BIOLOGY 374 MAMMALIAN CELL MICROANATOMY Wayne L. Rickoll Phone: 879-3120 Thompson 257B email: rickoll@ups.edu OFFICE/LAB CHATS GENEROUSLY AVAILABLE. Just email me or send a voice mail as to when you would like to conference. If you don t hear back, you have an appointment. Course Objectives and Organization A. Introduction Mammals are organisms composed of a number of highly integrated physiological systems, called tissues and organs, each with characteristic structure and functions. The unique arrangement and integration of these systems, together with the functional consequences, are the subjects of gross anatomy and physiology. The functional architecture of each of these systems and the cellular subunits of which they are composed is the concern of microanatomy or histology. Cell biology deals with the structural and functional differentiations within cells (organelles) and on the surfaces that are responsible for the characteristics of tissues and organs. Physiology is the study of function in living matter. This course combines aspects of histology, cell biology, and physiology to analyze the cells and tissues of the body. Biological structure is a continuum of increasing complexity from molecule to complete organism. To observe it, one would like to have a penetrating zoom lens with which to observe the living systems at successive levels of organization. But so far physical limitations dictate otherwise, and for the purposes of orderly study and investigation, it is necessary to think in terms of the successive hierarchies of organization that are amenable to observation by various means --- light microscopy and electron microscopy. This course will deal with structural and functional organization at microscopic and submicroscopic levels: tissues and organs, cells and molecules, with emphasis on the cell as the basic biological unit. It must be borne in mind that the separation between microscopic and gross anatomy is arbitrary and that the two are merely aspects of one continuum. Every effort will be made in this course to underscore this fact. The same is true of biochemistry and physiology. These are disciplines so characterized by the uniqueness and detail of the body of knowledge they represent, and by their special vocabularies, that they may often seem remote from each other and from anatomy. But the cell is (or should be) the common denominator; it is the biological entity in which the apparently disparate disciplines become unified. Biochemical and physiological events integrate in subcellular anatomy where disciplinary boundaries disappear.
Page 2 B. Objectives of the course 1. To learn and understand principles of biological form and function as they apply to the tissues of the mammalian body, progressing from the level of structure visible with the unaided eye, through histological architecture and cytological organization, to subcellular domains that are essentially molecular. 2. To learn the essential anatomical structures into which you may integrate the relevant physiological and biochemical principles that you will encounter in other courses. 3. To acquaint you with the main tools for determining biological microstructure (light microscopy in its various descriptive and analytical forms, electron microscopy, confocal microscopy, etc.) and to provide an essential working knowledge of the light microscope that you will need to use constantly. 4. To provide you with adequate first-hand experience in analyzing histological preparations (the emphasis is on analysis, although analysis should lead to memorization of structures and function, and recognition of tissues and organs). The principal goal is to teach the structure and functioning of normal tissues. 5. To learn how to visualize three-dimensional tissue architecture based on study of twodimensional tissue sections. C. Organization of the course The course combines cell biology, histology and a touch of physiological function: Cell Biology: Principles of the functional organization of cells; optical methods of determining cell structure; specialized intracellular and extracellular systems (organelles, macromolecules). Histology: The association of cells into tissues to form organs. D. Presentation of material The material in this course will be presented in several ways: 1. Lectures: The lectures will cover the course material using diagrams and light and electron micrographs. 2. Laboratories: Microscope slides from the Biology Department general collection will be studied during lab sessions. Lab notes outlining the work to be covered will be provided before each lab and available on Moodle, and should be read, before coming to the lab; it is imperative that lab time be spent working through the material as effectively as possible. Part of the time in the labs is intended for recapitulation and clarification of previous material. This may take the form of additional material for examination, group discussion, review questions and problems, internet resources, etc. Some labs will include transmission electron microscope (TEM) observations of tissues.
