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| The collective changes in membrane potential, beginning with depolarization to threshold and ending with return to resting potential, that occur with stimulation of an excitable cell and act as the basis for neural communication. |
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| The energy-requiring process in which a substance binds to a specific transmembrane protein, changing its conformation to allow passage of the substance through the membrane against the electrochemical gradient for that substance. |
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| Protein complexes that occur at cell-cell junctions in epithelial tissues usually more basal than tight junctions. |
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| The structure created when an organelle, such as the mitochondrion is surrounded by a double membrane. Intended to aid in the destruction and replacement of the organelle. |
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| A single prominent extension that emerges from the cell body and conducts outgoing impulses away from the cell body and toward the target cell. |
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| The central, microtubule-containing core of cilium or flagellum. Most axonemes consist of nine peripheral doublets, two central microtubules, and numerous accessory structures. |
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| Basement Membrane (Basal Lamina) |
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| Thickened layer of approximately 50 to 200nm of extracellular matrix that surrounds muscle and fat cells and underlies the basal surface of epithelial tissues such as the skin, the inner lining of the digestive and respiratory tracts, and the inner lining of blood vessels. |
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| A family of related glycoproteins that mediate calcium ion-dependent cell-cell adhesion. |
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| A complex structure that contains two barrel-shaped centrioles surrounded by amorphous, electron dense PCM where microtubules are nucleated. |
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| Sterol found in animal cells that can constitute up to half of the lipid in a plasma membrane, with the relative proportion in any membrane affecting its fluid behavior. |
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| Fine extensions from the cell bodies of most neurons; dendrites receive incoming information from external sources, typically other neurons. |
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| A term that relates to the assembly/disassembly properties of the plus end of a microtubule. The term describes the fact that growing and shrinking microtubules can coexist in the same region of a cell, and that a given microtubule can switch back and forth unpredictably between growing and shortening phases. |
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| Any process that contributes directly to a separation of charge across a membrane. |
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| Mechanism for the uptake of fluid and solutes into a cell. Two types: bulk-phase and receptor mediated endocytosis. |
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| The process of membrane fusion and content discharge during which the membrane of a secretory granule or vesicle comes into contact with the overlying plasma membrane with which it fuses, thereby forming an opening through which the contents of the granule of vesicle can be released. |
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| FRAP (Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching) |
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Technique to study movement of membrane components that consists of three steps.
(1) linking cellular components to a fluorescent dye, (2) irreversibly bleaching a portion of the cell, (3) monitoring the reappearance of fluorescence in the bleached portion of the cell. |
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| Process by which the diffusion rate of a substance is increased through interaction with a substance-specific membrane protein. |
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| Adhesive structures characteristic of cultured cells adhering to the surface of a culture dish The plasma membrane in the region of the focal adhesion contains clusters of integrins that connect the extracellular material that coats the culture dish to the actin-containing microfilament system of the cytoskeleton. |
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| Specialized adhesive structure at the basal surface of epithelial cells that functions to attach the cells to the underlying basement membrane. The hemidesmosome contains a dense plaque on the inner surface of the plasma membrane, with keratin-containing filaments coursing out into the cytoplasm. |
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| A membrane-associated protein that penetrates or spans the lipid bilayer |
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| Strong, ropelike cytoskeletal fibers approximately 10nm in diameter that, depending on the cell type, may be composed of a variety of protein subunits capable of assembling into similar types fo filaments. IFs are thought to provide mechanical stability to cells and provide specialized, tissue specific functions. |
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| A plus end-directed motor protein that moves membranous vesicles and other organelles along microtubules through the cytoplasm. |
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| Mainly spherical, lack tubules, and contain many close-packed lumenal vesicles. Also known as MVBs |
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| Phospholipids self-assembled into a biomolecular structure based on hydrophobic and hydrophillic interactions; biologically important as the core organization of cellular membranes. |
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| Microdomains within a cellular membrane that possess decreased fluidity due to the presence of cholesterol, glycolipids, and phospholipids containing longer, saturated fatty acids. A proposed residence of GPI-anchored proteins and signaling proteins. |
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| An artificial lipid bilayer that self-assembles into a spherical vesicle of vesicles when in an aqueous environment. |
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| The transfer of disease from one organ to another not directly connected with it. |
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| Solid, 8nm thick, cytoskeletal structures composed of a double-helical polymer of the protein actin. They play a key role in virtually all types of contractility and motility within cells. |
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| A heterogeneous collection of vesicles formed from the endomembrane system (primarily the ER and Golgi complex) after homogenization. |
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| Hollow, cylindrical cytoskeletal structures, 25nm in diameter, whose wall is composed of the protein tubulin. Because of their rigidity, microtubules often act in a supportive capacity. |
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| The process of engulfing and ingestion of particles by the cell or a phagocyte |
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