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Cellular Structures

Definition: Components of a cell.
Notes: GEN: avoid; prefer specifics

Cellular Structures Categories.
Cell Membrane - The lipid- and protein-containing, selectively permeable membrane that surrounds the cytoplasm in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. In most types of microbial cells it is bordered externally by the CELL WALL. (Singleton & Sainsbury, Dictionary of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, 2d ed)
Cell Surface Extensions - Specialized structures of the cell that extend the cell membrane and project out from the cell surface.
Chromosomes - In a prokaryotic cell or in the nucleus of a eukaryotic cell, a structure consisting of or containing DNA which carries the genetic information essential to the cell. (From Singleton & Sainsbury, Dictionary of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, 2d ed)
Extracellular Space - Interstitial space between cells, occupied by INTERSTITIAL FLUID as well as amorphous and fibrous substances. For organisms with a CELL WALL, the extracellular space includes everything outside of the CELL MEMBRANE including the PERIPLASM and the cell wall.
Inclusion Bodies - A generic term for any circumscribed mass of foreign (e.g., lead or viruses) or metabolically inactive materials (e.g., ceroid or Mallory bodies), within the cytoplasm or nucleus of a cell. Inclusion bodies are in cells infected with certain filtrable viruses, observed especially in nerve, epithelial, or endothelial cells. (Stedman, 25th ed)
Intracellular Space - The area within CELLS.
Subcellular Fractions - Components of a cell produced by various separation techniques which, though they disrupt the delicate anatomy of a cell, preserve the structure and physiology of its functioning constituents for biochemical and ultrastructural analysis. (From Alberts et al., Molecular Biology of the Cell, 2d ed, p163)

Cellular Structures Definitions and Terms

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