A tour of the cell

This free course, A tour of the cell, contains a blend of text and a multimedia interactive component to look at the uniformity and diversity within cells. Fundamental to understanding how cells 'work' is a knowledge of the subcellular components and how they are arranged. This is introduced through a series of in-text and self-assessment questions.

• Introduction
• Learning outcomes
• 1 Introducing the cell
• 1 Introducing the cell
• 2 How is subcellular organisation studied?
• 2 How is subcellular organisation studied?
• 2.1 Electron microscopy
• Transmission electron microscopy
• Immunoelectron microscopy
• 2.2 Cell fractionation
• Centrifugation
• Summary of Sections 1 and 2
• 3 The organisation of prokaryotic cells
• 3 The organisation of prokaryotic cells
• Summary of Section 3
• 4 The organisation of eukaryotic cells
• 4 The organisation of eukaryotic cells
• 4.1 Cell surfaces
• 4.2 The cytoskeleton
• Microfilaments
• Microtubules
• Intermediate filaments
• 4.3 The nucleus
• The arrangement of DNA in the nucleus
• The nucleolus
• Nuclear structure and the transport of molecules
• 4.4 Ribosomes: the sites of protein synthesis
• 4.5 The endoplasmic reticulum
• 4.6 Vesicles
• 4.7 The Golgi apparatus
• 4.8 Protein secretion from the cell
• 4.9 Lysosomes and peroxisomes
• 4.10 Mitochondria
• 4.11 Chloroplasts
• 4.12 Vacuoles
• 4.13 Organelle biogenesis and additional roles
• Summary of Section 4
• 5 Cell interactions in tissues
• 5 Cell interactions in tissues
• 5.1 Extracellular matrix
• 5.2 Cell junctions
• Summary of Section 5
• Conclusion
• Glossary
• Acknowledgements