captures light energy and uses it with water and carbon dioxide to produce glucose; found only in plant cells.

Vacuole

An organelle that stores water and/or metabolic waste; in plant cells, it maintains turgor pressure.

Vesicle

Structures that contain and transport materials within cells.

Centrioles

Structures that arrange the mitotic spindle during cell division and serve as anchor points for microtubules in the cytoplasm and for cilia and flagella.

Cytoskeleton

A structure that helps cells maintain their shape, organizes cell parts, and enables cells to move and divide.

Cilia

Extensions of the cell membrane that result in the cell moving through a solution or in the movement of water and its contents across the surface of the cell; contain microtubules arranged in a '9+2' pattern.

Flagella

A structure used to move a cell through a solution; contain microtubules arranged in a '9+2' pattern, usually only 1-2 are present.

Cell Wall

A structure present in fungi and plant cells that helps develop turgor pressure and protects the cell.

Cell Membrane

A lipid bilayer that functions as a barrier between aqueous solutions.

Microvilli

Protrusions of the cell membrane that increase the surface area for absorption; do not have a 9+2 arrangement of microtubules.