The cell Flashcards
(48 cards)
What is a cell culture?
Cells grown under controlled conditions outside of their native environment
Two categories of cells used in labs
Primary cells
Established cell lines
Where are primary cells obtained from?
Directly from donor tissues
Why can primary cells only divide a finite number of time?
Telomere loss
Where is established cell lines obtained from?
Clinical tumors or created from transforming primary cells with viral oncogenes or chemical treatments
Two main growth conditions for culture cells?
Monolayers (adherent cultures)
Free floating (suspension cultures)
What are germ cells?
The cells that form a new organism (sperm and eggs)
What are somatic cells?
Specialised, differentiated cells
Can differentiated cells go back to be less differentiated?
Yes
What does In vitro means?
In glass
What do adhering cells do when in a Petri dish?
Attach to the plastic and continue dividing
What happens when primary cells have made one layer and come into contact with each other?
They stop dividing
What is contact inhibition?
When cells stop dividing when coming into contact with one another
What are the general ingredients in a cell culture medium?
Water, buffering system, inorganic salts, amino acids, proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins and antibiotics
What is the typically used growth factor added for cells to grow?
Fetal bovine serum
What kind of microscope is used to study cultured cells?
Inverted microscope, because of the liquid
Why does water and oil not mix?
The fatty acid has a carbon tail that doesn’t mix with water because it can’t create hydrogen bonds
Are cell membranes solid or liquid?
Neither, their mesophase
What controls the fluidity of the membran?
The phospholipid tail length.
The longer the tails the more solid due to more hydrophobic interactions
Amount of cholesterol, the more the stiffer
What are the two kinds of lipids in cell membranes
Phospholipids and Sphingolipids
Which phospholipid has to be on the inner layer?
Phosphatidylserine
Which layer of the cell membranes is sphingolipids found?
Outer layer
Do gases, sterol hormones and hydrophobic molecules go through the membrane without problem?
Yes
Can the proteins on the cell membrane move around?
Yes, it’s the fluid mosaic model
