BIOC19H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Reverse Transcriptase, Northern Blot, Erythropoiesis
Document Summary
Species with nucleated erythrocyte: reptiles and amphibians, aves (birds), teleosts (fish): here the cells have a nucleus but it is condensed. Simple cells: no organelles, no nucleus, only plasma membrane, cytoskeleton and cytoplasm, 95% of protein content is hemoglobin. Biconcave shape, nucleus lost during development of rbc. This gives these highly specialized cells their function. Diameter- 7. 5 microns; height 2 micrometers. Human erythrocytes (mature rbcs) are constantly spinning, tumbling, bending and squeezing through blood vessels in all tissues of the body. Actin and spectrin are 2 key proteins that comprise the mesh-like cytoskeleton that gives the mature rbc its shape. (inner surface of cell membrane) This cytoskeleton mesh structure gives a flexible quality to erythrocytes. The distribution of actin protein molecules in the mesh-like cytoskeletal (ability to bend without breaking). structure is shown in green. The distribution of spectrin protein molecules is shown in red.
