What causes cell damage?

What causes cell damage?

In principle, cell injury can occur due to the following factors: Excessive or overly prolonged normal stimuli. Action of toxins and other adverse influences that could inhibit the vital cell functions (e.g., oxidative phosphorylation or protein synthesis) Deficiency of oxygen and/or essential nutrients and metabolites.

What type of radiation directly breaks down chemical bonds in a cell?

Ionizing radiation carries enough energy to break chemical bonds, knock electrons out of atoms, and cause direct damage to cells in organic matter. In fact, ionizing radiation carries more than a billion times more energy than does non-ionizing radiation.

When does a cell become irreversibly injured?

Irreversible responses of cell injury refer to changes that lead to a new equilibrium with the environment. Types of irreversible responses include: interruption of membrane integrity; hydrolysis of phospholipids, proteins and nucleic acids; and necrosis, where organelles undergo a sequence of changes.

What causes cell membrane damage?

Cell membrane disruption can be caused by exposure to supraphysiologic temperatures (18–21). It has been well demonstrated that at temperatures in excess of 42.5°C, structural alteration of mammalian membranes develops. Employing membrane transport experiments based on the dye leakage technique, Cravalho et al.

What happens to a cell if the cell membrane is damaged?

If the plasma membrane ruptures or breaks down, the cell will not be able to exchange material from its surroundings by diffusion or osmosis because it acts as a mechanical barrier. Thereafter, the protoplasmic material will be disappeared, and the cell will die.

How does radiation damage a cell?

There are two main ways radiation can damage DNA inside living cells. Radiation can strike the DNA molecule directly, ionizing and damaging it. Alternately, radiation can ionize water molecules, producing free radicals that react with and damage DNA molecules. These molecules with missing electrons are called ions.

What part of the cell does radiation cause damage to?

How does ionizing radiation affect cells? When ionizing radiation interacts with a cell, several things can happen: The radiation could pass through the cell without damaging the DNA. The radiation could damage the cell’s DNA, but the DNA repairs itself.

What happens when cells are injured?

Cell damage can be reversible or irreversible. Depending on the extent of injury, the cellular response may be adaptive and where possible, homeostasis is restored. Cell death occurs when the severity of the injury exceeds the cell’s ability to repair itself.

What happens if the phospholipid bilayer is damaged?

Lipids are hydrophobic. Which statement best describes a direct result of damage to a phospholipid bilayer? The balance of ions inside a cell will be disrupted and proteins could leak out because the phospholipid bilayer forms the cell membrane.

What happens when the phospholipid bilayer gets damaged?

Plasma membrane damage results in loss of osmotic balance and influx of fluids and ions, as well as loss of proteins, enzymes, coenzymes, and ribonucleic acids. The cells may also leak metabolites, which are vital for the reconstitution of ATP, thus further depleting net intracellular high-energy phosphates.

Why do phospholipids make a phospholipid bilayer?

Phospholipids, arranged in a bilayer, make up the basic fabric of the plasma membrane. They are well-suited for this role because they are amphipathic, meaning that they have both hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions. Chemical structure of a phospholipid, showing the hydrophilic head and hydrophobic tails.