BIOLOGY 103 FALL, 2002 LAB 9

Observations:
Esophogus - thick epithereal layer, inside ring is composed of purple cells, cilia is present

Trachea -
thin epithereal layer, large lumen amount in the cell, also a layer of small purple cells.

Lung - resembles trachea in that it has a lot of lumen, a layer of purple cells, evident oblong cells in the epithereal layer that stretch from one side of the layer to the other.

In conclusion we found that our hypothesis was right. Since teh trachea and lung both function to get air to teh blood stream, they had very similar structures.

We decided to explore cells of the liver, kidney, and lung. We wanted to observe the similarities and differences in the cells and the higher assemblies of cells and how they relate to the function of the organ.

Our hypothesis was that the cells and their organization would be similar in each of the organs because we believed that their functions were closely related in responsibility of delivering materials to the blood.

We looked at the three differnt slides and discovered that at first glance, each of the organs looked pretty similar. Our observations on a more detailed cell level, however, showed us that the liver and kidney cells were of similar size and make-up. The nucleus took up approximately half of the cell size. Whereas the appearance of the lung cells reminded us of the liver and kidney cells they were noticably smaller than the other cells.

Although the cells seemed to be physically similar, the spatial organization of the liver, kidney, and lungs were quite different. The liver cells were organized in rings/clumps. The kidney cells were arranged in long strings with more lumen than in the liver cells. The lung cells were placed in long, twisty strings and the lung had the most lumen of the three slides.

From these observations we conclude that the lumen plays a key role in the function of the lung. The empty space provides room for the oxygen that enters the lung each time an individual inhales. However, the lumen found in the kidney and liver would not serve the same purpose. Therefore, the lumen is not a similarity that can connect the functions of these three organs. Perphaps similarities of the individual cells are what link the purposes of the liver, kidney, and lung.

Small Intestine:
Cross section appeared to be tubular in shape - with a band of muscle fibers or tissues around the outside of the tube, and finger-like extensions reaching into the empty space (lumen). The fingers were very long and had high concentration of cells in them.

Large Intestine:
Cross section appeared to be only half of what we assume would be another tube. The fingers were shorter in length and close together. The fingers had more cells in them than in the band on the outside.

Comparasion:
Band is thicker in the large intestine, with the finger extensions shorter in length and set closer together than the small intestine. The small intestine fingers were longer than the large intestine, but had a larger concentration of cells in the fingers. Because food is processed in the small intestine before it travels to the large intestine, we think that the high concentration of cells in the large fingers of the small intestine serve to absorb the nutrients from the food. The large intestine also absorbs whatever nutrients haven't been absorbed in the small intestine, but basically serves to turn the food into waste, since all the nutrients are gone. Therefore, the large intestine doesn't need the long fingers and high concentration of cells to absorb the nutrients the way the small intestine does.

Heart cell:
Unlike the tubular appearance of the intenstines, the heart slide lacks the large pockets of lumen. What lumen we could see was very long and stringy, and blended in with the muscle fibers of the heart. There seemed to be a more even distribution of cells throughout the cell, rather than in concentrated areas.

So, the testes. Singular, testis. There were many chambers which the cells organized themselves into, which, depending on the section we looked at, looked like rings or tubey things. Naturally, those were all made up of cells. It was interesting that because new sperm is created every 70 days (information courtesy of Wil), unlike the ovaries, where eggs come prepackaged for life, we could see cells dividing in the testes. In some cells in the chamber linings, we could even see the individual chromosomes, which looked like sausages. Within the chambers, there were big masses of "furry things," which, it turned out, was sperm. Sperm tails, to be exact. Really, this is what does it for Grobstein. He said so.

Okay, so maybe the spinal cord lacks the excitement of the ovaries and the testis, but it is still pretty important. The cells are really tightly packed together- this is why a small impact on the spinal cord greatly affects the rest of the body. Also, since the spinal cord is vertical, a cross section only shows basically tiny circles. The basic function of the spinal cord is to transport information and the organization of the cells reflects this.

The cells in the spinal cord are really different from those in the reproductive organs. This is because so many different stages of the reproductive process have to be accomadated by those cells for the organs to perform their function. However, all of the cells in the spinal cord have the same basic function, they specialize in transmitting information.

Sarah Tan- testis
Heather Price- ovaries
M.R.- spinal cord

The kidneys are where blood is filtered for different things, such as salt and water. So the cells are probably set up in this way (tubular fashion) to allow liquid to pass by so it can be filtered.

The Liver had a similar structure, in that there were tubular openings. From prior knowledge we know that impurities, such as alcohol, are filtered and broken down in the liver. This could account for the similarities in shape and organization, the similar functions.

