Cell Structure
Close your eyes and picture a brick wall. What is the basic building block of that wall? A single brick, of course. Like a brick wall, your body is composed of basic building blocks called 'cells.' Your body has many kinds of cells, each specialized for a specific purpose. Just as a home is made from a variety of building materials, the human body is constructed from many cell types. Each of these cell types plays a vital role during the growth, development, and ongoing maintenance of the body. In humans, before a cell develops into its specialized type, it is called a stem cell. A stem cell is a cell that has not undergone the changes involved in specialization. This pathway provides an in-depth look at studying cells; prokaryotic & eukaryotic cells; the endomembrane system & proteins; the cytoskeleton; and connections between cells & cellular activities. The pathway also provides vocabulary support for these topics, as well as opportunities for learners to self-assess their understanding by analyzing figures and answering questions. Advanced Placement® and AP® are trademarks registered and/or owned by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse, this textbook.
Topics
- cell theory
- cell wall
- central vacuole
- centrosome
- chlorophyll
- chloroplast
- chromatin
- chromosome
- cilium
- cytoplasm
- cytoskeleton
- cytosol
- desmosome
- electron microscope
- endomembrane system
- endoplasmic reticulum
- ER
- eukaryotic cell
- extracellular matrix
- flagellum
- gap junction
- Golgi apparatus
- intermediate filament
- light microscope
- lysosome
- microfilament
- microscope
- microtubule
- mitochondria
- nuclear envelope
- nucleoid
- nucleolus
- nucleoplasm
- nucleus
- organelle
- peroxisome
- plasma membrane
- plasmodesma
- prokaryote
- ribosome
- rough endoplasmic reticulum
- RER
- smooth endoplasmic reticulum
- SER
- tight junction
- unified cell theory
- vacuole
- vesicle