Page 3 We will also from time to time have discussions of literature dealing with tissues we are studying. I will post papers on Moodle. For most labs there will be questions to be answered and turned in at the end of the lab for grading. You may use any sources except each other in answering these questions. 3. Text: The required textbook for this course is Histology: A Text and Atlas, by Ross and Pawlina, Seventh Edition. This book, which is available at the bookstore and should be purchased prior to the beginning of classes, combines a well-organized, concise textbook with a complete atlas of histology. Reading assignments are provided for each lecture. References will be made to particular pages and illustrations in Ross and Pawlina throughout the course, and the atlas is essential for the laboratory. The illustrations in this text are excellent, and closely resemble the tissue sections that you will be observing in the laboratory. Other supplementary handout materials will also be provided for some topics. In general, most topics of our course are covered in sufficient depth in Ross and Pawlina. However, there are several other texts and atlases available that may be of interest to you. Your best tool in this regard is certainly the Internet. An authoritative text also of historical interest, is Concise Histology, by Bloom and Fawcett. I used an edition of this text when I was a graduate student in 1972, and a comparison of that edition to current texts demonstrates how much we have discovered over the decades. For cell biology topics in this course, a recommended supplementary reference is Cell and Molecular Biology by Gerald Carp. This is an excellent book, which you should consider buying. If you took cell biology here, Biology 212, you probably used this text. 4. The General Slide Collection: You will use slides from our general slide collection. Most of this collection consists of conventional paraffin sections of mammalian material for histological comparison. Please return slides to their correct positions in slide boxes and in clean condition. Throughout the course unlabeled pathology slides may be presented for analysis as unknowns for problem solving and review purposes. All of the slides in your care are valuable in terms of both their initial cost and the uniqueness of the tissue they contain. Please handle these with great care. (NOTE: If oil is used (probably only for blood smear slides) wipe oil from coverslips gently with a small amount of ethanol.) DO NOT POLISH OR SCRUB. Also - slides and microscopes are to be used in the lab, and are not to be removed from the lab. E. Exams There will be two exams (200 points each exam) during the course. Exams will consist of a closed book portion (100 points) and a take home open book portion (100) points. For the final exam the in class part of the final exam will primarily focus on material covered since EXAM II, and will be worth 100 points and the take home open book exam will be comprehensive and worth 100 points. The in class portion of exams will come mainly from material covered in lecture. When there are questions to be answered at the end of the lab they will be worth about 20 points per set of questions.
Page 4 Class participation is worth an additional 100 points. Productive interaction is encouraged in lecture and labs, especially during paper discussions. The last time I taught this class I had several students always looking up questions we were all unsure about on their computer. I welcome such participation. While I don t take roll, you can t participate well if you are absent too much. With a small class, I may notice repeated absences. The final evaluation of your performance will be based upon the accumulated scores.
Biology 374 Mammalian Cell Microanatomy Lecture and Lab Schedule Subject to limited revision meaning inevitably I will fall behind in lecture. Week Topic Readings in Ross and Pawlina 1 W Course overview F Scope and Methods of Histology - Chapter 1 I No Lab 2 M The Cell Cytoplasm Chapter 2 W The Cell Nucleus Chapter 3 Lab F Tissues, Epithelia and Glands Chapter 4, 5 Cells; Epithelia and glands 3 M Epithelia and glands Chapter 5 W Connective tissue I Chapter 6 F Cartilage Chapter 7 Lab Cartilage and bone Demonstration of thin sectioning for TEM 4 M Bone Chapter 8 W Adipose, Blood Chapter 9, 10 F Blood Chapter10 Lab Adipose and blood; Use of the TEM 5 M Muscle1 W Muscle II F Catch up Lab Blood and Muscle 6 M EXAM I W Nervous system I Chapter 11 F Nervous system II Lab Nervous system 7 M Cardiovascular system I Chapter 13 W Cardiovascular system II Chapter 13 F Lymphoid tissue/immune system I Chapter 14 Lab Cardiovascular system; begin TEM analysis
8 M Lymphoid tissue/immune system II Chapter 14 W Lymphoid tissue/immune system III Chapter 14 F Catch up Lab Cardiovascular and lymphoid tissue 9 M Integument and the sun W Liver and beverages, Muscles and exercise F Begin return to earth Lab Independent study of relaxed metabolic states 10 M Integument Chapter 15 W Digestive system I: Oral cavity and Chapter 16 associated structures F Digestive System II: Esophagus and Chapter 17 gastrointestinal tract Lab Consultations on projects 11 M Digestive system III; Liver, Chapter 18 Gallbladder and Pancreas W Respiratory system Chapter 19 F Catch up Lab Integument, respiratory system and digestive system I 12 M EXAM II W Urinary system I Chapter 20 F Urinary system II Lab Digestive system II, urinary system 13 M Endocrine organs I Chapter 21 Lab W Endocrine organs II Chapter 21 F Female reproductive system I Chapter 22 Endocrine organs 14 M Female reproductive system I Chapter 22 W Male reproductive system Chapter 23 F Male Reproductive system Lab Male and female reproductive systems 15 M Lagniappe W Lagniappe Chpter 23 No Lab May 14 F FINAL EXAM: 8:00 10:00