We also looked at a crossection of the aorta as comparison. there was a big difference in the way the cells looked and were organized. In the aorta, the clumpy and more scattered, with blood vessels (some of different sizes) spread throughout.

We studied three organs: Small intestine, large intestine, and skeletal muscle. The questions we were asked are:

1. # of cell types/tissues?
2. arragement of tissue within tactic organ?
3. Can an organ be formed from the cells of another?

Small intestine
3 types of cells:
outer layer- very elongated, thin, smooth muscle to help move food
middle layer- space between cells, lumen, spongy looking
inner layer- concentration of nuclei and spaced out

Large intestine
3 types of cells: similar to structure of small intestine cells
Overall make up of them took up a larger area, they're larger, hence large intestine.

Skeletal muscle
one type of cell but it did look like there might have been connective tissue. It appeared smooth and thin.

Discussion:
Small and large intestines appeared to have the same types of cells. The only major difference was that the large intestine's cells took up greater space. It appears that the cells of the small and large intestines could make up one another. The skeletal muscle cells appeared to be the same type of cell as the outer layer of the large and small intestine. This is probably because the outer layer is smooth muscle that aids in parastolisis.

We looked at the small intestine vs. the large intestine, and then looked at the lung.

Small intestine: We found about 6 or 7 different cell/tissue types. The cells were more densely packed toward the outside of the cross section, and toward the middle they got less dense, and then in the very middle, there was a bunch of blank space (lumen).

Large intestine: We found about 6 different cell/tissue types. The cell arrangement was pretty much the same as the small intestine, but the less dense cells toward the middle were more stringy.

Lung: We found about 8 different cell/tissue types. The cell arrangement is VERY different from that in the intestines. There is no blank space (lumen) in the middle, rather there are smaller blank spaces spread throughout the sample we looked at. The cells look very different from the intestines' cells as well.

Comparison: The intestines seemed pretty similar, but since they are separate in our bodies they probably can't replace each other. The lung cells looked totally different and therefore could not replace intestine cells.

We examined different organs taken from various organisms for the classification of different cell types. The experiment was carried out with the help of a simple microscope. Our hypothesis is that all of the organs examined would have same types of cells since all these different organs work together to carry out the many bodily functions.

At first, we looked at a section of pig liver cells. Clumps of cells which looked like they were the same kind of cell could be seen along with lumens. Perhaps one reason for the existence of many lumen is the function of the liver which is to channel out impurities from the bloodstream.

Next, kidney cells were observed. Elongated, elliptical and tubular cells were seen along with lumen which had larger surface areas than the lumen in the liver cells. The function of the kidneys is to filter the salt and water from the bloodstream and an arrangement of longish-shaped cells could account for this function.

Cells from the cardiac muscle in the heart were then examined. The arrangement in this organ is very different from the cell arrangement in the other two organs previously observed. The lumen is arranged in a stringy longitudinal way. The cells are longitudinal as well and are tightly packed. This is probably to enhance the function of the heart, since such narrow passageways would regulate blood flow and balance the pressure of blood flow as well.

We found out that the cells in the different organs were not the same after all and the reason would be that they have different functions and even if the functions are carried out harmoniously, they are still different functions being carried out by different organs.

1. # of Cell Types/Tissues
Trachea=4-5
Esophagus=3-4
Lung=3-4

2. Arrangement of tissues w/in entire organ
Trachea=4 layers; cartillage type cells to help keep structure rigid and open for air, more lumen than esophagus.
Esophagus=muscular layers, darker layers around lumen, outside shredded layer.
Lung=mostly spongey layer that looks perforated, a lot of air. Oval longer shapes in the spongey layer, thick dark layer around lumen, tiny dark spotty layer around lumen.

3. Can one organ be formed from the cells of another?
No! If the esophagus was made from Trachea cells, it would not be able to perform peristalsis which would result in choking and suffocation. The trachea must be rigid to prevent choking and allow air to flow continuously. The lung tissue must be expandable to allow the influx of air.

3a. Are they made of different types of tissues? Yes! Rigid vs. Muscle vs. Airy !

Ovaries
a. outer lining cells which resemble the cells in the testes
b. inner lining cells present directly around the egg cell which are the same kind as the outer liner cells but located in a different place
c. egg cell with a membrane
function: outer and inner liner cells protect and contain egg cells. the outer cells form a cushion around the egg to protect it from destruction.

compare:
the lining cells of the testes and ovaries seem to be simiar and perform a similar function- protecting the reproductive cells

Lung
a. many of the same type of smaller cell with large, round lumen gaps in between groups of cells
b. pink, spongy-looking groups of blood cells present in clumps throughout the other cells.
c. there are blood vessels throughout the lung cells
function: the cells form gaps in between for the purpose of flexibility and being able to hold oxygen. lungs need to expand and contract to take in air.
the blood vessels and blood cells are present because blood flows through the lungs to become oxygenated.

