Eukaryotic Cell: Structure and Functions (Lecture Notes)

Flashcards covering cellular functions, nucleus, cytoplasm, organelles, cytoskeleton, and plasma membrane components based on the provided lecture notes (Pages 3-25).

What cellular function involves generating forces that produce motion?

Movement

What term describes conduction as a response to a stimulus manifested by a wave of excitation?

Conductivity

Which cellular process allows cells to take in and use nutrients and other substances from their surroundings?

Metabolic absorption

Which cellular function involves secretion of mucus, saliva, CSF, synovial and serous fluid?

Secretion

What process allows cells to rid themselves of waste products resulting from the metabolic breakdown of nutrients?

Excretion

Which process involves cells absorbing oxygen to transform nutrients into energy in the form of ATP?

Respiration

What describes tissue growth as cells enlarge and reproduce; not all cells are capable of continuous division?

Reproduction

What function is vital for cells to survive as a society of cells and maintains a dynamic steady state?

Communication

What is the largest membrane-bound organelle surrounded by the nucleoplasm and typically located in the center of the cell?

Nucleus

What structure surrounds the nucleus and contains nuclear pores that allow exchange with the cytoplasm, and is continuous with the endoplasmic reticulum?

Nuclear envelope

What is the small dense structure inside the nucleus largely composed of RNA?

Nucleolus

What are the primary functions of the nucleus?

Cell division and control of genetic information

What is the cytoplasm and how much of the cell volume does the cytosol represent?

The cytoplasm is the aqueous cytosol; the cytosol represents about half the volume of a eukaryotic cell.

What carries coded messages from the nucleus that direct cytoplasmic functions?

RNA

What network of tubular channels extends throughout the outer nuclear membrane and specializes in synthesis, folding, and transport of proteins and lipids, and also senses cellular stress?

Endoplasmic reticulum

What organelle processes and packages proteins onto secretory vesicles that migrate to various destinations including the plasma membrane?

Golgi apparatus

What sac-like structures contain enzymes for digesting most cellular substances to basic forms, and can act as signaling hubs for cellular adaptation?

Lysosomes

What organelles contain several oxidative enzymes that produce hydrogen peroxide and detoxify wastes?

Peroxisomes

What organelles contain the metabolic machinery needed for cellular energy metabolism and generate most ATP via oxidative phosphorylation?

Mitochondria

What is the 'bone and muscle' of the cell, a network of protein filaments including microtubules and actin filaments that forms cell extensions?

Cytoskeleton

What cytoskeletal structure in erythrocytes maintains the biconcave shape through spectrin-ankyrin connections?

Spectrin-ankyrin membrane skeleton

What hereditary disorder arises from a mutation in ankyrin leading to spherical erythrocytes prone to rupture?

Hereditary spherocytosis

What boundary surrounds the cell and controls its internal composition and selective transport?

Plasma membrane

What are the flask-shaped invaginations on the outer surface of many cells that store receptors, provide transport routes, and may initiate signal relays?

Caveolae