BIOLOGY 374
MAMMALIAN CELL MICROANATOMY
Wayne L. Rickoll
Thompson 257B
Phone: 879-3120
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.
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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.
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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.
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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
1
W
F
No Lab
2
M
W
Lab
3
The Cell Cytoplasm
The Cell Nucleus
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
F
Tissues, Epithelia and Glands
Chapter 4, 5
M
W
F
Cells; Epithelia and glands
Epithelia and glands
Chapter 5
Connective tissue I
Chapter 6
Cartilage
Chapter 7
Cartilage and bone – Demonstration of thin sectioning for TEM
Lab
4
Lab
5
Lab
6
Lab
7
Lab
Topic
Readings in Ross and Pawlina
Course overview
Scope and Methods of Histology - Chapter 1
I
M
W
F
M
W
F
M
W
F
M
W
F
Bone
Chapter 8
Adipose, Blood
Chapter 9, 10
Blood
Chapter10
Adipose and blood; Use of the TEM
Muscle1
Muscle II
Catch up
Blood and Muscle
EXAM I
Nervous system I
Chapter 11
Nervous system II
Nervous system
Cardiovascular system I
Chapter 13
Cardiovascular system II
Chapter 13
Lymphoid tissue/immune system Chapter 14
I
Cardiovascular system; begin TEM analysis
8
Lab
9
M
W
F
M
W
F
Lab
10
M
W
F
Lab
11
M
W
F
Lab
12
M
W
F
Lab
13
Lab
14
Lab
15
M
W
F
M
W
F
M
W
No Lab
May F
14
Lymphoid tissue/immune system II
Chapter 14
Lymphoid tissue/immune system III
Chapter 14
Catch up
Cardiovascular and lymphoid tissue
Integument and the sun
Liver and beverages, Muscles and
exercise
Begin return to earth
Independent study of relaxed metabolic states
Integument
Chapter 15
Digestive system I: Oral cavity and
Chapter 16
associated structures
Digestive System II: Esophagus and
Chapter 17
gastrointestinal tract
Consultations on projects
Digestive system III; Liver,
Chapter 18
Gallbladder and Pancreas
Respiratory system
Chapter 19
Catch up
Integument, respiratory system and digestive system I
EXAM II
Urinary system I
Chapter 20
Urinary system II
Digestive system II , urinary system
Endocrine organs I
Endocrine organs II
Female reproductive system I
Endocrine organs
Female reproductive system I
Male reproductive system
Male Reproductive system
Male and female reproductive systems
Lagniappe
Lagniappe
FINAL EXAM: 8:00 – 10:00
Chapter 21
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chpter 23