Can one organ be formed from the cells of another?
From looking at the cells, we noticed a lot of similarities, but we think cells are specialized to organize themselves in a certain pattern depending on what organ they make up. As a result, cells from one organ can't rearrange themselves to form another.

Testes: There are three different kinds of cells we observed in the testes. The first kind, oblong in appearance, seem to be spread between the main cell groups. These cell groups are themselves made up of two kinds of cells. One of these forms a boundary for the cell group; the other is contained within the group. It's like one of those balloons with confetti inside. (See Figure 1.1.) You know. The balloon and the confetti make up the "cell group," but the balloon is made up of one kind of "cell" and the confetti is made up of another kind of "cell." The second cells, which are the balloon cells, are sort of rectangular, with the nucleiaeouii toward the outside. The confetti cells are actually sperm cells, some of which appear different since they regenerate every 70 days. they are basically little spikes of color with bluriness around them. ha ha! and so, we conclude that the testes have three different types of cells.

Fig 1.1: A confetti filled balloon. The confetti would be one kind of cell, and the balloon would be another.

Ovaries: The ovaries are very special to us. We have them, after all. (One of us also has testes, but we're not going to tell you who. Guess.) The structure of the cells within the ovaries is similar to that of the testes. We have determined that there are indeed three different types of cells contained within these wondrous little organs. The first type (which resembles the first type described in the testes) is also oblong in nature, with a stringy-seeming consistency and visible nucleeeeeaauoui. There is another balloon-like structure with cells that form the "balloon" and cells that form a sort of "toy" inside. (See Fig 1.2.) (IT'S A BOY! but it's actually a girl. ovaries. get it?) The cells in the middle have four layers. The outside layer looks like a bunch of nucleaeauai, possible cells that will eventually become fully-formed egg cells. The next layer is like the shell, containing the "egg white" and the "yolk" inside of it. (The nucleus is the "yolk," the "egg white" is the "stuff" surrounding it.)

Fig 1.2: A balloon with toys inside. Imagine it with only one toy. The toy would be one kind of cell, and the balloon would be another.

Heart: The outer layer of the culture is made of of small, dark cells. Inside this boundary, there is mostly one kind of cell, which has a rather indefinate form and are all irregularly shaped. They all seem to be "flowing" in one direction. There is a "chamber" in the heart full of blood cells, a third type of cell. These "chambers" are bound by the same type of cell that bounds the whole culture (the small, dark ones). Thus, we conclude that the heart has three clear different types of cells, probably more.

Fig 1.3: A heart. (Not anatomically correct.)

Pig liver: At least magnification there appear to be two different types of cells. There appear to be purple veins intersecting the pink portion of the cells. The smaller of the two (orange colored cell) seems to be surrounded by the bigger (pink colored cells) appearing as pistol surrounded by petals.
After increasing the magnification by one level, there appear to be three differnet types of cells: The original pink cells, the orange cells in the middle and other smaller pink colored cells separating the orange and pink cells from each other. They fit in perfectly into the mold. It is possible that this is just a lumen filled up with somthing other than cells. At this magnification the size differences become clearer and the small orange cells in the middle are visibly smaller compared to the others than we first assumed.
After increasing the magnification by another level, there appear to clearly be no more than two differnet types of cells: The pink cells surrounding the orange centers. The pink mass inbetween the two, that we thought might be another type of cell, has turned out to be white instead and a clear lumen.

Kidney, non-med: At least magnification there appear to be three differnet types of cells. There are big pink masses that look like cells, orange cells pulled in oval circles and smaller pink cells that have lumen in their centers.
At greater magnification there seem to still be three different types of cells but the arrangement becomes clearer. It seems that the cells are within each other starting with the small pink ones that at this magnification look like thumb prints with a white hole in the middle, the next circle are the orange cells and these are in turn surrounded by the huge pink mass we discribed earlier.
At even greater intensity the orange mass we assumed to be another type of cell resembles blood vessles instead. We believe now that there are only two different types of cells in the kidney. There is a light pink mass that is clearly a cell type (with white lumen all throughout the mass) and a deeper pink colored cell type that is stringy.

Spinal cord: At least magnification there appear to be three different cell types. There is a cell type in the middle that is surrounded by a great space of nothing. Further out, there is a cell type that is shaped like a butterfly. This cell is surrounded by a mass of less intense pink almost orange color. This massive cell type is of oval shape.

