Cellular Responses
Overview of Cellular Responses to Stimuli
Cells
- Active participants in their environment
- Constantly adjusting their structure
and function
o to accumulate changing
demands and extracellular
stresses
o to maintain a steady state called
homeostasis
the intracellular milieu is
kept within a fairly narrow
range of physiologic
parameters
- Cells operate in a very narrow of
physiologic parameters they
maintain homeostasis
Homeostasis
- Equilibrium of the microenvironment of
the cell
o Chemical electrolytes,
glucose, ph, etc.
o Physical temperature, etc.
- Cells constantly adjust their structure
and function adapting to their altered
environment
Adaptation
- Adjusting to a new situation to
preserve viability and function
Stress
- Pathological definition any demand
on the cell requiring it to adapt
Cellular Adaptations to Stress
- Adaptations are reversible changes in
the number, size, metabolic activity,
and functions of cells
- Two basic types:
o Physiologic
Cellular response to
normal stimulations by
hormones, endogenous
chemical mediators
Ex: Uterus and breast
o Pathologic
Modified cellular
response to avoid injury
- Inability to adapt will compromise the
cell and result in injury and possibly
death
- Principal adaptive responses
o Hypertrophy
o Hyperplasia
o Atrophy
o Metaplasia
- If the adaptive capability of the cell is
exceeded or the stress inherently
harmful, cell injury occurs
o Reversible return to stable
baseline
o Irreversible severe, persistent
rapid onset stress
o Cell death causes include
ischemia, infections, toxins and
immune reactions
Cell death can be a
normal and essential
process
Study table 2-1 page 33
- Other factors that affect stress on the
cell
o Vulnerability by location
o Differentiation by specific
cellular function i.e., different
cells do different things which
may predispose to
protection/problems
o Blood supply better supply,
better chance of survival
o State of nutrition
o State of cellular health at the
time of stress
- Molecular and biochemical levels that
stress may affect
o Maintenance of cellular
membrane
Cell and its components
Trauma, acids, etc.
o Maintenance of ionic or osmotic
balance
Water, medications, etc.
o Energy production by the cell
o Protein synthesis
Nutrition
o Genetic apparatus
Viruses, radiation, etc.
Hypertrophy
- Increase in the size of cells resulting in
increase in the size of the organ
- No new cells, just bigger cells
- Occurs in cells that cannot divide
o Physiologic weight lifter
 o Pathologic cardiac - Causes
enlargement hypertension, o Immobilization (atrophy of
aortic valve stenosis disease)
- Cardiac failure adaptation to stress o Loss of innervation (denervation
can lead to functionally significant cell atrophy)
injury o Diminished blood supply
(ischemia, senile atrophy)
Hyperplasia o Inadequate nutrition
- Increase in cell number (marasmus, cachexia)
- Increase in cell number because of o Loss of endocrine stimulation
proliferation of differentiated cells and o Pressure
replacement by tissue stem cells - Autophagy can occur
- Occurs in cells capable of replication o Cell eating
- Can occur with hypertrophy
o Physiologic Metaplasia
o Pathologic - Reversible change in which one adult
cell type is replaced by another adult
Physiologic cell type
1. Hormonal hyperplasia - Cells sensitive to a certain stress are
o Exemplified by the proliferation replaced by another cell type capable
of the glandular epithelium of of better withstanding that stress
the female breast at puberty - It is a genetic reprogramming of stem
and during pregnancy cells and not changing of already
2. Compensatory differentiated cells
o Residual tissues grow after o Function can be reduced
removal or loss of part of an o Increased chance of malignant
organ transformation
o Ex. When part of the liver is o Examples
resected mitotic activity in the Cigarette smoking
remaining cells begins as early Gastric reflux
as 12 hours later, eventually
resorting the liver to its normal Cell Injury and Death
weight - Occurs when cells are unable to adapt
Kidney to stress or when they are exposed to
Pathologic damaging agents or suffer intrinsic
- Cause by excessive hormonal abnormalities
(abnormal menstrual bleeding) or - Reversible injury
growth factor stimulation (viral infection o Damage reversed when
causing warts) stimulus removed
- If stimulation abates, hyperplasia
disappears Cell death
- Not so with cancers - Injury is irreversible
- Two types
Atrophy o Necrosis
- Shrinkage in the size of the cell by loss Enzymes leak out of
of cell substance lysosomes and cell is
o Tissue or organ size diminishes digested
o Function diminishes not dead Leakage through cell
- Physiologic embryonic tissues membrane elicits
o Notochord and thyroglossal inflammation
duct Due to ischemia, toxins ,
- Pathologic infections, trauma
o Local o Apoptosis
o Generalized Cell kills itself, no
membrane leakage