At greater magnification there appear to be three different types of cells. There is the small pink cell in the middle surrounded by lumen, the dark pink cell type and the pink cell typ on the outside. The second cell type from the inside is very dense compared to the outside cell type is spaced out with little "buds" connected by longer cells of the same type.

We believe that it is possible to form one organ from the cells of another organ. There were some cells in the liver that look like they could be closely related to the cells of the kindey and vise versa. But, in comparing the liver or kidney cells to the spinal cord cells, it is more than apparent that the spinal cord cells are completely different. Whereas the liver and kidney cells were boxish of different shapes and sizes, the spinal cord cells were bunched, almost as if being "baby's breath." We think that the budding is conducive to transfering information, but we would need more testing to be positive.

Testes:
The sample provided us with a cross section of the many tubes that make up the testes. There seemed to be two types of tubes, with some cells within a tube and empty tubes.
There were five types of cells we identified in the testes:
1) The "divider cells" as we called them, formed a divider between the two type of tubes. These cells were streaky and surrounded the main tubes.
2) The first type of tubes (the ones which contained another type of cells), irregularly shaped, generally bigger than the other tube cells.
3) Sperm cells, the cells within one of the types of tubes. We were able to indentify the flagellum of the sperm.
4) The border of the sperm-filled tubes were of a different type, many of which had chromosomes in the process of replicating.
5) The final type of cell was another type of tube that was not filled with anything. Rather, these cells were in the midst of mitosis AND meiosis, whoa. These were developing sperm cells, and therefore look like a different type of cell.

Spinal cord:
"The spinal cord looked stupid" - Erin Myers
"I wish we had tails" - Will Carroll
The cell was ovular with an x-shape of a different cell type and a lumen space in the center, with a border of similar cells to the x-shape.
Two kinds of cells:
1) The cells not in the x-shape are spongey and irregularly shaped.
2) The cells in the x-shape and along the border are "super small" and more densely packed in a longitudinal pattern.
There are also vein-like things running through the less densely packed cells that oringinate in the center of the cell.

Pig liver: At least magnification there appear to be two different types of cells. There appear to be purple veins intersecting the pink portion of the cells. The smaller of the two (orange colored cell) seems to be surrounded by the bigger (pink colored cells) appearing as pistol surrounded by petals.
After increasing the magnification by one level, there appear to be three differnet types of cells: The original pink cells, the orange cells in the middle and other smaller pink colored cells separating the orange and pink cells from each other. They fit in perfectly into the mold. It is possible that this is just a lumen filled up with somthing other than cells. At this magnification the size differences become clearer and the small orange cells in the middle are visibly smaller compared to the others than we first assumed.
After increasing the magnification by another level, there appear to clearly be no more than two differnet types of cells: The pink cells surrounding the orange centers. The pink mass inbetween the two, that we thought might be another type of cell, has turned out to be white instead and a clear lumen.

Kidney, non-med: At least magnification there appear to be three differnet types of cells. There are big pink masses that look like cells, orange cells pulled in oval circles and smaller pink cells that have lumen in their centers.
At greater magnification there seem to still be three different types of cells but the arrangement becomes clearer. It seems that the cells are within each other starting with the small pink ones that at this magnification look like thumb prints with a white hole in the middle, the next circle are the orange cells and these are in turn surrounded by the huge pink mass we discribed earlier.
At even greater intensity the orange mass we assumed to be another type of cell resembles blood vessles instead. We believe now that there are only two different types of cells in the kidney. There is a light pink mass that is clearly a cell type (with white lumen all throughout the mass) and a deeper pink colored cell type that is stringy.

Spinal cord: At least magnification there appear to be three different cell types. There is a cell type in the middle that is surrounded by a great space of nothing. Further out, there is a cell type that is shaped like a butterfly. This cell is surrounded by a mass of less intense pink almost orange color. This massive cell type is of oval shape.

At greater magnification there appear to be three different types of cells. There is the small pink cell in the middle surrounded by lumen, the dark pink cell type and the pink cell typ on the outside. The second cell type from the inside is very dense compared to the outside cell type is spaced out with little "buds" connected by longer cells of the same type.

We believe that it is possible to form one organ from the cells of another organ. There were some cells in the liver that look like they could be closely related to the cells of the kindey and vise versa. But, in comparing the liver or kidney cells to the spinal cord cells, it is more than apparent that the spinal cord cells are completely different. Whereas the liver and kidney cells were boxish of different shapes and sizes, the spinal cord cells were bunched, almost as if being "baby's breath." We think that the budding is conducive to transfering information, but we would need more testing to be positive.


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